Some imaginative and ingenious gaming advocates have reverse-engineered a long-lost F-Zero game from the mid-90s. Eurogamer reports only faithful recreations of two BS F-Zero Grand Prix games, released exclusively for long-defunct Nintendo games Satellaview satellite gaming extension for the Super Famicom, are now available to play for free as add-ons for the original ROMs.
Both BS F-Zero Grand Prix the games – which added 10 courses, four new vehicles and a ghost feature unavailable in the SNES/Super Famicom original – were released exclusively for Nintendo's Satellaview in 1996 and 1997. Satellaview was the Mario maker's experimental satellite module for the Super Famicom in Japan. It was never released in the United States or anywhere else in the world.
The system's titles had an ephemeral nature. First, Japanese gamers 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 log in at specific times and download the games onto their special cartridges.
Although the system didn't last long (Satellaview had closed by 2000), the console setup was a rough precursor to the downloaded digital gaming content we're accustomed to today.
Given these strict requirements, it's no wonder that the original sci-fi racer ROMs seem (so far) lost to history. Luckily someone with the handle kukun kunwith apparent access to original, downloaded games BS F-Zero gameplay videos (embedded below) on YouTube in 2018. Using these clips as a template, the team of talented developers/archivists – led by an individual with the handle ROMHacker GuyPerfect — rebuilds 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 (originally designed to analyze Great. Mario Brothers. speedruns), which can use gameplay video to determine precise character positions and button inputs. Adapted version of Graphite helped ROMHacker GuyPerfect and their 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 the gaps in lost assets exclusive to satellite broadcasts, artists Porthor And PowerPanda integrated to recreate them.
Recent months have brought the F-Zero series back into the spotlight, with the launch of Nintendo 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 you/Porthgeidwad put up a $5,000 bounty two years ago, supposedly up for grabs for anyone with the original cartridges. While waiting for someone to chime in, you can visit the team's project page and try reverse engineering games.