With all their HD efforts, they cannot surpass the XL!
Wipeout XL has a nearly flawless gameplay, such a giant leap from the masochistic gameplay of the original, they've refined it & made it almost perfect!You can have full speed while turning at corners;it has amazing lighting effects & special effects.The weapons are awesome-the voice that you hear everytime you pick up a weapon is in fact professor Hawkins voice-that is truly original(what?you don't know professor Hawkins from Dexter's Laboratory?or the same one from reality?:)In it's time this game simply had no rival, it swept all competition apart just like Nirvana did with Smells like teen Spirit 5 years before.It's rivals Mario Kart 64, Daytona USA,Need for Speed 1 & 2 & others don't even need to be mentioned.
The soundtrack was made by music legends like-The Chemical Brothers & Prodigy-a cybernetic-industrial music that plugs you into another world & never lets you go.The best music track is nr#2-Landmass & the instrumental version of Firestarter of course...does HD Fury have Firestarter in the Playlist?Of course not!
There are 4 Race Classes & 4 Teams-6 Race tracks+2 to be Unlocked.This is my only complaint about the game-it doesn't have enough Race Tracks-6 or 8 more of them & a little Graphics Update & you have the Greatest Racing Game of all Time-Yeah!I'm not Kidding!6 or 8 more Race Tracks & a little Enhanced Graphics & you have the Greatest Racing Game of all Time.Well, if you know how to play it of course-if you're a noob & bomp at every corner of course it becomes frustrating & not that great but when you do a perfect lap with a Fast Vehicle while listening Firestarter you know it's the Best God damn experience in the World!& it doesn't have Framerate issues, problems.& it's even more amazing how the ps1, with only a fraction of PS3's power has managed to create such an Outstanding Game.
The Bottom Line-Wipeout XL was ahead of it's time & even if it's graphics are "dead" nowadays, it's gameplay & overall feel will never die.It has the best gameplay & feeling from the entire series.