ok, the only thing i'd agree with is the lack of track preview. it never bothered me before, but a picture of the track as you select it would indeed have been nice. others things mentioned though >

- the intro. this is aesthetic taste. it's not particularly awe inspiring but it is cool the way the music builds and segues into the team banners.
- the menu, besides the lack of track pictures, is fine, perfectly readable and so what if it's minimalist?
- no turbo... i'm pretty sure there was one, may be wrong, but i'm sure there was one besides the shield energy boost

a lot of the things mentioned like hyperthrust, wall bounce, being shoved by opponents etc. are simply matters of competition and skill and putting thought into what you're doing. a few of the weapons like the shield may have been a little redundant due to the properties of others like cloak but that's not nearly enough of a problem to spoil the game in any way, as far as i'm concerned anyway! the other things mentioned like track design and environments and weapon notification, lap display, sounds etc. are either opinions or trolling i can't see fault in anything in this game, to be honest.

having played wipeout, 2097 and pure extensively and having a distinct respect and love for these games individually that rules out favouritism, 3 is still right among these and has a special place in my childhood, and still retains a huge amount of quality both playable and visual even now in my opinion. it still looks great besides slight graphical texturing overlaps at high speeds and the occasional glitch like on manor top at the 90 degree turns, where both opponent ships and i have been trapped before. all part of the fun of the game though for me. the racing physics are brilliant and the track design excellent and well designed to test a whole spectrum of abilities with the necessity of winning each track with each ship. and the 4 challenge modes were an exceptional way to pile all your experience into genuinely challenging and frantic races for prizes.

it has my favourite soundtrack, every track infiintely listenable and simply perfect for the game and its vision of the future and of the racing - xpander but the others are brilliant too, no weak tunes either -, and i like this comparison below that highlights and describes in appropriate viscera the style and atmosphere of the tracks of 3

Quote Originally Posted by fusionfrenzy View Post
I have got 2097 (though I played it after Wipeout 3) and I didnt think it was darker. The tracks had much richer colour schemes and ran through lush environments of ice and jungle as well as the darker city tracks. I just felt that the whole theme, the atmosphere of Wipeout 3 was moodier and yet more mundane, tracks like Stanza Inter felt like they were weaving through the heart of gritty future urban citites, from the dark reds and gungey greens of Stanza to the industrial influences of Terminal and Hi-Fumi. Similar tracks in 2097 to me felt optimistic where WO3's were self-consciously decadent.

Just my opinion, though.
an opinion i share, and nicely illustrated.

cheer up you miser bastards, wip3out is teh winz