Nintendo's GameCube racer F-Zero GX turns 20 today.
The game launched on July 25th, 2003 in Japan, before arriving in North America on August 25th and Europe on October 31st.
F-Zero GX was a departure from previous entries in the series as it was developed in conjunction with Sega's Amusement Vision, headed up by Toshihiro Nagoshi – who would later find fame as the creative force behind Sega's Yakuza series. Nagoshi would become Sega of Japan's chief creative officer in 2012, and only recently parted company with the firm to establish Nagoshi Studio.
Built using a modified version of the Super Monkey Ball game engine, F-Zero GX was accompanied by an arcade sibling called F-Zero AX, which was powered by the Triforce arcade system board. It is possible for GameCube memory cards to be inserted into F-Zero AX arcade machines so players can obtain AX-exclusive characters, vehicles, and tracks which can then be played on the home console version.
In 2018, Nagoshi stated that F-Zero GX sold 1.5 million copies worldwide. The F-Zero titles released since 2003 are F-Zero: GP Legend and F-Zero Climax, both of which were developed for the Game Boy Advance by Suzak Inc., an external studio.
There has been no new F-Zero release since 2004.