Wipeout (the original) is F'ing Brilliant!

[Anthony1]

Man, I was just playing some Wipeout on the PS1, and I must say that this game is definitely a bonifide classic, that should go down in video game History as a true classic and a representation of one of the best games that 1995 had to offer.

To think that this was a launch game is just silly. I mean, it really is an absolutely top notch game, and to think that this game was the first crack at the PS1 by this development team is just baffling to me.


The playability of the game is very, very good. The only downside to the game is that the tracks are a little too narrow, and when you hit one of your enemies with a missle, it's very hard not to crash into them after you hit them. But other than that, the playability is fantastic.

The graphics are amazing. Especially for a first generation game on that system. This is the game that basically killed the Saturn, because when people saw this game in motion, they knew that the Playstation was the clear cut champion when it came to handling 3D.

The sound. Wow. The sound is sweet. I'm not really a big fan of this type of music, but the quality of this music makes me a fan whether I like it or not. I would like to get this music on CD for my car! And it's not just the background music with this game. The sound effects are amazing too. When going through tunnels you get a totally different sound, and all of the various sound effects are top notch. I'm pretty sure this game is in Dolby Surround Sound.


The original Wipeout is fantastic, and I know that many people prefer one of the sequels, (I think Wipeout XL is considered the best) but the original is just so damn special.

Whenever I come up with my all time top ten Playstation games, I know that Wipeout has to find a place somewhere on that list.

That is going to be a very hard list to make, but Wipeout definitely deserves it's recognition in the top 10.

[shvnsth]

ive loved the series since i got wipeout 3 for $3, and i would have to say that my favorite is between 3 and the one for psp. never really played the original that much, have to try it out.

[petewhitley]

A defining moment that really brought me back into gaming was around the launch of the PS1. A locally owned gaming store had a big projection-style TV (probably 60 inches or so) running Wipeout. The owner of the store just looked at me and grinned as a customer raced his way through a course. At the time it was such a radical departure from the SNES/Genesis games I had back at my dorm room, I didn't even consider it something I could get in to. I was almost in a state of shock. I came back a day or two later and picked up the system along with Wipeout and Twisted Metal (another defining game of the early 32bit generation).

[Neil Koch]

The sound. Wow. The sound is sweet. I'm not really a big fan of this type of music, but the quality of this music makes me a fan whether I like it or not.

The soundtrack is what really got me to get a PS1. I'm not a big techno guy (more of a metalhead) but I bought the game when I was working at Target and would crank it up while I was working in the stockrooms... eventually, I had to get something to play the actual game on

[evildead2099]

Does Wipeout play along the lines of Super Mario Kart? It looks cool, and I've heard nothing but good about the series, especially Wipeout XL.

[petewhitley]

Does Wipeout play along the lines of Super Mario Kart? It looks cool, and I've heard nothing but good about the series, especially Wipeout XL.

Probably the only similarity is the weapon-based racing, though to be fair you can actually perform pretty well in Wipeout without using the weapons to a significant degree. The Mario Kart series pretty much owes its life to multiplayer, while the Wipeout series has never really put much of a focus on that (though Wipeout 64 made a bold attempt at four-player matches). Wipeout is the kind of game you play with headphones on, a Red Bull by your side, and wake up four hours later bemoaning the fact that you live in the 21st century and work a desk job.

[AlexKidd]

The first wipeout is definitely one of the best games on the ps1 in my opinion. One of the few 3d ones that is still playable and good looking today. I also enjoy the psp version and you can unlock some of the levels from the first one.

[anagrama]

Welcome to 1995.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Or 1974.
Ain't I just a stinker?

[Kroogah]

Welcome to 1995.

Good point. We should only be allowed to talk about brand new video games here at the Retrogaming Roundtable.

[anagrama]

That's not what I was meaning, as you well know. It's just that it seems every time Anthony1 plays a new game he instantly has to rush over here to clue in all us poor uneducated plebs who had no idea Wipeout was a good game.
I mean, hell, it was only one of the biggest and most heavily promoted games on one of the biggest and most heavily promoted systems ever. I bet "Wipeout = great game" is a stunning revelation to everyone here, right?

[petewhitley]

That's not what I was meaning, as you well know. It's just that it seems every time Anthony1 plays a new game he instantly has to rush over here to clue in all us poor uneducated plebs who had no idea Wipeout was a good game.
I mean, hell, it was only one of the biggest and most heavily promoted games on one of the biggest and most heavily promoted systems ever. I bet "Wipeout = great game" is a stunning revelation to everyone here, right?

Here we were having a smurfingly good discussion about one of the more smurfbreaking games of the Playsmurf 1 era when you had to smurf in and smurf it all up with mucksmurfing. Smurfdamnit, let's get back to smurfing about Wipeout and how much it kicks smurf.

[anagrama]

OK, sorry for shit-stirring, I'll back off and shut up now.

(Don't say I didn't warn you when we get the "Hey, have you guys heard of this game called Tetris? It's actually quite good fun" thread though... )

[Oobgarm]

EDIT: Oops!

[kainemaxwell]

Wipeout XL and Wipeout 3 take everything good and add so much more to it- cooler music, cars, etc.

[eden]

What are the differences, mainly, between Wipeout 3 and Wipeout 3: Special Edition. I only have the special edition so is it worth my while buying the original too?

Darren

[Gamereviewgod]

The original is good, but the sequels are far better. The mechanic in the original to flip you when you hit a wall killed it for me since I play my racers from the "bumper" view. It's completely disorienting.

[Jive3D]

Yes, Wipeout is an excellent game. I firmly beleive that it was the only game of the Playstation launch titles that really has that "this is the future of gaming" quality to it.

Wipeout was also released on a little system called the Sega Saturn. I have both versions, but I have played the PS version more simply b/c I like the controller better (though I never attempted to play it with the NiGHTS 3D-pad)

The music is excellent. It's all created by a dude by the name of CoLD SToRAGE (aka Tim Wright) much of his game music (including tracks from W1P30UT & other games) can be downloaded from his official site at http://www.coldstorage.org.uk

I'm heavily into electronic music, and the wipeout games have served it up pretty well over the years...

To follow up with more info on the music - Wipeout XL (aka Wipeout 2097) instead of having a custom made soundtrack, used popular tracks from hot electronic artists at the time, including The Prodigy, Chem Bros, Underworld & Fluke. Wipeout XL actually has a custom soundtrack that was made by Tim Wright for the game, but for some reason it was not implemented into the PS1 version, maybe those tracks were used in the PC version, I've never played it, so I dont know - but I do have the Soundtrack CD to Wipeout XL and it is all original tracks created by Tim Wright (yes there is another soundtrack CD, which is way more common, that has all the songs that are actually in the game, as well as songs 'in the vein' of the game like Daft Punk's "musique" which was not in the game but is on the soundtrack for some reason.)

Wipeout 3's soundtrack was mixed and compiled by Sasha (aka Alexander Coe) Sasha is one of my favorite DJs regardless of his work on Wipeout 3's soundtrack, but he did a great job selecting and remixing tracks from artists like Paul van Dyk, MKL & Orbital - he also wrote a few tracks specifically for the game such as "Feisar" & "Auricom."

Wipeout Fusion is the bastard child of the series, and I like it the least, regardless of the fact that it has more in common with Pod Racer, I'm sticking strictly to the soundtrack here - the soundtrack might as well have been the soundtrack to SSX, it was electronic, but it was not electronic with the calibur necessary for a wipeout game.

Wipeout 64 is mostly a remix of Wipeout XL, but there are a few additional race tracks & options (4 player split screen goodness!) as well as songs that don't appear in Wipeout XL such as 'Bang On' by the Propellerheads...

Wipeout 3 SE is a UK only released, since it's PAL only, I've never had a chance to play it to find out all of the extra bells and whistles that it has. but I do know that it contains a few classic race tracks from Wipeout 1 as well as some extra music tracks.

The PSP version, Wipeout Pure really put Wipeout back on the map, the music in my opinion is just as good as Wipeout 3, but it does not sound (slightly) dated as the Wipeout 3 soundtrack now does. And it sure helped that it doesnt suck anywhere near as much as Wipeout Fusion.

In the end, my favorite game is still Wipeout 3, I dont understand why some people like XL over 3 - I think 3 has a much more streamlined minimalist look and feel to it - the Designers Republic really hit the nail on the head. I find Wipeout 1 to be a little bit hard to deal with now, simply b/c the series has advanced so much in years after the release of the first game.

There is also a very interesting article in a recent issue of PSM about Wipeout (though they have errors in their article a little bit) It's the issue with the orange cover and the drawing of some space age looking guy holding a PSP. I'll get the issue number later...unless someone knows it now...

[Xexyz]

EDIT: Nevermind, I'm thinking of a different game series who's name I can't seem to remember.

2nd EDIT: I was thinking of Jet Moto 2 It was a good game too though

[Anthony1]

That's not what I was meaning, as you well know. It's just that it seems every time Anthony1 plays a new game he instantly has to rush over here to clue in all us poor uneducated plebs who had no idea Wipeout was a good game.
I mean, hell, it was only one of the biggest and most heavily promoted games on one of the biggest and most heavily promoted systems ever. I bet "Wipeout = great game" is a stunning revelation to everyone here, right?

eat me