DAY 21 / GAME 21 Wipeout XL

DAY 21 / GAME 21

Wipeout XL


                Back when my brother and I finally got a Sony PlayStation, it had already been out for a bit.  Not too long, but I think it was probably about 2 years after it was released in North America.  So there were a few titles that had already made their rounds and were now releasing sequels.  And so a ton of our favourite titles were sequels.  This was the case with Wipeout XL.  I think we rented Wipeout 2097 once, and saw that it was pretty similar but without the polish, so I really didn't bother playing it much.  

            Wipeout XL however was a very fine future-racing game.  To this day this is one of my absolute favorite games.  I find a lot of Playstation 1 era games don't quite have the timelessness of either newer or older titles.  They suffered one way or another due to messy graphics, poor controls, or ridiculous load times.  (Load for every new room Resident Evil?  Really?)  This was all because full 3D games like these we're still pretty new and the tech really seemed to be finding it's legs.  Wipeout skirted around this.  Load times weren't great, but same as most modern racing games and restarting the track didn't require a re-load.  The designs were perfect for the low-poly requirements and the levels didn't require too much detail.  It was very fast and had an amazing soundtrack.  

            Wipeout XL got me into electronic music the same way Brutal Legend got me into heavy metal.  The bonus with this game of course was that the soundtrack was actual audio CD tracks on the disc, so you could play it in a regular CD player.  The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Orbital, Cold Storage; it was terrific.  I think it was even the Prodigy that used footage in their music video.
            Wipeout XL just had a really solid style.  It nailed it for the whole future racing genre.  Rollcage was good, but I think Extreme G was the only other one that even game close.  This game, along with Gran Turismo, is one of those games that I didn't care if I lost my savegame at all.  I'd still pick it up a year later and play through it all from the start.  If anything, quicker and better than the first time around.  And considering most racing game rely on high-end graphics to sell themselves, I'm always surprised about how easily I'll pick this one up and play it again for fun even after playing though the latest version.  I guess it was just that good.