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I rarely get to watch TV so it’s always fun to “research” a show by watching an episode or two or…. After mere moments of watching ABC’s Wipeout for the first time it’s apparent that each course is wackier than the last, near impossible to complete, and makes me shudder at watching bodies conform to positions that shouldn’t be humanly possible. Now familiarized with the show, it’s clear that Activision’s Wipeout rings true to the overall experience by delivering a wacky platformer that’s addictively  fun to play without twisting your spine into a contortionists nightmare followed by a face-plant.

Activision’s Wipeout course layouts closely reflect the same creativity and wide variety of the game show’s impossible courses. So you can expect plenty of swinging hammers, bouncy balls, as well as twirling snakes (just to name a few) that’ll most likely whack you off the course. Similar to the TV show, successfully completing a course is a bit of skill, trial, error, with a touch of luck. Fortunately after a few runs with each course it becomes clear that it’s a skilled-platformer game that tests your memory of the course layout as well as reflexes. Once you’ve got your mad skills on you’ll hopefully sail through each course.

If you don’t develop your course chops fast enough, failing over and over could put a stop to the fun factor. But don’t fret, Wipeout has a few tricks up its sleeves with special abilities, Time Challenges, and a handful of unique characters. If you need help completing a course you can activate special abilities (helmets) that will enhance your chance of surviving  from slowing down time, running much faster, as well as having a jumping ability that a long jump olympian would envy (yes, there’s even more special abilities to choose from). So if the abilities have helped you build up your gaming chops now, try the Time Challenge which’ll reward you with stars as well as extra currency…if you’re fast enough.

Saving best for last are the numerous characters that you can unlock overtime. Each character plays remarkably different which greatly enhances the replayability factor. Some courses are best played using a character with great agility that can run past obstacles, other times, choosing one that leans on the slower side but has great jumping skills is best to conquer a course. In other words, trying out each character with each course will give you a completely different feel as well as insight to how you approach each course.

The Bottom Line: 8.5/10 (Great)

Wipeout’s use of characters as well as special abilities greatly enhances the replayabilty of this wacky platformer.