For the love of... Wipeout

The release of Playstation in Europe came hand-in-hand with the launch of what would be the first in a long series of zero-gravity racing games - Wipeout.

The game had a distinct style, something gritty and real. Visual concepts by The Designers Republic and a drum and bass soundtrack meant the game felt ahead of the curve aesthetically. Even without any form of multiplayer function, the original Wipeout game hammered home an inherent determination to win or shave miliseconds off your best lap times. You wanted it, even if it it was going to take blood, sweat and tears to achieve, you were going to put in the time needed to succeed.

Developers Psygnosis (who later became Sony Studio Liverpool) created an environment people wanted to immerse themselves in. Whether it was the high jump of the Kordera track in Russia (Wipeout), the devilish twists of Spilskinanke track in the US (Wipeout 2097), or the tight left hand dogs-leg near the start of Chenghou Project (Wipeout Pure & HD) - each track became ingrained in the racer's memory.

Sometimes you'd get into the groove hitting each corner perfectly, while gaining momentum for the next. Failure would result in either the destruction of your ship if your armour was running low, or would see you grinding to a halt only to watch your opponents sail past.

As you improved, you started to learn the racing lines and catching the necessary speed boosts liberally dotted around the track. After a while, twisting the ship through impossible degrees to make corners and jumps seemed easy. As your skills progressed, the lap times came down and the desire to see them reduced even further often took over.

However, some corners still cause headaches for the finest pilots. Oddessa Keys near the Black Sea (Wipeout 2097) had a make-or-break chicane which players would often tackle with a saved auto-pilot power-up. Failure to nail it perfectly could result in a greatdeal of swearing as it often caused you to lose the race.

In each race, all competitors could collect weapons from the coloured crosses dotted around the track. Although basic in the initial game - missiles, rockets and the pulse cannon which messed up the craft control - these quickly advanced in future games with multi-targetting missiles and the fan favourite, the quake.

Each game had distinct racing syndicates, such as the steady and reliable Feisar, the agile but weak AG Systems, Auricom sat somewhere in the middle and the burly but slow Qirex could withstand a total battering. Each outfit pandered to the racing style of the individual players, meaning there really was a style for everyone.

The latest PSP and PS3 titles have taken the series to a new online audience. The network is alight with trash-talking messages following tournaments, stating who is king and who are the minions, showing the Wipeout scene is well and truly alive to this day. With the possibility of more downloadable add-ons hitting the PSN store, such as old tracks, new challenges and awards, there seems you really can teach old dogs new tricks.