Futuristic racing

Futuristic racing is a subgenre of arcade racing that takes the genre's mechanics and places them into a far-future science fiction setting. It typically forgoes the wheels of typical arcade racers in favor of anti-gravity races, and incorporates imagery associated with conceptual high-tech designs. The genre first emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with the success of Atari Games' S.T.U.N. Runner and Nintendo's F-Zero [エフゼロ]. The latter enjoyed success alongside the WipEout franchise, though the genre's peak of popularity arrived in 1999, with Star Wars Episode I: Racer selling over 3 million copies. While Studio Liverpool, WipEout's developer, became defunct in 2012, games in the genre have still been made and seen moderate success, such as Shin'en Multimedia's Fast Racing franchise.