The Wipeout series used to be among the Sony elite, games that helped catapult the PSOne to the high level of notoriety it enjoys today, but for whatever reason, sequels to the blisteringly fast-paced original weren't as stellar, and the series fell out of favor with many of you. Fast forward to the present, and Sony and developer Studio Liverpool are at it again, this time crafting a Wipeout for the PSP, but Wipeout Pure is anything but a rehash. The goal is to bring the series back to its roots, even if it means giving us some old school flavor to kick start our brains to remember a time when Wipeout was king of the racing circuit.

First things first: this game looks amazing on the PSP. Not that I've seen a game that doesn't, but each title deserves a special mention. The game's 16+ tracks (that include classic locales from the previous games) are these enormous and highly-detailed futuristic locales that will take you under water as well as bring you soaring high above it. There are lots of jumps, twists, and turns, and the graphics are, though this may sound out of place, positively delectable. Particle effects as well as the light trails from the back of your vehicle are also very nicely done, and the game's speed, while not even close to F-Zero levels nor that game's blistering frame rate, is still pretty fast.

Wipeout Pure's gameplay is pretty tight and so are its options. The game lets you compete in tournaments via the single player, or wirelessly battle against eight other players, and just like in the other games, weapons are available, so you can use rockets and such to jockey for positioning. There will also be downloadable content, so you'll be able to experience new tracks and vehicles through a USB connection.

There are a ton of vehicles in this game, and they all vary in speed, shields, handling, and thrust. After selecting your league (Alpha, Beta, or Classic), you then choose which team you want to be a part of, and there are many. I spied eight of them, and they include Feisar, Quirex, Harima, and Piranha, and each team has a description. For example, Piranha's reads: "Raw power with matching aesthetics and a reputation to maintain. The Piranha is a thrilling blur inducing ride prepare to see a tail fin."

Here's to hoping someone fixes the English. In addition to the grammatical mistakes, I also noticed that sentences disappear off the PSP's screen!

I found the game's controls to be extremely easy to use. Accelerate is X, using a weapon is Circle, Rear-view is Triangle, and Pick-up is Square. You can break with either the L or the R trigger, and of course you steer with either the analog nub or the d-pad.

Whether Wipeout Pure will bring success back to the series remains to be seen, but based on what I played (and the game was far from finished), it's already a solid racing title that should be a great fit on Sony's PSP hand held. Look for it sometime this spring, as chances that it'll launch alongside the system are pretty good.