As a long-time Falcon fan, I feel like his best shot at a new game is go off in a totally new direction. Mario Kart has a death grip on the Nintendo racing game ticket, and perhaps rightly so. It's fun for even the most casual fans, has an array of difficulty levels for stages, is wacky and whimsical, and the characters are universally-recognized icons for the Nintendo brand. F-Zero loses hope of returning in a traditional format with each passing console generation that it fails to appear and Mario Kart continues to rock it.
So why not show us the other side of Captain Falcon's life. He's a racer AND a bounty hunter, after all. There are limitless possibilities for a bounty-based game where Cap can run around, ham it up, and collect dosh for bringing in interstellar criminals. Let him put that holstered piece to use for a change, and confirm that it's a zappy laser blaster if a wanna keep it friendly for all ages. You could explore seedy port towns, engage in combat, get a few ship and racing segments...it's the game I've been thinking about for a while. That and an open world, Ice Climber 3D exploration game that plays like a cuddly, co-op Elder Scrolls.
More than anything, I just want Falcon to get out from the Mario Kart shadow and kick some bad guy butt with a YEHS screen for every take-down.