Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2  

by Activision  Reviewed by: Tom La Bolle  

Overview

Here's the latest game for those who love the thrill of extreme sports, but have too much good sense to actually participate. Activision brings the latest gravity-defying moves to your console with the N64 version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (THPS2).

Gameplay, Controls, Interface

The basic game, or career mode, consists of working your way up as a professional skater. You start off with access to the park in Mullet Falls, Montana and must earn enough money to open up the other parks. You start as one of 13 real life professional skaters or you can create your own. Each skater has individual strengths and weaknesses and a different set of starting tricks. With the money you earn, you can increase a skater's stats, buy new tricks or a better board. In addition to the career mode, you can also practice your tricks and look for hidden areas in free skate mode or single session mode. Free skate gives you the time you need to really master the moves, and single session lets you figure out how best to use the two-minute time limit to rack up the high score or hit the specials.

The basic controls are easy to learn, using either the analog stick or control pad to move around and the buttons to ollie, switch to goofy foot, etc. Different tricks can be performed with different pad/stick and button combinations, some simple and some quite hard even if you aren't worried about the ground racing up at you. Combinations of tricks get you the most points, such as the 720 hang-time with triple kick-flip.

The best quality of THPS2 is that it provides a playable challenge to all skill levels. Even if you have never played another game like it (I hadn't), you shouldn't have any difficulty figuring out the basic moves and getting a good start on the career mode (I didn't). On the other hand, with dozens of tricks and hundreds of combos available, even the most seasoned players should have plenty to keep them challenged.

Multiplayer Support

There are four 2-player games, all of which rely on performing higher scoring tricks than your opponent to win in head-to-head competition. There is also a 2-player free skate mode. Players can choose to split the screen side-to-side, top-to-bottom or kitty corner.

Graphics

As always with Nintendo games, the graphics aren't as sharp as other platforms and tend to be angular. Oh, and they took out the blood. However, with a fast-moving game like this they look pretty darn good unless you pause to scrutinize them. I did notice, however, that the skater's clothing and hair are remarkably static. No matter how fast you go or what position you're in, everything stays firmly in place like an advertisement for spray starch and hairspray. More importantly, the skaters pull off their tricks smoothly and without noticeable delay in response to control input.

Audio

The sound effects are thorough with plenty of grunts, grinds and crashes. Each skate park also has specific backgrounds and special event sound effects, such as the school bell ringing in Southern California or the sound of the chopper taking off in Mullet Falls, Montana. The music is great, but there are only six tracks. Fortunately, you can turn the music off independently of the sound effects and play your own music to skate by.

Bottom Line

Even though I don't play many sports games and have never skateboarded, I really enjoyed playing THPS2. With excellent game play and music and decent graphics, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is well worth playing. With over eight parks, 100 tricks and 13 skaters to master, it is well worth owning. Give it a try; you may be surprised.

Review Posted On 27 September 2001.