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Most of the races take place on Earth
If Mute City in F-Zero is New York as we know it now, that means that at least some of the races take place here on our home planet. But in F-Zero GX's Story Mode, we're never given any indication that Falcon ever leaves the surface of one planet, meaning that it all took place on one world. Here are where some of the courses are: Red Canyon is likely the Grand Canyon, as there is a river running through it. You can see the river in the Red Canyon Story Mode course, in Chapter Two. Big Blue was once a city attached to a continent, likely the American West Coast. It was likely Paradise City from Burnout Paradise, which became Pacific City from Crackdown, which became Oceania from Extreme-G 3. Port Town may be San Francisco, or any number of other West Coast cities, making Captain Falcon an American. This means that in F-Zero, Earth Is the Center of the Universe.
  • This may be partially true; Silence, at least, is a different planet (It's stated in GP Legend that Silence has no inhabitants, hence the name) Phantom Road is likely some random area in space, Outer Space probably is too. The other areas are all on the same planet, most likely. Unless you seriously believe GP Legend and think that Mute City covers the entire old earth like the map screen in Story Mode suggests.
    • The GP Legend games and anime take place in a separate continuity from the main games. I mentioned F-Zero GX, which is a main game. I don't believe that Mute City could cover the entire planet. However, we never have received any indications against Earth being the location of multiple racecourses.
  • Except that it's All There in the Manual that this isn't true. It's all on different planets.

James McCloud is actually from the Lylat System
Think about these two facts:
  • They share a technology known as the "G-Diffuser" system. In F-Zero, it's used to keep the race crafts off the ground (If only just); in Star Fox, it's used to keep flight craft aloft.
  • One character from each series is named "James McCloud." He suffers a Death by Origin Story in Star Fox, but he's still there in F-Zero. Maybe the two are related?

Andross may have thought that turning him into a full-fledged human would be A Fate Worse Than Death. Sending him off to Earth, an unfamiliar place, would have been the icing on the cake. James also had his memory erased, and he only remembers his name. The squadron "Galaxy Dog" was just a cover story, implanted in his mind just to give him a reason to own the ship he was given. However, knowledge of the G-Diffuser technology has awakened some old memories, and James is now thinking to what his life was in Lylat. He will eventually uncover the truth...

  • Thoroughly debunked by the creators themselves long ago, who admitted there is no connection, it's an in-joke based on the fact that Star Fox and F-Zero both had their characters designed by Takaya Imamura.

The game takes place in the Mega Man universe
Mute City could totally be the city where Mega Man and co. lives, or the first level of Mega Man X (or, well, any city of the series). This is also why you can die so easily: either you are falling in a Bottomless Pits or on Spikes of Doom.

Mute City, Port Town, and Red Canyon are all futuristic versions of notable places in the United States.
This is going off of the anime, which states that Mute City is New York City... in the future. In the Story Mode of GX, Captain Falcon starts off by training in Port Town. The next day (Chapter 2), he bumps into Samurai Goroh while riding through Red Canyon. After winning, Falcon speeds off to Mute City and arrives there by sunset.

Now, this is just conjecture on my part, but if Mute City is indeed The Big Apple, then my guess is that Red Canyon is the Grand Canyon and Port Town is somewhere on the West Coast, presumably in California. Think about it. NYC is indeed a very important trade center for America, in the same way that Mute City is the center of trade and commerce in the galaxy. I'll let you do the math with the Grand Canyon. (Or, you can scroll up to the top of the page and read the first WMG in this section. Either will suffice.)

As for Port Town being on the other side of the U.S., the F-Zero machines (as of GX) cruise around at a default average of 1000km/h. That's pretty darn fast. If Falcon left Port Town in the morning at those kinds of speeds, he probably could make it to the West Coast by sunset. And yes, that is factoring in the short "race" he had with Goroh.

However, I have no clue where this would place Lightning and Aeropolis (the former being a short distance outside of Mute City according to Story Mode; the latter is presumably also on Earth).

  • Expanding upon that, Port Town could be Long Beach, CA. It's a port town IRL (now handling both water and space travel in the game), and it hosts longest-running street race in the US.

The game takes place in the Lylat System in an Alternate Universe.
  • Both have a James McCloud, but one is a human and the other is an anthro fox. Two of the prominent racers in F-Zero drive machines called Golden Fox and Blue Falcon; The Hero and The Lancer of Star Fox are a golden fox and a blue falcon. Also, one of the endings of Star Fox Command has said hero and lancer quit their mercenary work and go to race in the Lylat GP... also known as the G-Zero GP. The similarities are staggering.
    • Not to mention that both series power crafts using the "G-Diffuser" propulsion system. And both take place in a universe where fantastic technology, interstellar society, and hidden magic forces all exist simultaneously. Also, Captain Falcon has an evil twin/rival, much like a certain furry pilot. And both series have their share of mercs, bounty hunters, and space bandits. And hey, while we're at it, Great Fox, Falcon Flyer? If it's not an alternate universe, then it's either one of the biggest collections of inter-series references Nintendo's ever amassed, or a hell of a coincidence. On the other hand, maybe Nintendo just really likes using this stuff.

Captain Falcon has a counterpart in an alternate universe
Who drives a bike rather than a car, never removes his helmet with incorporated Cool Shades, whose blue uniform with eagle motifs is instantly recognizable, who has a gun and uses it, whose punches are legendary, whose mighty chin is the most you see of his face, who chases criminals for a living... Did you really need to highlight this?

F-Zero is the Professional Wrestling of the future
Given the Lucha Libre inspirations of some of the characters, the outlandish backstories and rivalries, the fact that racers can be "retired" in fiery explosions but still show up fine for the next race, and F-Zero GX's TV Interviews (with characters that would probably not be willing to conduct such a thing), it's not too far to assume it's choreographed.
  • Additionally, Black Shadow's Master Class video in GX (more or less a blooper reel, complete with Deathborn apologizing to an injured Black Shadow after throwing him into the camera) would suggest that the characters are Animated Actors.
  • And Zoda blatantly admits to cheating, and Blood Falcon casually talks about either killing or murdering certain people, and talks about avoiding his arrest.
  • That would also explain why Blood has a different voice from Falcon despite allegedly being his exact genetic duplicate. For all we know, the backstories and rivalries are just fabrications to make the characters interesting (for example, the Arrows could be a Kayfabe couple instead of real life spouses); the Truce Zone seen in Chapter 3 of GX's Story Mode (where everyone is seen drinking and chatting at the Bet Race diner) perhaps verifies this.
    • Or maybe this is a silly sci-fi racing game made by a team of highly imaginative Japanese people and set in a futuristic world where strangeness is the norm and the main villain is shown quite clearly to be a very real threat to everyone.
      • Hm... You may be onto something with your fun spoiling, my friend.

The series will see a revival on the Wii U.
Sadly, this theory is Jossed by time.

The next game will use the Hedgehog Engine
It's most likely that the Wii U will be the next destination for the new F-Zero, and the Wii U should be powerful enough to handle the engine. Also, F-Zero is the only other series besides recent Sonic games that have fast enough movement to take advantage of the engine, and Sega had a hand in GX.

Captain Falcon's ancestor was Judge Dredd
Look at them side by side. It's possibly logical that after some many years after Mega City One, New York became Mute City in 24th century. Which somehow Judges started to come away to form the Galtaic Federation. It was then Captain Falcon's DNA who was cloned by Internova Police Force....

There will never be another F-Zero game
With the creativity and massive popularity of the Mario Kart series, Nintendo didn't think that making two competing racing franchises made much sense. So, they just went with plumber boy.
  • Also, F-Zero GX could be seen as a Tough Act to Follow: Because it's the most successful game in the series by far, Nintendo could be worried that if they make a new F-Zero game, it'll inevitably be compared to GX and be treated as kusoge at best. After all, look at what happened with F-Zero GP Legend. (To be fair, its property as a tie-in to the anime of the same name might've been the main reason it tanked instead.)

Conversely, there will be a new F-Zero game. Eventually. Probably on the next Nintendo console as opposed to the Wii U.
Because, honestly, there's plenty out there to consider adding to the series formula (though it's certainly not required), and F-Zero's lack of gimmicks and reliance on skill over luck makes it the perfect complement to the more haphazard antics of Mario Kart. The two series are different enough to co-exist comfortably (you're comparing a party-styled kart racer to a more arcadey experience that is still pretty unique among racers) and when Miyamoto says he and his cohorts can't think of anything worthwhile to add to the game to make it great, it gives the impression that they're either trying too hard or not trying hard enough; it's only a matter of time before something dawns on them.

Just look at FAST Racing NEO: it's F-Zero (with a little bit of WipEout) plus Ikaruga and it looks amazing. F-Zero fans were ridiculously hyped for it when shown at E3 2015.

We're talking about the one Nintendo franchise that doesn't need to be inventive with its gameplay ideas, but let's dip our toes in the water anyway. Beyond the expected new racers/vehicles and courses as well as HD visuals, Nintendo could do any or all of the following:

  • get Shin'en to help develop (Nintendo apparently didn't like Sega's contributions to GX, strangely enough, and Shin'en, which has a longstanding working relationship with the company and is one of Nintendo's "partner developers" for the Switch, clearly knows their way around a racer)
  • have 12-man 30-man races in online multiplayer (with and without bots) that still runs at 60fps
  • implement a gameplay feature or two from another racing series that could mesh well with the "futuristic formula racing" premise (ex. drafting/slipstreaming from Mario Kart DS and Ridge Racer, with NASCAR-style tandem drafting available in co-op races; exaggerated drifting/powersliding mechanics as seen in Daytona USA, Ridge Racer, and the modern OutRun titles; turbo boosts awarded by/while drifting similar to Mario Kart, Crash Team Racing and its sequels, Ridge Racer; etc.)
  • introduce "off-road" segments for the courses, perhaps secret routes/shortcuts at that, which take you down onto the surfaces of the various planets themselves; alternatively, some of the tracks are designed only in this fashion, giving them a rally racing feel
  • incorporate car and level editors a la the X Expansion Kit and GX (the Wii U's GamePad would've actually been perfect for this, which makes Miyamoto's comments about needing a controller with unique functionality to "justify" a new game all the more perplexing, but I digress)
  • expand on the Story Mode from GX—which includes (further) fleshing out the entirety of the cast—and finally show Falcon doing his bounty hunting work, presumably in a series of Hot Pursuit-style missions; there could be an open world element with the racers traveling between destinations
  • bring back Death Race from X, possibly rehauled as Burnout/Project Gotham Racing/Split/Second (2010)-esque full contact stunt races
  • borrow Bomb Chasers (which would double as a nod to Chapter 6 of GX's Story Mode) and Chicken from Konami Krazy Racers to use as extra Battle Modes

That took roughly ten minutes to devise, whereas Nintendo has been sitting on F-Zero for a decade. Is it innovative? No, not really. But at this point, what is? And better yet, does the sheer speed demon that is F-Zero really need a whole lot of tweaking when it's the equivalent of 500+cc by default?

If there's ever a new F-Zero game, it will feature guest racers from other Nintendo games.
Nintendo likes cross-promotion, and it wouldn't be the first time Captain Falcon has shown up in a crossover. As for guest racers, Samus Aran would probably fit in well.
  • Also Fox McCloud could put in an appearance, leading to in-game jokes regarding this game's James McCloud.
  • Why stop at racers? Ninty could add remakes of Mario Kart courses as unlockables or DLC, much like MK64 Rainbow Road in X.
If a new F-Zero comes to the Switch, it will be titled F-Zero NX (as opposed to F-Zero SX).
Thus continuing with the naming conventions of the previous console entries (and AX) while serving as a nice little Development Gag to the Switch's original codename.
F-Zero takes place in the same universe as Starfox, but a different galaxy
Leon was originally born on Corneria before moving to Zou as a small child where his parents were killed. He may have heard of the Starfox team, but knew the original team of James, Peppy and Pigma. He talked about it with the F-Zero James who then took the idea to make his racer identity in an attempt to stand out among the colourful cast. It's basically just really insensitive branding, since he has no way of knowing that the James he modeled his brand and racing machine after has died.

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