Some creative and resourceful game preservers have reverse-engineered the long-lost F-Zero game from the mid-90s. Eurogamer reports two loyal rest BS F-Zero Grand Prix games released only because of Nintendo’s long hiatus Satellaview satellite game extension For the Super Famicom, it is now free to play as add-ons for the original ROMs.
Two BS F-Zero Grand Prix Adding 10 courses, four new cars, and a ghost feature not present in the SNES / Super Famicom original, the games were released exclusively for Nintendo’s Satellaview in 1996 and 1997. Satellaview was Mario’s experimental satellite module for the Super Famicom in Japan. It has never been released in the US or anywhere else in the world.
Titles for the system were ephemeral. First, players in Japan needed the right hardware, including a Super Famicom console, a Satellaview module (attached to the bottom of the console), a special BS-X recording cartridge, a satellite dish, and a receiver. They then had to tune in at specific times and load the games onto their special cartridges.
Although the system didn’t last long (Satellaview was shut down by 2000), the console’s build was a rough precursor to the downloadable digital game content we’re used to today.
Given these strict requirements, it’s no surprise that the original ROMs of sci-fi racers have (so far) been lost to history. Fortunately, someone with a handle sand daywith clear access to original downloaded games BS F-Zero the game videos (embedded below) to YouTube in 2018. Using those clips as a blueprint, a talented team of developers/archivists — led by a person with a handle. ROMHacker GuyPerfect — BS has rebuilt F-Zero courses with a combination of game analysis software, original F-Zero assets and custom art.
The project used a modified version of the Graphite tool was created By FlibidyDibidy (originally built to parse Great. Mario Bros. Speedruns), can use gameplay video to determine exact character positions and button inputs. An adapted version of Graphite helped ROMHacker GuyPerfect and their team reproduces the gameplay as faithfully as possible from the original F-Zero courses.
Where possible, the developers used existing F-Zero art assets from ROMs in the original game for the Super Nintendo / Famicom console (non-satellite). Satellite broadcasts, artist exclusives to fill in the gaps for lost assets Porter and In PowerPan included to recreate them.
The past few months have brought the F-Zero series back into the news as Nintendo launched it Battle Royale version last fall In the same way as the original 16-bit game for Switch Online subscribers Tetris 99 and Super Mario Bros. 35). As for the long-lost original BS F-Zero Grand Prix ROMs, Redditor u/Porthgeidwad to build $5,000 prize claimed for anyone with original cartridges two years ago. While you wait for someone to step up, you can visit the team’s project page and Take reverse engineering games for a spin.
