Zero Racers is a direct sequel to F-Zero (1990), intended to be the second installment in the F-Zero franchise. Originally slated to release for the Virtual Boy in late 1996, the game was shelved after the system was discontinued a few months prior. It released as part of the Nintendo Switch Online "Nintendo Classics" service for the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch 2 on August 3, 2026.
The game features a "Grand Prix" with 5 tracks in each of the three included circuits, a "VTR" mode where players can look through a pending track with a camera showing any obstacles litered across it on each lap the camera makes. The player also will have a mode to practice for the GP with no racers to get in their way and try for the fastest they can go for each track. The player also would have a set amount of energy that reduces for every obstacle they crash into, but energy tracks can refuel the meter before too much gets deprived of the energy and the vehicle explodes. The machines, having different stats, also would function more like airplanes in that they can now fly instead of hover with four of them identified as the Goose, the Stingray, the Falcon, and the Origammy. Although the names of the first three take from the names from three machines in the previous game, the Origammy is completely different in name from the Golden Fox and is even an entirely different machine. Despite the fact that the Switches can be played wirelessly, multiplayer is not available as an option at this time.
While Argonaut Software had nothing to do with the game's development, two of their (or rather their Japanese successor Q-Games') Nintendo-published titles would go on to reference in the mid-2000s using its working title (G-Zero): Star Fox Command has Fox and Falco join the "G-Zero Grand Prix" in one of its alternate endings, while the American release of X-Scape (2010) has your Robot Buddy suggest doing the same should you win first place in the races of planets Menfarb and Dalde-Dale.
Zero Racers contains examples of:
- Art Evolution: As opposed to the two-dimensional sprites of the original game, the game would have shown the machines as 3D wireframes as a facelift before X.
- Call-Back: Three of the machines that would have been introduced, and are introduced after the game's 2026 release, if the game was released back in the 1990s would have been the Goose for Pico, the Stringray for Samurai Goroh, and the Falcon for Captain Falcon. All this in reference to the three's prior machines. Dr. Stewart and the Golden Fox don't get any representation, though, as the fourth machine is named "Origammy" and is a different craft.
- Canon Discontinuity: Following its cancellation, Zero Racers, like with most Virtual Boy games, was ignored by Nintendo when it released F-Zero X. This may or may not be overturned after the game got released on Nintendo Switch online.
- Competitive Multiplayer: Had the game released back in the 1990's alongside the VB link cable, it would have been the first F-Zero game where players get pit against each other. Its release on Nintendo Switch Online did not provide the option despite the wireless nature of the Nintendo Switch & Nintendo Switch 2 for unknown reasons.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: While three of the machines reference their precursors in the first F-Zero, the one exception is the Origammy which, for unknown reasons, replaces the Golden Fox with no reference to it in its name.
- Darker and Edgier: The races takes place entirely in underground tunnels instead of the lively and colorful environments the world of F-Zero is usually known for. Granted this is a Virtual Boy game, and the Virtual Boy is not really known for displaying a lot of colors, but the official backstory for the game is also grittier than the other games in the series, being set in an implied post-apocalyptic world in a far future, where humanity is forced to live underground, said to have lost it's former glory and acces to certain emotions. Downplayed, as the game itself does little-to-nothing to elaborate on this setting.
- Every Car Is a Pinto: Even with the new machines that can now go in the air, they can still explode if deprived of all energy.
- Genre Shift: The game was no longer the strict on-ground racer of the first F-Zero, it instead can let players move their machines like a flying plane and there would have also been tunnels to fly through in the races, which is an experience that players will get to see in the upcoming online release.
- Only One Name: As opposed to the machines of the first game, all the four known new machines each have one name per racer.
- Punny Name: The Origammy's name is a play on "Origami".
- Video Game 3D Leap: When the game was being developed, the game went from the original F-Zero's 2-D roots to 3-D wireframe models as showcased in Nintendo Power.