Favourite WipEout game?

[mr_m0nks]

Over the last few weeks I have picked up all the PS1 and PS2 WipEout games as well as a PSP with Pure and Pulse.

At the moment I would say my favourite are WipEout 3 and Pure.

Does anyone else still play the older WipEout games?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I like playing the PSX game of WipeoutXL (aka Wipeout 2097 in Europe) with a proper Namco Negcon controller in 1st person perspective viewpoint for that overall dramatic semi-VR presentation.

I wonder how good the 3-D effects are when playing both PS3 based Wipeout HD and/or WipeoutHD Fury with an 3-D LCD TV monitor & special LCD-type shutter type 3-D glasses. As of right now, they're priced in the $2,000-$3,000 USD range. Eventually, the flatpanel widescreen aspect ratio TV manufacturers will start to make the smaller 3-D endowed TVs in the 32" catagory & smaller.

Tis a shame that the intial Blu-Ray release of Avatar isn't being released in 3-D and with no extra content whatsoever. It'll be just the film + enough space for the HD audio output support for various HDMI stereo recievers out there currently on the market. 20th Century Fox says that they'll eventually release a proper 3-D Blu-Ray version of Avatar later on.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Skykid]

I can say with 100% certainty that Wipeout 2097 is still the best of the lot. Not necessarily by wide margin as it's a great series in general, but that gets my vote for number 1.

[Ganelon]

The original WipeEout is the only game in the series with actual characters, which was a nice touch. XL has probably the best mechanics. Wip3out has the awesome Xpander music track (if only the Special Edition made it to the US...).

Does anyone serious actually play them in a 3rd person view? As with any racer, I can't imagine playing well without making sure your angles are perfect, esp. here where you also need to maintain a a narrow proximity with the edges.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

I seen mad good people on Youtube playing third-person, so it's probably a preference thing.

I like Pure and Pulse the most, but they're unplayable for me in the higher speed classes. The engine that supports them just can't keep up a smooth frame rate when going really fast and all kinds of crap is going on. I find it disorienting.

I'd probably like HD the best since well, it's part Pure and Pulse HD and silky smooth 60FPS no matter what. It sure looks sweet.

Edit: BTW, it sucks that they never re-released Wipeout Pulse with all the DLC. I'd have bought it again just for that.

[Skykid]

The original WipeEout is the only game in the series with actual characters, which was a nice touch. XL has probably the best mechanics. Wip3out has the awesome Xpander music track (if only the Special Edition made it to the US...).

Does anyone serious actually play them in a 3rd person view? As with any racer, I can't imagine playing well without making sure your angles are perfect, esp. here where you also need to maintain a a narrow proximity with the edges.

I can only play Wipeout in 3rd person. I had some insane record time on Valparaiso (2097/XL) three perfect laps with the Quirex - might have to dig out the old mem card to see if it still exists.

(That Xpander track is amazing too, agreed! )

[nem]

I love this series

2097 (or XL for you yanks) is still my pick of the lot. Superb visual style and graphics that still hold up, not to mention the amazing soundtrack. Grab a NegCon for the ultimate experience

[Zaarock]

Wipe3out, never played the PSP ones or HD(wish I could). Love the graphical design and the game has a great soundtrack as mentioned already. The logo and ship design is part of the reason I started making vector graphics, and some 3d modeling. The vertical movement in W3 is interesting, you can bounce around and use it to your advantage in some turns, use the hyperboost to fly over other racers, etc. Did they remove the floating around and bouncing off the ground in the PSP games? I hated how they removed it from Fusion.
I actually have the mac port of XL/2097, you can play it at 60fps and in high res, lots of fun. Never liked it more than Wipeout 3 though.
I'll pick up Wip3out SE if I find a copy for cheap.

@Ganelon: Wipeout Fusion for the PS2 had characters, two for each team. Mediocre game though.

[Arcatech]

The first three wipeouts are all great games imo.

I have a soft spot for the soundtrack on the original though. Cold Storage.. He kind of dropped off the map didn't he.

Also thought the minimal menus in wipeout 3 were great.

[Cuilan]

I've played a bit of most of the Wipeouts, but the only one I've played extensively is Wipeout HD and it is fucking awesome.

[sjewkestheloon]

I love Pure, especially after I added in the extra downloadable tracks and teams.

I am terrible at racing games overall but I don't mind loosing in Wipeout games as it's so damn stylish and tight.

I really need to pick up the PS1 games again as I would love to follow the series through from the start again. I'll never forget the impact Wipeout had on me when it was released.

[neorichieb1971]

I like them all apart from the PSP one which I don't like because of the system itself.

Wipeout 3 on the PS3 is just pure class. The 1080p resolution is testament to studio Liverpools pedigree, they just seem to be able to do things other studios cannot do. The original PS3 code was only 1GB in size, truly an incredible achievement. Its just a shame they have shoe horned their whole studio into one franchise (Well, for what they are renowned for).

[nem]

I have a soft spot for the soundtrack on the original though. Cold Storage.. He kind of dropped off the map didn't he.

You should check out the Saturn version of 2097. They couldn't get the licensed music for the port, so Cold Storage made an all new soundtrack for it.

The last ten years the guy's been more or less working of music software, but he did work on the soundtrack of Gravity Crash, which is a PSN title released late last year. Needless to say, the game has an awesome soundtrack

[greg]

Specineff and I are big Wipeout fans. I think I speak for both of us that Wip3out has the best gameplay and the best soundtrack. I'd love to get to play the SE of it. Lately I've been playing the PS2 port of Pure. I like it a lot, but what I liked so much about Wip3out was the spreadsheet-like grid that tracked each track and each medal accomplished for each car and for each racing circuit. It's rewarding if you are OCD and completist.

By the way, is anyone interested in the Japanese import of Wip3out? I bought it on accident thinking that it was the official soundtrack, which I was pretty sure existed at one point.

[Skykid]

Specineff and I are big Wipeout fans. I think I speak for both of us that Wip3out has the best gameplay and the best soundtrack.

Except it doesn't cos 2097 has has a more balanced overall campaign (Wip3out is a touch overlong and becomes very frustrating at times.)

Still, it's silly arguing about two beautiful games - YGPM!

[Arcatech]

Thanks for the suggestion Nem. I'll see if I can find a cheap copy on ebay or something.

I wonder how well the Saturn port compares to the psx original though. I got a chance to play the wipeout 1 port for saturn and the gfxs took a huge dip in quality.