Is the original Wipeout the best?

[replicashooter]

Currently addicted to Wipeout Pure and am thinking of buying a PSone to play the first incarnation.

How does it compare?

[kekken3]

I'm totally addicted to some of the music of the first. Haven't seen the game running since we switched to 2097, but rediscovering Messij in the downloadable packs for Pure was blessing. I was just about to quit trying Pure - didn't really like it, but after hearing the first 15 seconds of that song all the greatest Wiepout moments - the greatness of the game, now buried under almost 10 years, instantly came back. I can now retry a race a million times with that song on.

[Task]

Well... "the best" for what?

Not that it really matters, what you really want to know is if it's worth it to get a PS1 and the original WO, and the answer to that is "like, totally!"

For pure challenge, you're not going to beat WO1. None of the sequels have been as difficult to master, or given so much back for your mastery.

Most important though is that you'll need a PS1 to play WOXL and W3O. And that WO trilogy (the first 3 combined) is definitely "the best". I'm not sure anyone would argue with that. 8 )

[Shem]

hmm, I, considering myself the "Original Wipeout" expert (you may start laughing now) can tell you this:


W'O" is a classic. If you want to feel the exact feel of this game, you'd have to jump into a flying Delorean and go back in time to see what gaming was all about back then. W'O"'s graphics were awesome. The music was off the hook. The gameplay was incredible, although some people complained about the difficulty level (every wall-hit literally stopped you). The game had its unique feel, it was really innovative, the design was futuristic. It's a kind of feel that you get only when you're fresh into gaming, and all of a sudden you see the holy grail of one genre (futuracing in this case). It's like being hit by a lightning and asking for more. That's how it was back then for many of us here.

So you see, it's impossible to recreate that feeling, simply because if you look at W'O" now, all you're gonna see is crappy graphics, crappy gameplay, crappy music, and the overall crappyness of the game. You're gonna see all that if you don't have any respect for the game that is. But if you set yourself in the times when the game got released, you're going to feel it. Don't expect the game to make you go back to good old times if you didn't experienced them. Don't expect the game to get you back in time, 'cause you have to get yourself back in time first to understand it. If you can do that - you're going to get it. And i don't mean 'get it' as in 'ok, i played the game, looks funny, but it's the original Wipeout alright'. You're going to get it on a higher level, so you'll undestand why some of us are here for years and still play the game, why some of us still identify themselves with the original teams like AG Sys.

I know it may sound weird to say the least, but this is how it goes. Wipeout is a piece of history, and it's difficult to compare it to the latest sequels. These are still anti gravity crafts floating over the track, racing with each other, and shooting their asses off. The rest is different since the Original Wipeout.

I'm telling you, try to get that feeling from the original game, and you'll understand everything.


PS. I don't care if I sound like a geek. I'm a wipeout geek. A proud one.

[The Ultimate Machine 244]

If you like the original Wipeout so much join my challenge in the Arena under the title of New Member New Challenge

PS. Shem, I like what you said about the original one. It really does take me back to when I was younger and entertained by the game. I am still entertained by it today as well. I could really use a guy like you in my challenge. I have to agree with you about AG Systems which is why I am going to change my Avatar. Your words have helped me to appreciate the original Wipeout more.

[The Ultimate Machine 244]

Currently addicted to Wipeout Pure and am thinking of buying a PSone to play the first incarnation.

How does it compare?

Hey replicashooter, if you want to really experience the full thrill of the first Wipeout find a Sega Saturn and the original Wipeout for it. I recomend you look for both of these on E-bay

[Lion]

the saturn versions of the game are a LOT harder to come by than the versions for playstation. also since playstation opens you up to playing wip3out(se) as well it's probably a better prospect than a saturn.

though if you want a PAL saturn, I have 3, and am willing to part with 2 of them

edit: trying again to buy them off ebay, hopefully I'll do better this time. anyone had any experience trading with hacksaw_jim?
buying wipEout and wipEout2097 for saturn off him (he's somewhere in the UK)

also: shouldn't this thread be under Wipeout rather than Wipeout Pure?

[Lance]

also: shouldn't this thread be under Wipeout rather than Wipeout Pure?

You are correct sir. I'm going to move it to the WipEout [Original] section.

[q_dmc12]

My wipeout addiction started with WO64 (N64 port of woXL/2097), but my addition was strengthened by WO3 - which btw is still my #1 fav to this day!

I never got a chance to play the original - I bought a used copy of it but it doesn't work.

[Lance]

PS. I don't care if I sound like a geek. I'm a wipeout geek. A proud one.

In my opinion, geeks are generally the best people. [I may be biased. ]

BTW, my first Wipeout was W3O, and I had much the same reaction to it as other people had to the original. [I didn't start playing videogames till year 2000.] I started my first race, and the floaty feel, the near silence of the ships, the surpisingly delicate noise of energy-shields scraping the walls, just made me think: I'm in another world from the one I've always lived in; this is different; this is the future.
It was great!

[piranha wiper]

its a personaly opinion, there can be countless threads about which WO is the best. i like the first one because its vintage, its the same with all these new technologys for cars, traction control, anti slip diffs etc. wipeout doesnt have any of the stuff that the rest do, such as the wall scraping (but thats mainly a matter of physics than technological advances) no health bar and no power booster from the health.

musics still the best tho

[Lance]

I like old cars without traction control; the driver gets to drive them instead of letting the computer do it. Real-life drivers should have to pass performance tests in non-computered cars, so when the computer control systems fail in everyday driving emergencies, the driver won't. We have too many unskilled drivers out on the roads already. Here in the U.S. at least.
End of rant/return to topic.

[Zerow]

My first WipEout experience was a demo of 2097. I was utterly hooked; I barely ever played any of the other demos on the disk. It took me a while to get 2097 though - the first full WipEout game I purchased was Wip3out. I'll never forget the elation I was in after my first few races.

As for the original, it demands just as much respect as any of the other WipEouts and ought to be checked out by all. For one thing, it kick started my most loved videogame series in history.

[Dominator]

You gotta love the original wipEout!! for without this absolute classic the world of WO would not be!! Thanks Psygnosis and thanks Shem for a wonderful and fitting tribute!!

[daminmancejin]

playstation 1 wipeout games are the best i hate the new wipeout games they corny is heck i stay playing Wipeout 1 and 3

[eLhabib]

Shem, you couldn't have put it in better words! Your post exactly sums up the original wipE'out'' for me, and the reason why I still love the series.

[Shem]

glad to hear it, thanks

[ace-of-spades]

I wouldnt say it is the best (wip3out for me), but it can hold it's own. The difficulty makes it one for the hardcore, haha!

[qirex-rd]

Yes, I think the first WipEout was the best. Why?

I has realistic colors, not the techno design of WipEout 2097,
not the dead architecture as in Wip3out, not the cartoon
style as in WipEout 64, not the boring 'cant-fly-but-has-doors-on-the-track'
Fusion Style, and the neo-Wip3out look of WipEout Pure.
The first WipEout has wide tracks, and allows you to jump more
than in Pure. Ok, thats also possible in 2097.
The controls are bad, and the ships in 2097 are great, but
it has the best atmosphere.
The best would be: A PSP / PS3 port of the first WipEout,
with the 2097 ag ships, the 2097 handling, the tracks out
of the first one, 2097, a few 3out and 64, with the colors
of the first, the music of 3out & 2097, and also the 1st
(no Pure music please) - and I would buy it, even for 200 bucks.

Please Psygnosis release the 2097 artworks someday you had
planned for 2097 (I have a few EDGE pictures scanned).
Its sad that Sony decided to release 3out on PSX instead on
PS2 - that was a mistake, I think. Im writing too much.

[Lance]

We would have had to wait a very long time for WO3 if we'd had to wait for a PS2. Just think how much time there would have been to screw up the game if they'd had second thoughts about the game because of new possibilities of the newer machine. Look what happened with Fusion. I'm glad that everything from WO to WO3 appeared on the PSX.