When I picked up my PSP some years ago, I was faced with a slight conundrum as to what games I was going to actually buy for the thing (which is much the case now, as it happens). Everybody’s Golf was a sure thing having been a regular favourite on the PlayStation, but the second supporting slot was a tricky issue. Eventually I ended up throwing my ‘I can’t stop hitting the sodding walls’ preconceptions about WipEout out of the window and getting Pure, and as it happened it turned out to be a superb choice.

See, WipEout on the PSP just works for me. I was bought up on a regular diet of F-Zero and the like and as such was unused to circuits that weren’t built with about a mile’s width, so the whole tricky twisting metal tube thing that WipEout goes for went over my head before. Presented with little choice other than to persist with Pure I ended up having one of those light bulb moments and finally ‘getting it’, and it’s a pleasure to discover that Pulse takes that and makes good with it.

On the face of it, Pulse does fairly little in the way of bringing a new twist to the series. You’re still piloting a super-quick ship around tortuously tight tracks against other such vehicles, and you’re still collecting weapons to blast your way past them in any way you can. Despite my misgivings there was really very little wrong with the whole WipEout thing in the first place, and with the continuation of the ability to absorb power-ups that Pure gave us slotting in nicely and giving a bit of a tactical edge to the racing.

Taking a step back from that for a moment, the main change in direction that Pulse brings to the table is in the form of Race Campaign mode. This works rather like a simplified racing career in which you are given a number of boards with hexagonal slots on them, each representing a type of race event for you to undertake. By winning medals in each event you are able to unlock neighbouring hexagonal slots to try your hand at, and the more you complete the more total grids you can unlock as you move on up the various difficulty levels.

Whilst it may lack the immediacy of simply being able to race in championships ala Pure, Race Campaign ends up being the kind of just-one-more-event mode that you end up putting a great amount of time into. The selection of race types is varied enough too, pulling different race types from a number of past games and chucking them all into a happy pick-‘n’-mix bundle; you have your standard single events, time trials and championships, whilst you also have the Zone mode from Pure in which you control an ever-accelerating ship and try to last as many segments of a certain track as you can before you clang off the side one too many times and go kaboom.

A new addition comes in the form of Elimination mode, which pretty much does what it says on the tin and has you battling against other racers in a deathmatch scenario with power-ups scattered pretty much everywhere. The problem is, this time you’re not given the ability to heal yourself by absorbing your power-up and hence it is rather more tricky than you would have initially thought, which also makes it really rather tense going.

Which brings us nicely back to the racing itself, and why it makes WipEout such an engrossing experience. Whether you’re racing against the clock, against opposition craft or against the tracks themselves, the thing never lets up. The best thing is that it never feels unfair, never like it penalises you for getting up front too early. Whereas leading a Mario Kart race opens you up to a whole can o’ whup, perfecting your lines on Pulse will, much like previous games, give you a healthy chance of winning, whilst learning the most opportune moments to use the power-ups on each circuit will have an equally beneficial effect. Don’t go thinking that means that you won’t have a fight on your hands; the AI will use weapons as much as you and they can weave a pretty quick path through even the trickiest sections, whilst the circuits are at times devilishly challenging, but it just feels very finely balanced and as a result is very enjoyable. As an added risk-reward mechanic, SCE Liverpool have also chucked in MAG-strips on some of the circuits, which basically stick your craft to the road for a short period and allow them to do loops and all sorts of kerazy stuff. This, allied to the game often offering you the choice of a simple circuit route or a risky shortcut, adds yet another level to proceedings.

What really adds to the enjoyment are the extra little touches and modes that have also been lumped in to the package, catering for all sorts of race types and bringing a simple-to-use online mode along for the party too. Race Box mode pretty much puts the player in his own little sandpit and allows him to fiddle around and create a one-off race tailored to his liking, whilst each ship you fly throughout the whole game tots up their own little loyalty scale that offers you bonuses for sticking with your favourite team. Feisiar FTW!

It’s the online functionality that really boosts Pulse, though, with it being remarkably easy to either start your own race or mini tournament or join one that’s already in progress. The racing itself is subject to a little lag on occasion, but for the majority it’s smooth and really good fun, as is the ad-hoc mode that allows you to do exactly the same but with folk nearby. Jay also found this mode rather good fun and proceeded to beat me more often than not, which promotes him to being King Git once again.

That’s not all, though. People wishing to check how their best times shape up can upload their save data to the database via their PSP and take a peek at where they chart on each circuit and speed class combo, or how each of the game’s teams is doing according to how players who’ve nominated them as their favourite are scoring. People with an artistic streak can create their own liveries on their PC via a handy little flash program on the Pulse website and then post it for other people to download straight into their games if they dig your funky threads. It’s hardly earth shattering stuff, granted, but they’re really nice little touches that add a great deal to the competitive element.

It’s technically impressive too, which no doubt helps. Graphically it’s packed full of the kinds of punky neons and mishmashed metals that we’ve all grown to associate with the series now, and it runs at a silky smooth 60fps, no matter how much is happening on-screen. The other effect this has is that it makes the handling seem rather more responsive and smooth than previous titles as well, which is a bonus when you get the more twisty circuits the game offers. All the while you have a typically pumping trance-ish soundtrack bombing along in the background, although those not really too fond of insane beats can load up to 30 of their own tunes that they have on the PSP for a custom soundtrack.

Overall, it’s certainly the best version of WipEout to date, and it is certainly the best racer on the PSP at the moment. What it most certainly isn’t is a complete change in direction for the series, but by tinkering here and there and adding an engaging single player campaign as well as a great online mode they’ve freshened it up enough to make it a really viable purchase. If you’ve not got much lined up for your gaming summer (looking at the release schedule I can hardly blame you) then this one’s most certainly a goer.