The Wii U almost had an F-Zero game

It was just recently revealed to the public, via NintendoLife, that Nintendo of Europe had reached out and attempted to to have Criterion Games develop F-Zero as a launch title for the Wii U. The goal was to have a working demo up and running at the official unveiling of Nintendo's ill fated console. Unfortunately for futuristic racing fans, Criterion had their hands full at the time with Need For Speed: Most Wanted.

This likely comes as a huge blow to F-Zero fans, as the series hasn't seen a new game in over a decade. The last entry, F-Zero climax, was the least well received of the entire franchise. F-Zero continues to be represented through Nintendo Land, Super Smash Bros., and most recently Mario Kart 8 DLC.

Criterion Games has extensive knowledge of developing stellar racers. They created Burn Out and have experience with futuristic, anti-gravity racing games via their Dreamcast title Trickstyle.  This made them a perfect fit to develop a game  in a franchise that Nintendo themselves seem to have run out of ideas for.

At least Nintendo fans will have something to fill that F-Zero shaped gap.

If Nintendo still wants to loan out the F-Zero series to some dependable developers, might I suggest Monster Games or Shin'en Multimedia? Both have a history of working closely with Nintendo and developing racing titles. Shin'en's upcoming FAST Racing Neo is one techo-jazz soundtrack and a Blue Falcon away from being an F-Zero game as it stands.

How do you feel about this news? Do you see it as another letdown, or does it it give you new hope that Nintendo hasn't forgotten about F-Zero?