Editing F-Zero X (section)

== Development and release==
{{Quote box 
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| width = 25% 
| quote = [I]t's not possible to measure how fast your car can go in [''F-Zero X''], but it's possibly about 1,000 kilometers per hour — possibly the fastest racing game ever for a home system. 
| source =  — Producer [[Shigeru Miyamoto]], 1997<ref name="Miyamoto Meets N64.com"/>
}}

In mid-1996, during ''[[Mario Kart 64]]'' development, [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] said he planned a sequel to ''F-Zero'' for the Nintendo 64.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=N64 Top 10 List |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] |issue=85|publisher=[[Ziff Davis]] |date=August 1996 |page=17}}</ref><ref name="SM 1996"/> Initially titled "F-Zero 64", ''[[Famitsu]]'' magazine revealed the project in mid-1997.<ref name="Announced"/> [[Tadashi Sugiyama]] and Shigeru Miyamoto served as director and producer, respectively. Taro Bando and Hajime Wakai served as composers.<ref name="credits"/> Several key ''[[Wave Race 64]]'' programmers including the [[lead programmer]] made up the [[in-house]] development team.<ref name="IGN review"/> Developed by [[Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development|Nintendo EAD]],<ref name="X Wii"/> it is a sequel to the original [[F-Zero (video game)|''F-Zero'']] (1990),<ref name="Announced"/> and is the first ''[[F-Zero]]'' installment with [[3D computer graphics|3D graphics]].<ref name="X Wii"/> The game debuted at the [[Nintendo Space World#Space World 1997|Nintendo Space World]] event on November 20, 1997, publicly playable for the first time.<ref name="Marks the Spot"/><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Nintendo's Space World 1997 |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=38 |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=February 1998|pages=22–23}}</ref> [[IGN]] reported this version was 60% complete and consistently ran at 60 [[frames per second]]. That frame rate goal required developers to minimize background detail, texture detail, and [[Polygon (computer graphics)|polygon count]] on vehicles which reduce as they pass. They noted that "[tracks] hide most of the limited backgrounds with their girth and undulating nature which block out almost everything else."<ref name="Marks the Spot"/> Fogging effects are used to hide background shortcomings such as where the sky and ground meet.<ref name="preview"/>

The character voices in the game, including the announcer, Mr. Zero, were provided by Jim Wornell and Kayomi McDonald. Wornell based Mr. Zero's voice on that of the announcer in ''[[Ridge Racer (1993 video game)|Ridge Racer]]''.<ref name="Announcer Inspiration">{{cite web|title=Random: The F-Zero X Announcer's Voice Was Inspired By Ridge Racer|date=3 May 2022 |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/05/random-the-f-zero-x-announcers-voice-was-inspired-by-ridge-racer|publisher=Nintendo Life|access-date=April 2, 2024}}</ref> The soundtrack includes remixes from its predecessor.<ref name="EGM112"/> {{citation needed span|date=March 2022|The [[ROM cartridge]] size necessitated data-saving optimizations,}} including a half-sized [[monaural]] soundtrack and real-time stereo [[Ambience (sound recording)|ambient effects]].<ref name="IGN review"/> Some of its music is included in two soundtrack [[Compact Disc|CD]]s. The ''F-Zero X Original Soundtrack'' was released on September 18, 1998, with 29 musical tracks.<ref name="SEMO OST"/> The ''F-Zero X Guitar Arrange Edition'' was released on January 27, 1999, with ten guitar arrangements.<ref name="SEMO GAE"/> The game was released in Japan on July 14, 1998,<ref>{{cite web|first=Yutaka|last=Ohbuchi|url=http://headline.gamespot.com/news/98_05/11_nintitle/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001012230137/http://headline.gamespot.com/news/98_05/11_nintitle/index.html|title=Nintendo in Japan|website=[[GameSpot]]|archive-date=October 12, 2000|date=May 11, 1998|access-date=November 14, 2022}}</ref><ref name="X JPN intro"/> but its North American release suffered a three-month delay due to Nintendo's policy of evenly spacing the release of [[Video game developer#First-party_developer|first-party]] games.<ref name="IGN review"/><ref name="fall lineup"/> It was released in North America on October 27,<ref>{{Cite web |date=1998-12-04 |title=Five to Five |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/12/04/five-to-five |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=IGN |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230521014805/https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/12/04/five-to-five |url-status=live }}</ref> in Europe on November 6,<ref name="EU Release Summary"/> and in China for the [[iQue Player]] on February 25, 2004.<ref name="iQue date"/> It was re-released on the [[Wii]] and [[Wii U]] [[Virtual Console]] in 2007<ref name="jp vc"/><ref name="na vc"/> and around 2016,<ref name="nwr wiiu"/> respectively. This was Europe's 100th Wii Virtual Console game.<ref name="Euro VC"/> A March 2022 re-release for the [[Nintendo Classics]] service has a 2 to 4-person online multiplayer mode.<ref name="NS online date"/>

=== ''Expansion Kit'' ===
[[File:64DD-Attached.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The Nintendo 64 with [[64DD]] attached]]

The [[64DD]] is a peripheral for the Nintendo 64, released only in Japan, {{citation needed span|date=March 2022|and designed in part to provision cartridge games with expansions on inexpensive {{nowrap|64 megabyte}} floppy disks.}} The ''F-Zero X Expansion Kit'' is the 64DD's first expansion disk, released on April 21, 2000, in Japan.<ref name="Import review"/> It contains 12 new tracks, a machine creator, a course editor, and new [[stereophonic sound|stereophonic]] soundtracks.<ref name="history"/> In addition to these 2 new cups, players can create a custom cup. The disk can save up to a 100 tracks and up to 3 ghost data per course. IGN singled out the course editor as the ''Expansion Kit''{{'}}s strongest feature because the [[video game design|design]]ers used a similar tool [[in-house]] for the original circuits.<ref name="Import review"/> The machine creator's variety of options on pre-existing parts, can be used to balance the creations' settings and performance abilities, and name the machine. The course editor allows the player to design racing circuits with detailed tracks. Using a cursor, the player can determine the basic layout, and draw curves and hills. The player can add half pipes, cylinders, and numerous road surfaces, such as slip zones. The player can test the creation at any time and run practice laps.<ref name="Import review"/>

The ''Expansion Kit'' disk requires the cartridge,<ref name="history"/> which was programmed with "64DD hooks" to detect the 64DD and expansion disk.<ref name="64DD failure"/> This provisions the possibility of many disk-based [[expansion pack]]s such as track editors or course updates,<ref name="IGN review"/> but no more were made, and this one was not utilized outside Japan due to the 64DD's commercial failure.<ref name="Import review"/><ref name="64DD failure"/>