Some inventive and imaginative game preservationists have reverse engineered a long-lost F-Zero game from the mid-90s. eurogamer reports what faithful recreations of two BS F-Zero Grand Prix The games, streamed exclusively for Nintendo's defunct Satellaview satellite gaming extension for the Super Famicom, are now available to play for free as add-ons to the original ROMs.
Both BS F-Zero Grand Prix The games, which added 10 courses, four new vehicles, and a ghost feature not available on the SNES/Super Famicom original, were streamed exclusively for Nintendo's Satellaview in 1996 and 1997. Satellaview was the Mario maker's experimental satellite module for Super Famicom in Japan. It was never released in the US or anywhere else in the world.
The titles for the system were ephemeral in nature. First, gamers in Japan needed the right equipment, including the Super Famicom console, the Satellaview module (attached to the bottom of the console), a dedicated BS-X recording cartridge, a satellite dish, and a receiver. They then had to tune in at specific times and download the games onto their special cartridges.
Although the system didn't last long (Satellaview had closed in 2000), the console setup was a rough precursor to the downloaded digital gaming content we're used to today.
Given those strict requirements, it's no surprise that the original sci-fi racer ROMs seem (until now) lost to history. Fortunately, someone in control whenwith apparent access to the original games, uploaded BS F-Zero How to play videos (embedded below) to YouTube in 2018. Using those clips as a model, the team of talented developers/archivists, led by one person with the handle ROMHacker GuyPerfect — rebuilt the BS F-Zero courses with a combination of game analysis software, original F-Zero assets, and custom art.
The project used a modified version of Graphite, a tool created by FlibidyDibidy (initially built to analyze Super. Mario Bros. speedruns), which can use gameplay video to determine precise character positions and button input. The adapted version of Graphite helped ROMHacker GuyPerfect and his team reproduce the gameplay of the original F-Zero courses as faithfully as possible.
Where possible, the developers used existing F-Zero art assets from the ROMs in the original (non-satellite) game for the Super Nintendo/Famicom console. To fill in the blanks due to loss of assets unique to satellite broadcasts, artists Goalie and PowerPanda contributed to recreating them.
The last few months have put the F-Zero series back in the news, as Nintendo released a Battle Royale version last fall of the original 16-bit game for Switch Online subscribers (in the same vein as Tetris 99 and Super Mario Bros.35). As for the long lost original BS F-Zero Grand Prix ROM, Redditor u/Goalkeeper Lodge a $5,000 reward two years ago, supposedly available to anyone with the original cartridges. While you wait for someone to step forward, you can visit the team's project page and try reverse engineering games.
