WipE’out’’ – now on Sega Saturn!

As we all know, Sony’s PlayStation secured a decisive victory over Sega’s Saturn in all regions in the 5^th generation console war. There were many reasons for this; Sony’s stellar launch titles, for instance, did a better job of showcasing their host console’s power compared to Sega’s first volley of games. However well Daytona USA and Virtua Fighter played, Ridge Racer and Battle Arena Tohshinden looked better, so gamers – especially new gamers – flocked to the PlayStation.

And then there was WipE’out”.

So fast.

So pretty.

So… exclusive to the PlayStation!

Ahhh… if only there was a beautiful alternate reality where the game dropped on Saturn as well as the PlayStation, eh readers? Things could have been so different!

It was a major surprise, then, that Sony-owned Psygnosis announced that they would end their PlayStation exclusivity and begin making games for ‘all viable platforms’, and at that moment in time, that meant Sega Saturn. Headlining the wave of Psygnosis properties coming to Saturn was none other than their signature title, WipE’out”!

 

 

What a much-needed public relations victory this was for Sega, at a time that they were being pummeled by Sony. This generated positive headlines, including being featured on several magazine covers in the day. The general sentiment was that this was a major coup for Sega and Saturn. Indeed, in an interview back in the day, Sega of Europe executive Andy Mee was quoted as boasting that 95% of PlayStation games would eventually find their way onto the Saturn, and this felt like the very first sign that this lofty statement was more than just bluster. Sega had taken blow after blow from upstart Sony but was now coming around. If WipE’out”, Destruction Derby, Krazy Ivan and others were coming to Saturn, AND Sega was going to maintain exclusive access to their arcade conversions and original IPs like Sonic, then Sony was finished. The ‘PlayStation’ would be nothing more than another in a long line of ‘also-ran’ consoles – an interesting footnote in the great history of videogames; another victim of the Sega juggernaut.

Sigh. Despite the initial buzz and the eventual appearance of WipE’out” (and other Psygnosis titles) on the Saturn, we all know how the story unfolded.

 

Let’s just get this one fact out of the way: WipE’out” is a better experience on the PlayStation than it is on the Saturn. The rest of the article focuses on the Saturn game but for the sake of completeness, the differences between the two 32-bit versions are as follows: PlayStation WipE’out” runs at a smooth 30 FPS framerate whilst Saturn WipE’out” chugs along at a Daytona-esque 20FPS – certainly playable, but side by side, the PlayStation game is markedly smoother. PlayStation’s textures are crisper and somewhat more vibrant; Saturn still looks good but slightly rougher and with somewhat more muted colors. PlayStation features transparencies, most noticeably when the Shield is activated, and this translates to a pixel mesh on Saturn. It’s a small detail in the grand scheme of things, but the effect makes the PlayStation game look futurealistic whilst the one on the Saturn reminds you that you are playing a video game. Draw distance is slightly better on PlayStation, but only slightly. There are soundtrack differences – however, these are most noticeable in Europe, where PlayStation WipE’out” featured tracks from bands such as the Chemical Brothers. North American PlayStation and Saturn versions have identical soundtracks by Psygnosis’ house band Cold Storage; the Saturn game has 3 exclusive music tracks not found in the PlayStation game. Some of the in-game graphics were changed but these changes were superficial rather than artistic or technical (i.e., billboards in the Saturn game don’t feature PlayStation logos, and so on). Lastly, and perhaps the only way in which the Saturn improves the PlayStation game: loading times are slightly shorter on Saturn.

 

That’s about it for platform differences. In the end, though, those looking for the ultimate WipE’out” experience would be advised to pick up the PlayStation version. Out of all the differences, the framerate and shield transparency have the most impact on the overall WipE’out” experience, and the PlayStation is the clear winner there. It’s definitely something to be said for a game being built around the strengths of one console and then being ported over and made to work on different architecture.

 

With that out of the way, let’s look at Saturn WipE’out” as a standalone title, and evaluate it without the specter of the PlayStation game looming over it.

 

WipE’out” is a futuracer (hovercrafts, futuristic tracks) that takes place around the middle of the 21^st century, where anti-gravity racing in the F3600 League is “where it’s at” and everybody’s super sonic racing*. There are 4 teams to choose from with two available pilots / vehicles per team, although there is no functional difference between the two teammates. There are differences between the teams, though – your standard aspects such as acceleration, heft, maneuverability, and top speed are all unique to each team. The player selects between a Time Trial, a Single Race, or the Championship where all tracks are tackled in succession with the goal being ultimate victory. In the Championship mode, you first begin in the Venom Class (beginner) and try and win, advancing only if you finish in the top three. Winning the overall championship unlocks the Rapier mode, which is your advanced setting.

 

There are 6 tracks to race on, ranging in theme from deserts to ice worlds. However, it must be said that the track graphics ultimately make no difference to the handling, as the hovercraft just… hover. Terrain differences, therefore, are visual only. The tracks are well designed and detailed, with the track curvature masking graphical pop-in well in most cases and the draw distance not being too obtrusive on the straights. Textures are relatively low-resolution, but there are enough gradients in the color schemes that they blend the textures and keep them from looking too rough in most places – a small victory for aesthetics over technical muscle. There are massive variations in height along the tracks – lots of climbs and drops – as well as a good deal of sharp twists and turns. There are also sheer drops that must be cleared; otherwise, the hovercraft falls off the track and must be repositioned by a retriever-bot, costing the racer precious seconds. Finally, there are power-up tiles built into the tracks that either confer a speed burst or add a weapon to the player’s arsenal.

 

Ah yes – weapons! There are several weapons to pick up, as well as a shield and a speed boost. The shield is temporary and as you’d expect, protects the player from enemy weapon hits. The weapons are a mixed bag, however – there are rockets, heat-seeking (homing) missiles, a shockwave, and mines. The rockets and the shockwave are fairly useless unless deployed in relatively close quarters as it is very difficult to successfully strike an opponent – partly due to the winding nature of the tracks and the speed at which the race progresses. The homing missiles are also a mixed bag, because it is difficult to get the reticle to focus on an opponent whilst maintaining your own racing line.  It is easier to land a successful hit with both missiles when in close quarters, but a hit has the effect of slowing down and spinning out your opponent (you cannot destroy your opponents in WipE’out”), which in close quarters results in you slamming into said opponent and consequently slowing down right along with them. The mines, however, can be a most useful weapon, especially when in the lead or when trying to fend off approaching racers. That said, there is no way to tell whether you have landed a successful hit or not. Overall, the weapons component of WipE’out” comes off as a great idea that just wasn’t implemented effectively in this first game of the series. This becomes especially apparent should you break away from the racing pack (or indeed fall far behind), at which point the weapons are irrelevant. Ultimately, expert negotiation of the racetracks will determine success or failure in a race rather than the impact of the weapons.

 

Control is good, with your craft responding well to input. Surprisingly, in terms of control, WipE’out” most closely resembles…  Sonic R! Steering is accomplished by nudging your craft left or right using the D-pad, or by tilting your craft’s nose up or down for added speed or air time – and admittedly, this is not explained well in the otherwise excellent manual. There are also airbrakes, activated with either the L or R triggers, that help with the sharper turns by providing a much more pronounced banking than just turning with the D-pad. The effective use of the airbrakes is critical, especially in the more advanced tracks – it is not possible to win without using them to navigate tight corners. Button assignment can be selected from several configurations in the options menu. To round out controls, the game is digital pad only – there is no analogue compatibility.

 

The physics of the game are where the gameplay veers from highly challenging to sometimes frustrating. The learning curve is just so steep. Your hovercraft picks up speed slowly, meaning that should you bump into a wall, obstacle, other hovercraft, etc.… you will slow right down and it really takes a while to get up to speed. Psygnosis did a good job in conveying the sensation of hovering for this game, but it does feel like you are hovering on ice. Turning and cornering is a lengthy process – therefore, your racing lines are tight (incidentally, just like in Sonic R!) Couple that with the tight twists and turns of the game and a very fast eventual top speed, and you are stuck with a situation where you get left in the dust A LOT until you learn to get a handle on your hovercraft. Should you commit the time to really get the controls down, the game ‘unlocks’ a lot more enjoyment.

 

Sound is adequate, if not traditional for a racing game. A hypnotic, techno-heavy soundtrack plays while you race, and this does help sell the futuristic setting. One thing to note is that the hovercrafts are primarily silent – probably appropriate, but the lack of SFX is a strange thing in a racing game. No roar of the engine and no screeching of tires trying to grip pavement. This makes the racing experience feel a bit detached – you are racing very slippery craft along futuristic tracks to the beat of tomorrow’s music in a way that makes you contemplate your very existence… well, maybe that’s a stretch, but it can definitely be said that the game shares a bit of its soul with the psychedelic Tempest 2000.

 

One last unique feature to call out: the fonts, logos, and other design elements of WipE’out” were actually created for Psygnosis by The Designers’ Republic, a Sheffield-based graphic design studio whose clientele have included global brands such as Coca Cola and Adidas.  This was their first (but not last) project for the video game industry and their work gave WipE’out” its distinct look, which would continue to be used throughout the series. They were initially brought in to make the game appealing to a non-traditional audience, and based on sales, it can be argued that the company succeeded. The manual for the game is very elegant and stylish: the cover features a nice render of oncoming hovercraft, while the inside layout is highly stylized and cool – clearly, created to be a part of the WipE’out” experience as opposed to simply a utilitarian set of game instructions. WipE’out” does a good job of highlighting the lost art of the videogame manual.

 

WipE’out” turned out to be the inaugural title in a franchise that lived for a few gaming generations. The very next game in the series, the much-improved WipE’out” XL (WipE’out” 2097 in PAL territories), would also see a Saturn release; alas, it would be the last entry on a Sega system, and it would NOT see the light of day in North America, sticking instead to the European and Japanese markets only.

 

The verdict? WipE’out” is a fun game that tries lots of new concepts and nails more of them than it misses. It is a relatively competent port of an excellent PlayStation game – and the soul of the PlayStation can be felt while playing this game on the Saturn. The gameplay and challenge is there, but once the wow factor wears off (and it wears off quicker on the Saturn than on the PlayStation), it is more of a shallow experience than that of Sega’s own racing titles. It’s still good, but it’s just not ‘Sega’, if that resonates. It’s a decently tasting hamburger when perhaps you were craving pizza all along. Still, most Saturn gamers – and definitely racing fans – should have this in their collection.

 

So how did the appearance of WipE’out” on the Sega Saturn help the cause in the battle against the PlayStation? Well… it didn’t. In fact, the opposite happened – although initial critical reception skewed towards favorable (OSSM rated it 92% and Next Generation Magazine gave it 4 stars out of 5), the general consensus was that Saturn WipE’out” turned out much weaker than PlayStation WipE’out”… and it became an early proxy for Saturn is much weaker than PlayStation. Rather than score the punch that Sega desperately needed, the game highlighted the tragic reality (however unfair) that the Saturn struggled to do 3D while the PlayStation thrived in that arena. What gamers noticed was that PlayStation had amazing shield transparencies; Saturn had ugly pixel meshes. PlayStation ran so smoothly; Saturn was a bit on the choppy side. Never mind the technical considerations of porting – rather than building from the ground up – any game optimized for its original platform to a vastly different architecture… Never mind that it wasn’t Psygnosis itself that programmed the game (programming duties were overseen by Australian-based Tantalus)… Never mind that, in retrospect, there were significant flaws with the original PlayStation game to begin with that were perhaps exacerbated in the Saturn port. The verdict was in, and regardless of the merits of Saturn WipE’out” as a standalone Saturn title, the game forever embodies the battle Sega lost to Sony in the 32-bit theater.

 

Let’s wipe this article out with some Shiro! Challenges, shall we?

 

• Want to be a WipE’out” expert? Finish a race (any track) without hitting any walls. It will take you some time to accomplish this, but boy, is it ever a good feeling once you do! A pure thrill.
• Win the Championship in Venom Class in order to unlock the much harder Rapier Class! These are the same tracks (albeit with different graphics for different times of day) but with much tougher competition. Win again and unlock the secret seventh Firestar course, the only course in the game set on Mars.
• Think you’re hardcore? Try winning a race and avoiding all the speed boost pads.
• Avoid becoming best friends with the retriever-bot for an entire race!
• Win without using weapon. Concentrate on your racing skills only, and see that you do not really need weapons in order to be powerful!

 

That about does it for WipE’out”, folks. Loved the article? Why not listen to Season 2 Episode 6 of the Sega Saturn, Shiro! podcast, which discusses WipE’out” and other non-traditional racing games on the Saturn! And, stay tuned for the follow-up article on WipE’out” XL / 2097, coming to you in the fullness of time! Don’t forget: YOU MUST PLAY SEGA SATURN!

 

Peter Malek

Sega Saturn, Shiro!

 

 

 

*everybody’s super sonic racing is a reference to the one and only – Sonic R