Whitewater Wipeout
Main game
3.13 average rating based on 16 ratings
- Developers
- Chuhai Labs
- Publishers
- Panic
- Event
- Playdate Update #1: 6/8/21
Release Dates
User Stats
How Long Is Whitewater Wipeout?
YEAH BABY IM SURFIIIN
This review is for the Playdate version
A classic arcade game, and it works SO WELL with the playdate's crank ! The nice little tricks you learn to do and some surprises you discover after becoming better at the game are really sweat, making you want to reach those HIGH SCORES BABYYY
- To me it's a complete success, and excels at what it does.
Steep Learning Curve and an Even Steeper Scoring System
This review is for the Playdate version
Whitewater Wipeout Review
As the first game to play on the Playdate, I was expecting a lot: full use of the screen's capabilities, game-changing use of the crank, and something I could show off to friends and famliy.
The splash screen (pun intended) looks terrific and quickly shows you that while the screen is 1-bit, the framerate capability and visual persistence of the LCD are top-notch.
The crank took a bit of getting used to, but the game's dependence on it forces you to learn. I found I got a feel for surfing with the crank in the game before I could put into words how use it. Unlike, "tap left then A", I found myself telling my kids to just play a few times until they get a feel for it. At first I was only surviving a few seconds, but then 10 seconds then well over 30 seconds per run.
The scoring sytem was a little frustrating at first (I got like 12 or 20 on my first runs) but once I started passing it back and forth between my kids we really started to stack up the points. One kid got 4,000, then 12,000, then 44,000. Waiting …
Whitewater Wipeout Review
As the first game to play on the Playdate, I was expecting a lot: full use of the screen's capabilities, game-changing use of the crank, and something I could show off to friends and famliy.
The splash screen (pun intended) looks terrific and quickly shows you that while the screen is 1-bit, the framerate capability and visual persistence of the LCD are top-notch.
The crank took a bit of getting used to, but the game's dependence on it forces you to learn. I found I got a feel for surfing with the crank in the game before I could put into words how use it. Unlike, "tap left then A", I found myself telling my kids to just play a few times until they get a feel for it. At first I was only surviving a few seconds, but then 10 seconds then well over 30 seconds per run.
The scoring sytem was a little frustrating at first (I got like 12 or 20 on my first runs) but once I started passing it back and forth between my kids we really started to stack up the points. One kid got 4,000, then 12,000, then 44,000. Waiting for one of our dogs at the vet let me push the score up to 196,000. Looking at the Global Leaderboards, 1 milion+ feels within reach.
All in all, this a great pack-in for a curious device. It makes me feel like playing Cannabalt on an early iPhone. Seemingly simple with surpising depth and a lot of polish.
ed.corcoran's review of Whitewater Wipeout
I love the visual style, but this is just brutally difficult. Also, the mapping of up/down on the crank to left/right on the screen felt off to me. Every time I started a game, I'd do it the reverse of what you are supposed to do. I wished I could invert the controls
Finally got my Playdate yesterday, and Whitewater Wipeout is a stellar introductory game. It's singular focus and early 80's arcade playstyle is very welcome in today's gaming landscape of bloated worlds, skill trees and GenericTemplateUI:s. And getting my first Quadruple 360 felt amazing.
That said, I have now played for over 2 hours, and despite the game instructing me to reach for the birds and avoiding sharks, I have yet to see either of them.
So, to all fellow surfers out there, have you met Jaws and Flappy Bird when out doing combo flips?
How do I upload my screenshots of me hanging loose on a gnarly soaker?
As much as I’m really enjoying other games like Lost Your Marbles and Pack Up Pup, the game I keep coming back to when I have a few spare moments is Whitewater Wipeout. It’s just so simple yet elegant and addictive. Games are quick, and racking up score multipliers is very satisfying.
I am fully addicted to this. I stayed up way too late last night continually trying to top my previous score. This has fully captured the elegant simplicity yet challenging nature of some GameBoy games. My willingness to try and try again a throwback to that era. I had to force myself to put the whole thing back in it's packaging last night because ever time I put it down , I picked it back up to play some more.
Hot damn I love this. Maybe it’s because I played a lot of California Games as a kid or because the crank control feels absolutely perfect, but I am digging this game. A simple design, high score and I can see endless hours trying to beat that score. It’s the perfect storm of nostalgia and wonderfully unique design.