Pure awesomeness.
Good Stuff:
Looking good
Wipeout Pure is a beautiful game. While the graphics are pretty good for a PSP game, what makes it stand out from other racing games is the art style. The game takes place in year 2197, and instead of racing with cars, you control hoverships. There are 10 different ships in the game, and all look really cool. But the ships aren't the only things that look good - the game's 16 tracks(12 regular ones, and 4 Zone ones - more on Zone later) all look really good, each one having it's own "feel". Even the game's menus have a really cool design - whatever you're doing in Wipeout Pure, it always looks good.
Sense of Speed
The sense of speed in Wipeout Pure is nothing short of fantastic. While it obviously doesn't compare to that of recent, console-based racing games, it's without a doubt the best one I've seen on a handheld. The game has five difficulty modes, two of which have to be unlocked, and the harder the difficulty, the faster you go. The exhilaration you get when going at full speed in Phantom, the hardest difficulty, is simply awesome.
High-speed warfare
One thing that sets Wipeout apart from other racing games is the weaponry. Colored plates are scattered around the tracks, and running over one of them gives you a randomly selected power. There are a variety of them, including heat-seeking missiles, plasma balls and rockets. You an also get non-offensive powers such as turbo boosts or shields. Once you've used a power it's gone, and you need to find another colored plate to get a new one. Powers can also be absorbed to restore health, so if you're about to die and get a neat weapon, it might be a good idea to absorb it instead of using it. The powers add a nice layer of strategy to the game, and are really fun to use.
Good music
The music is all techno, which fits the game's setting and visual style perfectly. If you like any particular tunes you can disable the others, ensuring that you always get your favorite ones. There isn't really a lot to say about the music, but it definitely fits the game, even if it isn't something I'd put on my Ipod.
Zone out
There is a more in the game called "Zone". In this mode there are no competing ships, no powers, and no time limit - it's just you and the track. Thing is, the absence of powers mean you can't heal, and your ship will accelerate by itself, slowly but surely. The faster the ship goes, the harder it is to avoid collision with walls. So basically, what you're trying to do is survive as long as possible. Despite the survival part, Zone mode is really relaxing - the tracks' art designs are easy on the eye, and combined with the solitude and the nice techno music, it makes for a great change of pace when you feel that the regular modes are too hectic.
Bad Stuff:
Handheld
While there are advantages with being handheld, they don't outweigh the disadvantages when it comes to multiplayer-focused genres such as fighting or racing. There is online(though I didn't manage to enter any online matches, for some unknown reason), and if you've got a friend who also has a PSP with Wipeout Pure, you can race him. But to me, split-screen is an important part of a racing game, and the fact that you can't race someone with just one copy of the game(well, you can share a demo of the game and race on the demo levels, but...) is kind of lame. Completely understandable, but still lame.
Final Verdict:
While the game obviously doesn't have split-screen, I enjoyed the rest of the game so much that it didn't really matter. The game is fantastic, and without a doubt the best handheld racing game I've played - if you're even remotely into the genre, Wipeout Pure is a game that's worth buying.