Wipeout Zooms Onto Dreamcast in Stunning Fan Port
From PlayStation to Dreamcast: A 30-Year Detour
In a rather brilliant twist that feels ripped from an alternate gaming timeline, Psygnosis's original 1995 anti-gravity racer, WipEout, has arrived on the Sega Dreamcast. The classic PlayStation launch title, famed for its blistering speed and iconic electronic soundtrack, is now playable on Sega's final console thanks to a remarkable homebrew port by developer Jérôme Martin (jnmartin84 on GitHub).
Martin, already known in the Dreamcast scene for his accomplished port of Doom 64, has leveraged the reverse-engineered source code from the WipEout Rewrite project – itself believed to be based on leaked PC source code. The is a a feature-complete release that runs beautifully on actual Dreamcast hardware from a modest 172mb file.
The headline feature is undoubtedly the performance. The port achieves a rock-solid 60 frames per second at the default 480p resolution, offering a level of smoothness the original PlayStation couldn't manage. Beyond the frame rate boost, the port boasts full analogue control support (including triggers for air brakes), VMU saving for settings and high scores (requiring 6 blocks), rumble pack compatibility, and fully remappable controls. Martin has even included experimental support for the Dreamcast's Link Cable, potentially allowing for multiplayer mayhem not seen since the days of lugging two PlayStations around.
Further visual enhancements are available, such as optional bilinear texture filtering and adjustable draw distance settings, though pushing these may impact the flawless 60fps target on original hardware. The developer notes that experience gained from the Doom 64 project, particularly in creating fast maths libraries and handling polygon headers, proved invaluable.
Released in early April 2025, this unofficial port is available completely free of charge. Those interested can download the .cdi image directly from Martin's GitHub repository - to burn onto a CD-R or load via an ODE like GDEMU. It’s a stunning piece of work, breathing new life into a classic title on hardware it was never intended for, and arguably offering one of the best ways to experience the original WipEout today.
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