Wipeout

ワイプアウト (Waipuauto)PlayStation, MS-DOS, Saturn, PSP +21995

  1. JP1996
  2. NA1995
  3. EU1995
  4. RU—

Wipeout (stylized wipEout) was released under the same name in Europe, North America and Japan, where it is ワイプアウト. The PlayStation original was later re-released on PlayStation Network for PSP and PS3; no current store listing was confirmed for this check.

Wipeout is an anti-gravity racing game developed and published by Psygnosis. It came out for the PlayStation in Europe on 29 September 1995 and in North America on 21 November 1995, followed by MS-DOS and Saturn versions. In Japan it was released in 1996, with Sony Computer Entertainment publishing the PlayStation version and SoftBank the Saturn one.

The game is set in 2052 in the F3600 racing league, where players choose one of four teams, each with two pilots. John White directed, Nick Burcombe designed, and Tim Wright composed the original music as CoLD SToRAGE. A team of about ten people built it in roughly 14 months, citing Super Mario Kart as a major influence.

Wipeout is remembered as much for its style as for its racing. The Designers Republic created its branding, the PlayStation version added licensed tracks by Leftfield, The Chemical Brothers and Orbital, and the marketing targeted club-going audiences. A CGI mock-up of the game even appears in the 1995 film Hackers.123

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA Wipeout PlayStation Nov 21, 1995 Psygnosis 1
NA WipeoutMS-DOS and Windows. MS-DOS November 1995 Psygnosis 1
NA Wipeout Saturn May 3, 1996 Sega 1
NA WipeoutPS3 compatibility for the PlayStation Network re-release; Europe followed in June 2007. PlayStation 3 May 3, 2007 — 2
EU Wipeout PlayStation Sep 29, 1995 Psygnosis 1
EU WipeoutMS-DOS and Windows. MS-DOS October 1995 Psygnosis 1
EU WipeoutPort by Tantalus Entertainment with Perfect Entertainment. Saturn Mar 29, 1996 Psygnosis 1
JP ワイプアウトWaipuauto PlayStation 1996 Sony Computer Entertainment 3
JP ワイプアウトWaipuauto Saturn 1996 SoftBank 3
EU WipeoutPlayStation Store re-release (PS one Classics); Spanish Wikipedia gives the date without a region. PSP Mar 8, 2007 — 2
JP ワイプアウトWaipuautoゲームアーカイブス (Game Archives) on PlayStation Network. PSP August 2007 — 3

Also known as: wipEout WW3ワイプアウト JP3Waipuauto JP3

Box art by region

  • Wipeout box art, North America release
    NA Wipeout
  • Wipeout box art, Europe release
    EU Wipeout
  • ワイプアウト box art, Japan release
    JP ワイプアウト

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • AudioPlayStation (NA)

    The European PlayStation release has 12 music tracks; the North American one has 9, dropping the licensed Leftfield, Chemical Brothers and Orbital tracks.1

  • AudioSaturn

    Sony held the rights to the last three PlayStation tracks, so the Saturn version replaced them with new music by Rob Lord and Mark Bandola.1

  • GraphicsSaturn

    During races the PlayStation version updates at 30 frames per second and the Saturn version at 20.3

All differences (4)

Reception

Wipeout was the best-selling PlayStation launch title in Europe and reached number one in the all-format charts. Critics praised its originality, visuals and techno soundtrack (Computer and Video Games gave the PlayStation version 96%, Next Generation 5/5) but criticized the handling and difficulty; the Saturn port was seen as weaker than the PlayStation original.1

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org
  2. 2es.wikipedia.org
  3. 3ja.wikipedia.org

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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