Wipeout 2 Mobile Game Tips and Tricks Guide

If you were lucky enough to be playing the original Wipeout in the 90s then you are definitely one of the privileged few. The original PC game was a futuristic racing game that was pretty well-received and not oft-cited as a standard bearer of 90s gaming. I'm sure the original creators had no idea that given some time, Wipeout would become a legitimate gaming franchise, a TV show, and the subject of a post from little ole DealForALiving.

The big breakthrough was the ABC gameshow Wipeout, which Wiki lists as an:

"American reality show series in which contestants compete in what is billed as the "world's largest obstacle course".

Up to this point, Wipeout had established itself as a Sony Playstation set of games that were often rented, and sometimes bought. Reviews were generally good, gameplay was good, and there wasn't anything outstanding to report.

But somehow, with the recent launch of mobile titles, Wipeout has become an A-list game title rivaling Angry Birds, Real Racing, and Tap Sports sports games. Now that Wipeout 2 has hit the IOS and Android stores and made it to the top of the downloads list, if you haven't already, it's time to download it and give it a play.

If you're a novice to mobile games, you're going to love what I'm about to write...

The gameplay is easy.

In a nutshell, you're a participant on the Wipeout game show and your objective is to run through obstacle courses, collect coins, and beat an opponent that you can't really see aside from a progress meter at the bottom of the screen. Depending on whether you beat the opponent, your total time, and the coins you collect you'll get from 1 to 3 stars.

If you're knocked down, crushed, or otherwise disposed of, no worries! You are resurrected so you can finish the race. It's basically a stress free mad dash that will only take a minute of your time per level, so it's a must have on your cell phone or tablet.

Yes, you can get away with not having the most skills in Wipeout 2. Behold, the basic power ups:

• Rewind time after a wipeout. Super useful for me because I like to approach the game as a mad dasher, and I'm going full speed no matter what.
• Speed boost to go faster. An oldie but goodie. If you're not sure what to do with a power up, then go with this one because it's impossible to misunderstand. If you've got a stretch that's relatively obstacle free this will work wonders.
• Teleport past difficult obstacles. Most definitely the most useful boost for the average player. If you're not a gambler like I am, then being able to skip an upcoming obstacle will help you win the race. But you're kind of a coward, don't you think?

You will learn to love coins. They allow you to purchase power ups, they allow you to upgrade your character and to buy new characters as well. If you get horribly addicted to the game as I have, then getting coins is never going to be a problem. If you need more, play a level over again so you can collect more. If you can't get enough coins today to buy the teleport power up you need in your back pocket, then play tomorrow.

Don't tell me you need a hack or cheat to get unlimited coins so that you can beat an opponent you can't even see. Just play, enjoy, and collect.

After your first race or two, the tutorial will take you to your character upgrade screen where you're introduced to the 4 stats. These are crucial as you build your roster of characters, and also pay to upgrade individual stats to create your go-to player:

1. Speed - Can't beat speed, right? Let's face it, speed wins in every game and Wipeout 2 is no different.
2. Slide - Surprisingly useful as you'll have some obstacle courses where you're sliding a great deal. Don't sleep on this stat.
3. Recovery. I don't need this because I'm either going to finish first by running through and not hitting an obstacle, or I'm going down in a blaze of glory. Do you really want to invest in the idea that you're going to miss jumps or mistime your way into obstacles?
4. Air Control. My 3rd axis of character stats. There are few things as dreadful as when my character has the air control of Super Mario in the first game on Nintendo. That brings back so many awful memories of filling into pits and venus fly traps.

Now let's get to the fun part of tips and tricks!

• Get ready to play a level over and over. First and foremost, if you've played any game based on the 3 star standard like Angry Birds or Candy Crush Saga, then you know that you don't rest until you get 3 stars. Each level also has secondary goals which reward you, so make sure you achieve those.
• Speed kills. Speed is always the double-edged sword. Used by a master, which you'll become with some practice, speed will make you unbeatable as you run right by the competition and cross the finish line first. But if you're playing like me and running with reckless abandon then you are going to die many times. And that's okay.
• Power ups are really important in Wipeout 2. It pains me to say it, but you will need your power ups in Wipeout 2. Learning when and where to use your Teleport will save your bacon more than any tip or trick will. So decide beforehand when you're going to use your power ups.
• What recovery? To re-emphasize my point from the Four Stats section, don't waste your coins on upgrading or purchasing a character with strong recovery. You don't play to recover, and especially in the early going, the obstacle courses are not that tough, so you won't be recovering. It's a waste.

Great, so now you're ready to get back to the game. If you can think of other tips you'd like me to add, then leave a comment and I'll update the article. Good luck and thanks for reading!