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> Results: Wipeout Pure
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When Wipeout arrived on Sony's new Playstation console back in 1995, it helped cement the console as the hot new thing to have. Ten years later and Sony has released a new handheld system and brought us a new Wipeout game, and it's just as stylish as ever.
Wipeout Pure, like the older games, has you piloting anti-gravity racecraft, hovering above the track and traveling at blistering speeds. There is no real backstory to speak of, but the year is 2197 and you are taking part in the FX300 racing league made up of eight teams and their corporate sponsors. Each racing team has its own corporate logo and racecraft, each with different ratings for handling, thrust, top speed, and shield. It's not just straight racing, as littered around the track are power-ups that will equip you with a weapon to use against your opposition or a temporary effect such as autopilot. Your shield will protect you from other racers and from collisions into the sides of the track, but if your shield runs out the race is over for you as you'll watch with dismay as your craft explodes. The original Wipeout games let you make a pit stop to replenish your shield, but Wipeout Pure does away with that and instead allows you to absorb a power-up to increase your shield level. This change adds an interesting element to the gameplay οΎ– do you use the boost you saved up to charge past the leader on that last curve, or do you play it safe and recharge your shield before you crash and burn? Various game modes are included, such as single races, tournament races where you amass points over a series of tracks, and time trials where you aim to beat the clock and your own best time represented by a ghost car. A Zone mode has been added, which gives you four special tracks to race on, automatically gaining speed all the while, and letting you race as long as you can before your shield runs out. As you advance in the single player game, you'll unlock more tracks, faster classes of ship, various pieces of gallery art, and you may also find new ships and skins. Free Play rounds out the different single player modes, letting you explore each track at leisure, and multiplayer is provided with ad-hoc (not over the internet) gaming for up to eight players in single races, tournaments, and time trials.  Graphically, the game is one of the best on the PSP. Everything, from the interface to the tracks themselves, is designed in a futuristic style, and it runs as smooth as silk. The audio keeps the same feel, being sparse but effective, with the constant air hiss of the racecraft, robotic announcers, and blasts from the weapons. The soundtrack, always an important part of Wipeout games, is packed with instrumental techno tracks, all of them licensed from some of the hottest acts in electronic music. As is, Wipeout Pure is a great game. But Sony aren't stopping there, as downloadable content is being made available in the form of new tracks and new racecraft. The first bundle is already out there, and more are planned. The intention is that you use the PSP's built-in wi-fi capabilities to download the new content, but you can also get it via a regular download on your PC and transfer it to the PSP's memory stick with a USB cable if you wish. One neat thing is that a few clever people discovered that Wipeout Pure uses its own custom web browser to download the files, and with a little effort and a wi-fi network in place you can actually browse any website you wish, right from your PSP! As long as you can survive the initial frustration of bumping into the walls of unfamiliar courses, Wipout Pure is a must-have title for any PSP owner with even the slightest of interest in racing games. 
Unless you object to the combative nature of the races, Wipeout Pure is fine for kids, and even though you are often shooting other craft, it's all very abstract and detached. Nobody dies, they're just slowed down. At the worst, their racecraft explodes and they're out of the race. The only thing to note is the possible frustration level here for younger children, though if they're old enough to handle the PSP, they're probably old enough to be boosting around tracks in no time. One caveat is that if you have a wireless network setup in your home, your smarter children could use the browser trick mentioned above to get around any restrictions you might have in place on allowed sites to surf.
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