Wipeout was once Sony’s proud flagship, its iconic ships the symbols that ushered in the age of modern mainstream gaming. But its latest incarnation is reduced to being a polished remix of previous PSP outings. And yet it’s resplendent with detail and vibrancy: each of WHD’s eight tracks is a shimmering, 1080p rhapsody, played at an unwavering 60fps.

The feel and heft of your craft is beautifully responsive. The analogue triggers enable deliciously subtle air brakes to ease your jet-propelled bobsled around corners. Less responsive is the invaluable sideways shunt, activated by a double-tap of a trigger, but due to the huge amount of give and the imprecise biting point, it isn’t natural and instinctive unless you change the mapping to the higher digital triggers.

The tracks might be familiar to fans of Pure and Pulse but the HD makeover freshens them, with courses at higher classes becoming dangerous and undulating living things. The gentle curves of Vineta K, for example, rapidly become savage as the throttle opens up. Mastering a tricky switchback or chicane is matched only by the near-euphoric speed rush that results from skilful piloting.

The singleplayer campaign is a series of ruthlessly testing challenges that include races, time trials, speed laps and Zone – a survival mode introduced in Fusion. There’s also the Racebox, in which players can create their own playlists of tracks and events, plus an eightplayer online option. But, still, the only spanner in WHD’s otherwise race-tuned engine is its brevity. After a few days, the eight reversible tracks feel over-familiar. But for £12 (or $20), WHD is great value – even if it doesn’t so much scratch the itch left by the series’ long console absence as irritate it. WHD gives enough to excite but not satisfy.

8/10