Wipeout

"A very good futuristic racing game"

This is one of those few good Playstation games that made it to Saturn (the other being Resident Evil) The game incase you didn't know is that your a hover craft type thing driver on tracks around the world. You go around the tracks in insane speeds, picking up power ups and speed boosts as you go. What you end up with is a very cool and a very enjoyable game. The game has great graphics, gameplay, and a great sense of speed!

Graphics: 9
The graphics are great, high polygon count, almost no pop-up, and all going by at a nice high frame rate. They are in a lower resolution than the PSX version but that's just to keep the speed up. Every thing in the game is just great looking. My only complaint is that the last track, looks a little too blue, if you've played the game you know exactly what I mean.

Sound: 9
The sound is perfect, everything sounds great. The crashes, announcer, the silky smooth noise of your car. There is almost nothing to complain about except the annoying noise when you select something. There are no really bad SFX or music in the game. The music is all techno, which is not my favorite (I like Punk rock), but I guess it's the kind of music for this kind of game. I mean, it really wouldn't be the same experiance if Operation Ivy was in the back ground, and everything else is all techno and futuristic. It may even hurt the gameplay in my opinion...

Gameplay: 8.5
The gameplay is a little tricky when you start. The tight controls will make you crash into the wall a lot in the begining, after about 10 minutes you'll get the hang of it. The blazing speed and power ups work great. My only complaint is that in this version (the first wipeout), is unlike the the later ones, the shield is non-existant. So there are no eliminations. But it wouldn't be a port if they included things from the later games now would it?

Replay Value: 7
The game is pretty short (about 5-6 tracks) and after you beat that you get a faster class of racers. But after 2 championships it's over for good. And it's not that hard either. No 2 player hurts this game alot. Without 2 player mode you will probably master the tracts, win both circuts, and never play again. The only saving grace is Time Attack, where you can race to get the fastest times.

OVERALL: 8.4

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/26/01, Updated 03/06/01