Wipeout (PS1, 1995)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-8 Control-6.5 Challenge-8/9* Story-?
Level Design-7 Frustration-8/9* Fun-7/6* Originality-6
Overall Score-6.5
*Rapier tournament
+
2-player vs (link cable only though)
Boosters and power ups (rocket, homing rocket, mines, shield, super booster)
More solid and smooth geometry overall than in Ridge Racer (one exception is when you bump into other cars)
Very good art direction (except for the cartoony results portraits which clash a bit with the rest)
OK intro (dated CGI but at least they didn't try to show humans)
Skippable bootup logos and intro
First and third person cameras
Pretty fun courses overall (branching paths, hills, jumps, tunnels)
Some nice audio details (crowd noise near the goal, echo in tunnels and valleys (annoyingly loud though))
Nutton and audio configs
Tournament mode
Pretty solid framerate
Pretty good sense of speed with the boosters
Better sound and texture (?) quality than in the N64 version
Save feature (nameable slots)
Change music tracks during races
Unlockable hard mode/second tournament (rapier)
Decent amount of tracks (rapier is just night time versions of the first tournament with ~50% faster cars though)
+/-
~8 seconds of loading before and after each race as well as when booting up the game
Randomized power up containers
Can't get destroyed or destroy other cars?
Can't carry more than one power up at a time
Need to use air breaks before curves for them to be effective (so you need to learn the courses 100% to beat hard mode)
-
Huge speed loss from hitting walls at higher speeds (improved in the N64 version, hills can also slow you down considerably)
Glitchy hit detection at higher speeds
Getting shot right before a jump
Huge difficulty spike at silverstream/the ice course (why the hell is it slippery for hover cars?)
Trial & error (figuring out what each power up does, game only shows course maps when loading the race for a course and you can't display it during the race, no rear view mirror or camera angle (you do get a warning from the announcer when someone tries to attack you though)
So-so draw distance at times (slightly worse than in Ridge Racer overall, slightly better in the N64 version?) - makes the Rapier tournament really hard
No info on team or driver stats when picking them (teams are different while drivers aren't))
Lacking feedback from bumping into other cars and from the announcer when picking something up/reaching or losing first place/winning or losing (the results screen - improved in the N64 version)
No replays?
Hitting a cpu car with a shot and then bumping into it is better for the cpu than for you
The intro doesn't transition well into the title screen (different logo position, loading time)
Using a boost power up at a ramp can make you go off course and get picked up by the robot (that normally picks you up if you fail the jump - would've been more fun if you could jump really high and only get picked up if you land off course)
Can't discard a power up to get the next one
Level Design-7 Frustration-8/9* Fun-7/6* Originality-6
Overall Score-6.5
*Rapier tournament
+
2-player vs (link cable only though)
Boosters and power ups (rocket, homing rocket, mines, shield, super booster)
More solid and smooth geometry overall than in Ridge Racer (one exception is when you bump into other cars)
Very good art direction (except for the cartoony results portraits which clash a bit with the rest)
OK intro (dated CGI but at least they didn't try to show humans)
Skippable bootup logos and intro
First and third person cameras
Pretty fun courses overall (branching paths, hills, jumps, tunnels)
Some nice audio details (crowd noise near the goal, echo in tunnels and valleys (annoyingly loud though))
Nutton and audio configs
Tournament mode
Pretty solid framerate
Pretty good sense of speed with the boosters
Better sound and texture (?) quality than in the N64 version
Save feature (nameable slots)
Change music tracks during races
Unlockable hard mode/second tournament (rapier)
Decent amount of tracks (rapier is just night time versions of the first tournament with ~50% faster cars though)
+/-
~8 seconds of loading before and after each race as well as when booting up the game
Randomized power up containers
Can't get destroyed or destroy other cars?
Can't carry more than one power up at a time
Need to use air breaks before curves for them to be effective (so you need to learn the courses 100% to beat hard mode)
-
Huge speed loss from hitting walls at higher speeds (improved in the N64 version, hills can also slow you down considerably)
Glitchy hit detection at higher speeds
Getting shot right before a jump
Huge difficulty spike at silverstream/the ice course (why the hell is it slippery for hover cars?)
Trial & error (figuring out what each power up does, game only shows course maps when loading the race for a course and you can't display it during the race, no rear view mirror or camera angle (you do get a warning from the announcer when someone tries to attack you though)
So-so draw distance at times (slightly worse than in Ridge Racer overall, slightly better in the N64 version?) - makes the Rapier tournament really hard
No info on team or driver stats when picking them (teams are different while drivers aren't))
Lacking feedback from bumping into other cars and from the announcer when picking something up/reaching or losing first place/winning or losing (the results screen - improved in the N64 version)
No replays?
Hitting a cpu car with a shot and then bumping into it is better for the cpu than for you
The intro doesn't transition well into the title screen (different logo position, loading time)
Using a boost power up at a ramp can make you go off course and get picked up by the robot (that normally picks you up if you fail the jump - would've been more fun if you could jump really high and only get picked up if you land off course)
Can't discard a power up to get the next one