After Sega transitioned to third-party development in 2001, Nagoshi developed Super Monkey Ball for the GameCube, opening a channel for collaboration. On February 18, 2002, Nintendo, Sega, and Namco announced the Triforce arcade system board; Nagoshi agreed to build the next F-Zero installment for both the arcade board and the GameCube. Nagoshi cited the original F-Zero (1990) as having taught him "what a game should be" and as a direct influence on Daytona USA (1994). Miyamoto described the result as a "true evolution" of F-Zero. Amusement Vision handled planning and execution while Nintendo supervised; Nagoshi secured an agreement that most creative responsibility would rest with his studio. The soundtrack features rock and techno compositions by Hidenori Shoji and Daiki Kasho, with Kasho having previously worked on the Gran Turismo series. Nintendo revealed the first footage at the pre-E3 press conference on May 21, 2002.
Up to 30 competitors race on tracks incorporating enclosed tubes, cylinders, jumps, and rollercoaster-like paths, with obstacles including dirt patches and mines. Each machine carries grip, boost, and durability scores and can be balanced between acceleration and top speed before each race. An energy meter measures health and fuels the boost (available after the first lap); energy is recovered by driving through pit areas. A technique called "snaking" — generating serpentine movements on a straight to exploit a post-drift acceleration burst — delivers a major speed increase; Nintendo stated it was an intentional inclusion.
Grand Prix mode pits the player against 29 opponents across three cups (Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald) and, upon completion of all three, an unlocked Diamond Cup. Four difficulty tiers are available: novice, standard, expert, and master. Completing all four cups on master difficulty unlocks AX-exclusive tracks. Time Attack supports up to five simultaneous ghost records. A story mode follows pilot Captain Falcon through nine chapters of varied racing scenarios on three difficulty settings. The Customize mode comprises the F-Zero Shop (where opponent machines, custom parts, and other items are purchased with earned tickets), the Garage (machine creation from body, cockpit, and booster parts), and the Emblem Editor.
Amusement Vision simultaneously developed F-Zero AX for the Triforce arcade board. AX features 14 playable vehicles, six race tracks, and two modes: Race (against 29 opponents) and Time Attack. Standard and deluxe cabinet versions existed; the deluxe, co-developed with Simuline under the name "F-Zero Monster Ride", placed the player in a tilting cabin suspended on three servomotors. Magnetic stripe cards tracked custom machine data and pilot points. GameCube memory cards could be inserted into AX cabinets to unlock AX-exclusive parts for use in GX, and vice versa, providing a physical connectivity loop between the home and arcade versions.
F-Zero GX holds an 89/100 Metacritic score and was praised extensively for its visuals, sharp controls, arcade-home connectivity, and depth of single-player content. The dominant criticism was its difficulty, particularly in story mode, which IGN and GameTrailers ranked among the hardest games to beat. GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann noted the steep challenge "will surely turn some people away." 1UP.com wrote that the F-Zero series was "finally running on hardware that can do it proper justice." Eurogamer's Kristan Reed stated it was "hard to imagine how Amusement Vision could have done a better job" graphically. In Japan the game sold 100,981 copies; worldwide it exceeded 1.5 million copies by 2018, qualifying for Nintendo's Player's Choice and Nintendo Classics labels. IGN named it the best GameCube racing game and best racing game of 2003. Edge ranked it the 66th-best game in 2007. Official Nintendo Magazine rated it the 92nd-best game on Nintendo platforms in 2009. It was added to the Nintendo Classics library for the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5, 2025.