F-Zero 99 announced for Nintendo Switch, is out today

Nintendo has announced F-Zero 99, the first new game in the series in nearly two decades.

F-Zero 99 is based on the original SNES F-Zero, but features 99 players racing against each other.

The game will be available today, and is free for Nintendo Switch Online susbcribers.

According to Nintendo, the game will revolve around the player’s Power Meter. Players can use it for a temporary speed boost, but it will also decrease if they crash. If their meter runs out entirely, they’re eliminated from the 99-player race.

Players can also collect Super Sparks, which appear on the track when racers collide, to gain access to the Skyway, a mid-air track that makes it easier for them to reach the front of the pack.

F-Zero 99 will feature courses and machines from the original SNES game, but players will also be able to unlock cosmetic options for their vehicle by completing goals while racing.

The game will also be playable with the SNES controller, available for Nintendo Switch Online members.

Fans have been waiting for Nintendo to release a new F-Zero game ever since the last title in the series, GBA game F-Zero Climax, was released 19 years ago.

In 2021 Nintendo veteran Takaya Imamura, the artist who designed the characters and vehicles in F-Zero, said he believed the series wasn’t dead but was still “hard to bring back”.

In a separate interview with VGC earlier this year, Imamura – who left Nintendo in 2021 – said he’d like to see the company outsourcing a new F-Zero to a third-party developer.

“There are tons of people who want to make Nintendo titles, so if Nintendo has the confidence that they can make Nintendo games, they should pass it on to those people,” he explained, adding: “Just look at how Donkey Kong Country turned out.”