F-Zero anime series to debut in Japan

Nintendo has announced that its racing game series F-Zero will be released as a TV anime series in Japan. The series will be titled F-Zero: Falcon Densetsu (which translates as "F-Zero: Falcon's Legend") and will feature F-Zero's Captain Falcon and a new character named Ryu Zuzaku. Other known characters in the game series, including Dr. Stewart, Samurai Goroh, Super Arrow, Dr.Clash, and Zoda, will also be appearing in the anime.

F-Zero: Falcon Densetsu takes place in the year 2201, a time when there's a craze for F-Zero races with drivers competing at velocities beyond the speed of sound. Daredevils from all over the galaxy enter the races for money and for the glory of becoming the fastest racer in space, and two racers are especially known among all of the competitors--a masked pilot named Captain Falcon and a rookie racer named Ryu Suzaku. Apart from his public racing image, Ryu has a past to deal with. He's an ex-detective who was cryogenically frozen after a serious accident suffered during a mission tracking down a villain named Zoda. Revived after 150 years by a top-secret police unit that specializes in F-Zero-related crimes, Ryu joins the force only to learn that Zoda is still somehow active behind the scenes of F-Zero racing.

F-Zero: Falcon Densetsu will begin airing in Japan on October 7 on the TV Tokyo Network. The series will be produced by Dentsu and Ashi Productions (Vampire Hunter D, NG Ramune & 40), an animation studio under the Bandai group. Ami Tomobuki (Himikoden, Assemble Insert) will be directing the series, and Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto and Takayao Imamura have supervising roles on the project.