For me, Wipeout was the ultimate interactive expression of the mid 90’s.  The faux future was consistent, the appeal was not unlike those no fear shirts, the sense of risk was comparable to extreme games, and the electronic music was a fresh introduction to the emerging rave scene.  WipeOut taught me who Photek was, that RedBull wasn’t fake, and that blasting a hovercraft down a Karbonis V was infinitely cooler than driving a car through anyway.  The F Zero influence was obvious, but, through various sequels, Psygnosis created an entirely original racing game with just a hint of inspiration from Nintendo’s Mode 7 wonder.  I played the original, XL (2097), and 3 constantly, got off the train shortly thereafter, and then came back when I picked up Pure for PSP.

I didn’t stick with Pure for too long.  In a way it seemed like Wipeout was a series not only defined by the 32bit generation, but also best experienced in that era.  Games have taken several evolutionary steps forward since the 90’s, and I didn’t feel as if the “race around the track and shoot people” RC Pro/Am model aged with any sort of grace.  I felt like I was playing a game from ten years ago.  Albeit a very pretty game, but still an aged specimen from a bygone era.

But I bought Wipeout HD anyway.  The allure of it’s aesthetic, ridiculously fast racing at 1080p, couldn’t be denied, and after several months of deliberation I finally gave in and picked it up.  And now, having quit just short of completing the last few races in the Meltdown portion of the campaign mode, I feel my purchase was totally justified; like it was ten years ago, I had a lot of fun with Wipeout.

While it felt lacking on true original content, it didn’t hurt when I realized most of the tracks were ported from some of my favorites in Pure.  Übermall, Sol 2, Anulpha Pass, and Vineta K were always a pleasure, and, even though it repeatedly kicked my ass, Sebenco Climb was another appreciated revisitation.  I never got a chance to properly experience Pulse’s Moa Therma or Metropia, but I wouldn’t complain about their selection in HD.

The differences between speed classes were more apparent in HD than any other entry thus far.  Before I quit the game over frustration in Phantom, I went back to Venom to try and pick up the motion sensor-controls trophy.  Holy shit the game felt slow, it was like someone cut the frame rate down to like 30%.  Worse, I remember having a hard time with a couple tracks at that speed.  Anyway Phantom (and certain courses in, eek, Rapier) apparently require a level of hand/eye coordination that I am either (a) too old, or (b) not smart enough to obtain, because, after getting literally destroyed in my first few races in Meltdown, I was ready to throw in the towel.  There was no way I was going to win that shit and I wasn’t even having fun trying, so why bother?

Still, the other tiers were a blast while they lasted.  I enjoyed trying it out on skilled, then bumping myself up or down to Elite or Novice depending on how my first attempt went.  While it was obviously Elite early, on, by about Dropzone I was pretty much bumping myself down to novice on every race.  Peppering a few Zone Modes in every tier was also interesting, though I am still not too sure if I even “get” that mode.  I mean, I understand what to do and I think I have a fairly decent grasp of the mechanics, but I typically top out around 25 before ping ponging to my death, and some of the trophies require you go all the way to zone 75.  I don’t see any fucking way in which that is possible.

Other shit that I liked included the ability to turn the pilot assist off (used it once and felt dirty), the corpse of blown up ships littering the raceway, custom soundtracks (I imported XL!), the absolutely gorgeous visuals, and the sheer intensity of races in some of the higher classes.  With racing games, I’m used to catching up on the second or third lap, then building a big lead that usually lasts until the end of the race.  With HD, I rarely held a lead of any sort, and it always seemed like every single craft was part of the race.  I was usually looking at four or five ships at a time, all next to each and other banging around.  Couple that with a penchant for getting cheap weapons and a resistance to touching the walls and I was left with a pleasurably intense (and often difficult) quest to grab first place at the end of a race.  It’s an odd comparison, but my frequent and instant trips from first to last reminded me of bosses instantly KO’ing my entire party in a couple of the MegaTen games.  It’s cheap, sure, but it leaves you with enough to feel like you could do better next time around.

But I think I’m done.  This will be one of those rare times where I couldn’t officially “beat” a game I invested so much time in, but I don’t see any way I could have fun with the Meltdown tier.  Still, as I sit here and glace over the gaming running a replay of my last race, it will be hard to forever deny resuming my desire to engage in something so beautiful.