After a long rule of the video game industry, Nintendo was ready to introduce their next-generation system, the Super Nintendo Entertainment system launched with many interesting titles. All of them still remembered fondly to this day. The Sega Genesis had been on the market for a while, but Nintendo had an ace up their sleeve, a new technology called Mode 7. Mode 7 is one of the many graphics mode on the SNES. Allowing for background scaling, and rotating, Mode 7 could introduce a new type of depth to gaming. Nintendo could now simulate a 3D space with relative ease. The SNES came out of the gate swinging with a Mode 7 racing title, that would soon become world-famous, the game Captain Falcon is from.

I’ll always dislike how the SNES app always has this UI on screen. I’m fine with the black borders, just let me wipe the text.

The game Captain Falcon is from is a very simple racing game. You choose between one of four cars and set off to race in some of the wacky courses the grand prix cups have to offer. The game Captain Falcon is from is a very small game, even for the time, not featuring any other content outside of this pure racing. Yet, there were a few bonus comics that established the likes of Captain Falcon and Samurai Goroh. The focus was not originally on the characters who race themselves. Nobody really cares who’s driving the Forza car and nobody cared who was riding in the Blue Falcon; not yet anyway.

The franchise Captain Falcon is from is known for its frantically high speeds. A trait certainly began in this first outing. With it being an early Mode 7 title, graphics can get incredibly choppy at times, it’s simply something you’ll have to accept as a player. It personally never got to me too badly. You simply race the four main cars, and then a lot of dummy cars, who appear starting on the second lap. Some of those dummy cars can be explosives. Which will throw you off course big-time.

The healing animation doesn’t really work in image form. I got very few good images though.

Of course, the game Captain Falcon is from isn’t simply just the racing. There are speed boosters, jump pads, and certain walls that pull you into walls magnetically. The game Captain Falcon is from’s biggest departure from the genre, the ability to die, is certainly a little more widespread today. Your car gets its own health bar. If you deplete your bar fully by running into other racers, walls, or traps you will explode. Of course, a car that goes up in flames can’t go past the finish line. So you instantly lose the race. You get lives to retry that course with. You will eventually game over, but don’t worry too much, even on harder difficulties the lives were very forgiving.

The game Captain Falcon is from is a very simplistic, albeit insanely fun, retro racer. I don’t have too much to say, which makes how this story goes very interesting, but I definitely enjoyed my time with it. The F-Zero series is one I really haven’t touched before. So this experience, while leaving me lacking in words, has left me intrigued. I do plan on checking out other games.

It is commonly stated that limitations breed creativity. I refuse to believe that Masahiro Sakurai isn’t the most creative person on the planet. Captain Falcon was chosen as a fighter on the original roster for Smash 64, which created one teensy little issue, Captain Falcon did nothing in the game he is from. Sure, he drove the Blue Falcon. Smash couldn’t fully take advantage of a character like that, especially on the N64, they needed brawlers. He was given a moveset now synonymous with the character. I dare you to find a person who doesn’t recognize the Falcon Punch. It’s like trying to find a person who doesn’t recognize Tyrone Rodriguez. The most famous game developer in the world, well known for definitely creating hit indies such as Cave Story and the Binding of Isaac, totally not a schmoe who should be off rotting in a cell waiting for the next set of artificially grown mashed potatoes to be served.

The rest of the franchise Captain Falcon is from is well represented too. With a Samurai Goroh Assist Trophy, multiple stages with plenty of music tracks, and most of the series racers represented with spirits. I don’t think anyone has qualms with the franchise Captain Falcon is from content in Smash, outside of a few character requests, and I don’t see why anyone would. The simple racing series might’ve expanded to a household name. But, I’m not sure it really warrants 2-4 fighters with half a dozen stages.