Wipeout game rank

[JABBERJAW]

This is kinda like the top 5 racing games topic, except that you list your favorite wipeout games by game name,version, system, then state why you like that various version better than the other. LIst every wipeout game you have played on the list. It will look something like this

1)Wipeout XL ntsc, ps -- This is my favorite because .xxx

2) Wipeout 2097,pal,px -- this version is great, almost as good as xl, but it lacks in xxx

3) ect

for the pc versions list as wipeout, pc or Wipeout xl-2097, pc( these are the same game). The same can be said for the amiga

I will list all the versions of the game a little later, but for now list what you have played. I am actually going to allow quantum redshift,extreme g, and fzero games to be rated as well as any other futuristic racers that someone might want to include. I'll tally the scores at the end for an average. I know this was done somewhat before, but This will be good to see the average of all the games.

How about a rating for each game as well (1-100).

[Lance]

.
the only ones i have are the NTSC versions of WO3 and WO2. i've already commented on my feelings about them in the 'top five' topic. while i have played the pc versions of WO and WO2, i had/have no controller for them other than the keyboard and couldn't really do any serious play. however WO2 does look great on the computer/

as to scoring on a points scale, and going by how much i like them, i'll set WO3 as 100 and rate everything else accordingly:

WO3 - 100
WO2 - 99
N-Gen Racing - 95
Killer Loop - 90
HydroThunder [on Dreamcast] - 50

[this requires an explanation for the low rating. purely for the racing and tracks, i would give HT an 85, but the effing g_______d non-bypassable post-race menus drive me insane with enforced waiting so that i do not play the game but once a year for an hour till i can't stand the irritation of the menus. then i try it again a year later to discover all over again how a bad interface can ruin a potentially great game. bear in mind that i have only played single-player, so i don't know if the same extreme annoyance would occur for me in versus mode. i seem to be mostly very patient when it comes to interaction with other humans, but stupid programming i just cannot stand.]

all of the racing games i've played have been as single player. and those five i rated are pretty much the only futuristic racers i've been able to play for a sufficient amount of time for a realistic evaluation. i've played some relatively obscure pc futuracers, but combined with a lack of good controls, most of them just seemed too primitive or undeveloped to be interesting or fun. a couple of the anti-grav racers were pretty decent, but somehow i always ended up playing the console games instead. more fun. more involving.
.

[Mano]

Here is my take, at least from the ones i have played so far...

1- XL (PS, NTSC) 100

Definitely; the essence of wipeout for me. Everything is in harmony and perfectly encompassed, the atmosphere, the visulas, the music, the sound effects, the special effects, the control.... perfection. at phantom speeds with pirhana this game doesnt let you blink and i like that a lot.

I swear when i play this game i can feel the humming of the anti-gravity device making my body vibrate, a vibration that gets in tune after the start of the race with the music, the speed, and the track; the feeling is still on the other versions but dilluted somehow.


2 - 3SE (PS, PAL) 97

Got that feeling of WO3 that i like, of peaceful speed and focused stress, like going beyond the speed of sound and still being able to feel and hear my every breath perfectly. And its more complete than WO3; the track selection.... unbeatable. For some time i thought this could replace XL at the #1 spot, in the long run it didnt.


3 - 3 (PS, NTSC) 95

Same reasons as 3SE above but since it lacks the completeness of the other one its one place behind.

4 - Wipeout (PS, NTSC) 90

This was the game that got me into the feeling on the other games, still has that raw feeling that reminds me of the first time i played it (got it almost at psx launch along with Tekken at a trip i made to Florida), not in the #1 spot because the other ones are more mature games in the way their essence is more distilled, more concentrated, and the fact that the scrape is not there annoys me a little bit, even tho after some time you dont crash walls often; knowing that spoils the feeling, besides the scrape adds to the feeling of the game (as an effect).


5 - XL (PC) 75

Controller choices and technical difficulties with newer PCs make this one score low, and detract from the overall feeling of the game.

6 - Wipeout 64 (N64, NTSC) 65

For me this game is just plain ok, doesnt hold a candle to the other versions (tho i havent played it much), it has the graphics, the sound and music is good, but the control spoils it for me, the feeling is not anti-grav, its like its skidding on an invisible layer of something, and even tho i can bypass the annoncer voice that is totally out context, this one doesnt feel like the other ones.

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Since i dont have my PSX anymore i play my games emulated now (good thing i kept my CDs, as i was planning to sell the psx with all of them as a package deal, i guess instincts work most of the time hehe), and let me tell you that emulation for me at least does improve the experience, the feeling is like adding aftermarket parts to improve an anti-grav ship ;)

[G'Kyl]

1) 2097, PSX - it's got the best driving characteristics, the most original athmosphere (ranking up with WO1), the absolutely number one weapon design (there's nothing like overtaking your own missile that's drilling slowly through the air) and the best of the licensed WO soundtracks

2) W3O:SE - close to xl (or 2097, for that matter), but too down-to-earth, lacks much of the excitment from part 2

3) 2097, PC - although from by CS, the sondtrack is not as good as on the PS, frame rate unstable

4) WO, PSX/PC - actually, the PSX version is about one tenth of a percent better because it has a couple more tracks (music), but apart from that both releases are completely the same, and the only reason WO is that far down the list is because I played it only after WO2097 and have my problems driving without sliding over walls :)

5) ? - well, I never played another WO. Very sad but unfortuanetly true. When I had the choice between a PS2 and an XBox I decided Quantum Redshift was the better game to justify spending money on a nextgen console.


Ben

[Piranha Advancements]

1.Wipeout - A solid launch title then for the raw PS.Has 2 player link cable.It had great smooth controls,the graphics are still brilliant till now.It was for me then,a glimpse of the future.With great music courtesy of the Tim man.As an artist,I love the character art and each one has a victory and losing potraits (I liked that attention to detail.)I'll always love the first one no matter what.

2. Wipeout 3:SE - Only for the hardcore! 8 more track.Woohoo Altima! And it's faster.Much faster..I have been nulled by the menus by then.

3.Wipeout XL - A step up or so from Wipeout.Now walls are good friends! Beautiful tracks (Spilskinanke felt like home),kick ass soundtrack and it was the start of a love affair with the nationality/name-confused Piranha/Pir-hana.


4. Wipeout 3 - 8 A.G. teams.Leads to tons of gold to unlock everything (if you're a perfectionist) which leads to cheap replayabilty factor which leads to more of seeing the dull menus over and over.

5. Wipeout Fusion - What went wrong? I had high expectations since this was announced early into the release of the PS2.By the time it came and popped it in..bleh menus.Played a bit..ehh not bad.

But after unlocking everything there is,nitro-ed pass the easy team challenges,being patient with the rather crippling Grav Bomb which disrupts a player's race all the while listening to only Utah Saints and Cut La Roc and what's with the gravity-flip pads? If you were'nt on the correct run,you'll be flipped to..blackness and get "warped" back? That killed the feel of continuity in a race.Hey,at least the "Wussbots" in the previous games were believable in a sense..I won't get on with the bugs.Very minor to me.And what happened to the character potraits? Sigh..I liked the tracks and Zone mode is the only thing that's associated with the previous Wipeouts...SPEED.But that is if you get really far in it and hope you dont have a fetish with walls.

Anyways,this ain't a review so..it just felt ..uninspired.

[Wiseman]

Wipeout XL (PSX) - 95
Only fault I can find (vs. what came out before it) is that the tracks themselves aren't as "hilly" and as well designed as the originals.

Wipeout (PSX) - 93
Track design is near perfect, still some of the best track designs I have ever seen.

Wipeout 3 - 89
Gameplay is near flawless, but this game has problems in just about every other area. The design is tame and kinda boring, very "wimpish". I just miss that hard mean edge XL has. I'm not too fond of some of the track designs either.

F-Zero GX - 85
Great style, but the gameplay just doesn't match up to Wipeout, IMO.

Quantum Redshift - 80
The craft control is near flawless, better than even Wipeout 3 IMO. But the weapon system needed some work. The game lacks style, it was very "plain". The soundtrack blows (never was a fan of Junky XL), but thankfully could be replaced with my soundtrack of choice. This game had the two hardest things to get right though, a great engine, and great craft control. So much promise for a sequel... sigh.

Wipeout (PC) - 78
Graphics are ugly, but just about everything else is there.

Extreme G2 (PC) - 75
I liked the dark style of the game. The soundtrack varied (some were O.K., some sucked). The gameplay was pretty good, still no match for Wipeout though.

Wipeout 64 - 73
A little bit of Wipeout, a little bit of Wipeout XL. Didn't do as well as either in what it took from them.

Wipeout Fusion - 70
Control stinks, ships control like a brick thrown down a bowling lane that's coated with Jello pudding. Nasty. The design was kinda boring too, although it did show some signs of promise in some places. Soundtrack was pretty good.

Extreme G3 - 66
Very, errrmmm, average. I would have called it "Tundra Racing", though.

Extreme G - 61
Was just O.K., I'll admit, it's been a looooong while since I played this one.

F-Zero 64 - 60
Blech. Boring. This is a N64 game? Seriously? Gimme the original F-Zero for some F-Zero action, or SMK for some 4 player action.

Wipeout XL (PC) - 55
The more I play the PC version of XL, the less I like it. Even when you fix the framerate problems, the game still doesn't feel right. The graphics lost a lot of their "gritty" look too, and they're all stretched out. It just doesn't look right, feel right, or anything. Do yourself a favor and emulate the far, far superior PSX version instead.

Extreme G2 (N64) - 0 (goose-egg) Didn't even work on older N64 systems, and was sooo buggy it was near unplayable on the newer ones. Acclaim should be ashamed they even released this unfinished peice of garbage.