Wipeout is one of the most influential games I’ve ever played. Due, in no small part, to the amazing visual design. This stuff, from 1995, still looks like it could’ve been designed today.

Another thing that grabbed me was the room afforded for the player to use their own imagination.  The ships and tracks were all you’d see while playing.  The wonderfully self-assured, futuristic UI in between races.  Coupled with the very deliberate and carefully selected music (a lot of D’n’B!) it allowed the player to develop their own Wipeout world.  Independent of the amazing, frenetic and flowing gameplay.  Few games have managed to put you ‘in the zone’ like Wipeout.

I can’t tell you how disappointing it is that the the PS3 versions have your ship scrape the edges of the track when you mess up/hit the wall, whereas in the original it was an indication of being so damn close to the wall that it’s amazing you didn’t crash and fuck up the race!

That wall scraping from the original Wipeout is one of my unforgettable gaming moments.

gameandgraphics:

The Designers Republic for Wipeout series (first game released by Psygnosis for Playstation and MS-DOS in 1995).

One of the best collaborations between a graphic design studio and a game developer.

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