F-Zero: Farukon densetsu

F-Zero: Falcon Densetsu (known in America as F-Zero: GP Legend) is the only anime adaptation of the once great racing franchise, and the source material for the last two games in the series before its initial dormancy that's lasted nearly two decades. The anime focuses on an original character and adds some along the way, but the spirit of the games is strongly represented.

Other that changing the year of the story from 2560 to 2201 and changing some of the characters' backstories, the anime adaptation captures the high-speed races, characters' personalities and alien planets very well. There are some pretty exciting moments now and then and the whole anime is worth watching. Plot twists are especially relevant after the 22nd episode, leaving 29 more for actual story development which only gets more interesting.

My biggest complaint is that they didn't fully explain everything. You're never sure why Captain Falcon became Captain Falcon, for example, and it's occasionally predictable, but it's worth watching. However, if you do watch it and you're not used to subtitles, you should get used to them. Because only 14 or so episodes were ever dubbed in English. And that was by 4Kids, who were responsible for Pokemon and Sonic X, so the voice acting can get pretty hammy in the English dub. Otherwise, it's well worth checking out and is responsible for getting me into F-Zero's games.