Based off of the popular ABC television show of the same name, Wipeout: The Game for DS is, in essence, a rather simple minigame collection aimed primarily at younger demographics. The game has a lot in common with the television series, most notably that the main goal of both of them is to run through obstacle-filled courses without ‘wiping out’ along the way.

The game is fairly easy to understand in terms of controls. The directional pad is used to control the movement of your character, while pressing the Y button will allow them to sprint. The B button is used to allow your character to duck, whereas the X button enables them to jump. Holding the A button will allow the character to block projectiles and objects thrown at the player in the Sucker Punch and Butt Kicker obstacles.

The goal in each mini-game is simple: get to the end without being pushed or thrown into the water surrounding the obstacle. Though it may appear to be a simple task, some of the obstacles are harder than you may think.

Upon starting up the game, your first task is to compete in TV Mode, which is based off of the television series. Here, players will participate in three different activities, all of which require them to race against the clock. The first round is composed of five random obstacles, whereas the second round, entitled the Sweeper, puts players on a small pedestal and requires them to jump whenever a spinning object draws near. The finals are very similar to round one. In order to win the round and the competition, you must race to the end of four different obstacles and achieve a better final time than your opponent. Upon completion of this task, the Obstacle mode will become unlocked.

The Obstacle mode plays very similarly to round one of the TV Mode. There are twelve different sets of challenges present, each composed of three different missions. The goal for most of the missions is to beat the time outlined on the screen, though those involving the Sweeper will require you to be the last one standing. After finishing up a set of missions and completing the challenge, you will be required to return to the TV Mode and win again before a new challenge will appear.

Wipeout: The Game can certainly be fun at times but it suffers from being too repetitive. There are only a handful of obstacles to participate in, though new takes on them become unlocked by completing challenges and missions. Unfortunately, these different versions are often only slightly harder obstacles and do little to mix up the gameplay.

On the other hand though, there is a ton of content to unlock. There are plenty of hidden characters to unlock in the game and new outfits can be unlocked for all of your characters. Each character has their own unique stats too, so it is definitely worthwhile to unlock all of the characters and see which one suits you best.

From a presentation perspective, Wipeout: The Game ends up being a mixed bag. The game features the voices of the hosts of the show, and while it is certainly nice to see their voices implemented into the game, the end result is disappointing. Their voices can get annoying after a short period of time, due to the lack of variety in their speech. On the other side of things, the game’s visuals aren’t that hot either. The character models and stages both come off as mediocre in the end due to their lack of detail.

Wipeout: The Game is a great game for young audiences, though for more seasoned gamers, it will most likely not fill their hunger. The game takes only a couple of hours to complete, and its difficulty level is appropriate for young children. If your kids are looking for something fun to enjoy, look no further than this.