Wipeout 2097

You know the one. The futuristic anti-gravity racing game that's sort of like a cross between joyriding and transcendental meditation. The one with cooler-than-thou Designer's Republic iconography tattooed across its eyelids, and the finest soundtrack ever to grace a mere computer game. The one that's filmed in highspeed hallucinogenic hypnovision; just the ticket for those got-back-from-the-club-but-l'm-still-off-me-noffers moments.

Upon hearing the news that Wipeout 2097 is on its way to the PC, you could be forgiven for letting out a long, deeply unimpressed sigh. After all, the original Wipeout game didn't exactly make the journey twixt' PSX and PC unscathed. Having seen it in action on Sony's wonder box, we awaited the PC edition with lip-smacking anticipation, only to be let down sharply by a shoddy, slow, blocky travesty of a mockery of a sham of a thing. A cruel joke on PC owners everywhere, doubtless perpetuated by Satan himself. It should've been drowned at birth.

But that was then, and things have changed. This time around, we're promised a version of Wipeout 2097 that really does the game justice. Which means: a frame rate to die for (30 fps being the minimum), a bagful of lighting and transparency effects, a 640 by 480 resolution and the kind of colour depth that makes your retinas feel like they're being french-kissed by all the colours of the spectrum, one by one (and I'm not talking about the ZX Spectrum, either). The gameplay has also been given a major overhaul: not only are the ships easier to handle, there are more courses, ships and weapons than the original. And now your gunfire can actually destroy opponents, rather than just slowing them down.