The Man Behind Captain Falcon Says F-Zero 'Isn't Dead'


Takaya Imamura, the artist and designer behind The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Star Fox and Captain Falcon, has reassured fans that the latter's high-octane racing series F-Zero hasn't been forgotten.

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The Man Behind Captain Falcon Says F-Zero 'Isn't Dead'

In a new interview with IGN, Imamura - who retired from Nintendo after 32 years back in February - was asked about the long silence F-Zero has endured since 2003's F-Zero GX.

Happily, Imamura says the series isn't dead, but just lacks a 'big idea' to justify a new entry. When asked about whether he'd every been interested in reviving the series Imamura said "Of course, I’ve thought about it many times, but without a grand new idea, it’s hard to bring it back."

This echoes previous statements from Miyamoto who has said the reason the franchise has lay dormant for so long is because there hasn't been any new ideas that would justify a new entry.

Indeed, it's hard to think what new ingredients could be added to the F-Zero GX recipe, given how accomplished that title was. Something Imamura is well aware of, calling it the "ultimate F-Zero".

Released alongside an arcade version - F-Zero AX - the Gamecube entry was developed by Sega, specifically their Amusement Vision subsidiary. Imamura recalls the project rather fondly.

"I think it started with Toshihiro Nagoshi proposing the project to Miyamoto. I really liked Daytona USA [which Nagoshi produced], so I was honoured to work with him. We had an arcade system board called Triforce which was based on the GameCube’s architecture, so when Nagoshi proposed doing an arcade version of F-Zero, I was really happy, as I had always been a fan of arcade games.”

Happily, Imamura assures IGN that his departure from Nintendo does not mean that the series is dead. Here's hoping we'll see Captain Falcon return to the driving seat before too long.

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