wipEout, Psygnosis’s 1995 Anti-Gravity Racing Classic, is Ported to Dreamcast

The original wipEout has sped onto the Dreamcast now that a fan developer has ported the futuristic racer to Sega’s sixth-generation console.

“Here’s the first release,” developer jnmartin84 said on the project’s GitHub page just a little over two weeks after the initial announcement of the port. “It is feature complete, 100% 60 FPS (at default video settings), music and sound, VMU save/load for settings and high scores (6 blocks required), full input remapping support for Dreamcast controller.”

Titled “Wipeout-Rewrite port for Dreamcast,” this conversion of the 1995 classic “may or may not [have been] based off of the source code of the PC (ATI-Rage) version that was leaked in 2022,” according to the information on the project’s GitHub page.

The 2.0 beta version of the port, released yesterday and featuring changes to the default draw distance and the lock-on indicator compared to the first release, is available as a self-booting .cdi image for use on original hardware — via burned CD or ODE of your choice — or via emulation, no patching necessary.

Jnmartin84 included a guide on recommended settings on the project’s GitHub page with brief explanations for each of the setting functions, though this author can confirm that the game plays exquisitely on real hardware on default settings. The analog controls felt responsive, as did the air brakes. The Dreamcast shows no signs of struggle with the latest version of the port, boasting a consistent 60 FPS and no noticeable environmental pop-in.

For more on how the port plays, please check out The SEGAGuys’ fantastic rundown:

Developed and published by the Liverpool-based Psygnosis, wipEout released in September 1995 as a launch title for the PlayStation in Europe, coming to North American markets that November. This futuristic, anti-gravity racing game almost needs no introduction, as its critical and commercial success helped propel Sony’s fledgling console to an early lead in the fifth generation console race.

For the uninitiated, wipEout sees the player compete in the lightning-fast action of the F3600 Anti-Gravity Racing League in the not-so-distant future, piloting eight craft across seven courses. The game’s soundtrack famously featured electronic music inspired from the then contemporary UK rave and underground electronic music scenes, with notable contributions from Psygnosis’s own CoLD SToRAGE, The Chemical Brothers, and Orbital. The success of wipEout prompted the creation of a sequel followup, titled wipEout 2097, or wipEout XL, released on PlayStation in the second half of 1996 and on Saturn a year later.

For more on the somewhat compromised version of wipEout that was released on the Sega Saturn in early 1996, check out Peter Malek’s article from yesteryear.