WipEout
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PSP
| WipEout

To understand WipEout, we need some historical context. When the original PlayStation launched in Europe, it was accompanied by a game that for many rewrote the rules completely. The summer of 1995 was a long one and while most gamers were avidly awaiting the release of Mortal Kombat 3, one of the era's biggest licenses and largely considered to be a benchmark setter in the graphics department, along came a little game called WipEout. And it changed everything.

Featuring packaging and a booklet created by the fashionable graphic design company, The Designers Republic, and a hip licensed soundtrack containing the likes of the then obscure Chemical Brothers, WipEout was a game that redefined gaming as trendy, something it had never been accused of before.

But clever marketing nuances would have meant little had WipEout been a substandard racer. Sony was trumpeting the PlayStation as a vision of gaming's future, dizzying in comparison to the previous 16-bit era and Psygnosis' style conscious racer followed through on that boast; WipEout was a gravity-defying leap forward in console gaming and an apt poster boy for the hallowed 'next generation'.

But that was then and this is now. With a PSP version available on the PSP Store, the question we're most concerned with is whether WipEout has stood the test of time? The versions of WipEout that have already been released on the PSP are arguably two of the system's best offerings, so besides the need to hurtle down memory lane at 300mph, is WipEout worth £3.49 when the far superior WipEout Pure can be found for as little as £5 these days?

We're going to go with 'yes', but not without a few conditions.

First, few games that are 13 years of age could claim to have held onto their youthful good looks quite like WipEout has. Sure, there is some pretty noticeable horizon update, granted the textures are a bit rough in places, and as far as all those amphetamine drenched effects of Pure and Pulse go, don't even think about it.

But when the game is in full forward charge and you're trying to line up a rocket with the racer in front while simultaneously navigating headlong death-slides and breakneck hairpins, the combined effect is intoxicating. The sense of speed and motion was always WipEout's main strength, helped in no small part by the convincing feeling of being genuinely disembodied from the track rushing beneath you, and by the second lap here, veteran players should feel as much comfort and familiarity as they do nostalgia.

An aspect that hasn't aged so well is the game's structure. WipEout was hewn in a much less forgiving time, when reaching the end of a game was an achievement comparable to bending spoons with your mind. By today's standard play and reward structures where new cars, tracks, classes and modes are unlocked summarily at the completion of even the most modest goals, WipEout's Championship mode three-tries-and-back-to-the-start set-up may feel a little unforgiving.

Even so, there is the option to practise on all of the tracks individually in Time Trial mode so that when you're faced with them in the Championship you can best them with ease.

Our only other criticism is that, while we understand the appeal of keeping things historically correct, it would have been nice if Sony had done more than just port the original across exactly as was. The multiplayer option, which on the original PlayStation took place via a serial link cable, could have easily been adapted for wireless play and perhaps opening up the more difficult classes and the hidden seventh track (Firestar) from the start would have made the PSP version more compelling value-wise.

Even so, when games are as thoroughbred as this, complaints made as a result of direct comparison to today's standards seem unfair and it is testament to WipEout's rock-solid formula that we churlishly expect such modern features from such an old game. When it comes down to it, if you were a fan of the original then the PSP version is more than just a nostalgia trek; if you've never played it, then consider this a very valuable history lesson.

WipEout

Though it may have been bettered by the PSP's own WipEout releases, the classic version is still an excellent bite of retro gaming, especially for less than a fiver
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