Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

"He did it again!"

Tony Hawk is the series to have in the past 4 years (99-02) selling large amounts of copies on every platform that is has been in (but the THPS 3 on N64 might break that record) and has been on 8 consoles (handheld and systems) in 4 years. Everyone must admit, that this is a very good game, and plays beautifully. Every game they have expanded on what they have to offer, may it be larger levels, new moves, characters, park editing, or even something that changes the game entirely. From the First Tony Hawk (which I will now refer to as THPS) on the DC, we gained better graphics from the PS1 version. It is really the same, the PS1 was worse graphics for the game then the DC version. However, this game is not a port as the first one was. They both came out at the same time. That added some new moves, a few new skaters, and mostly, they added the manual, which makes you able to keep tricks going and going, making it able to rack up over 200,000 points in one trick. This game is a great improvement over the first THPS, however, it can’t even compare to Tony Hawk 3. If we put it into the sense that THPS3 was never made, then, this, this masterpiece on the last Sega System, shall be one of the greatest games on the DC ever. No story, no rules, all skating.

Graphics: 10
These graphics, needless to say, are stunning. I would say that they are the 3rd best you can get on a DC (without Importing.) All the skaters look marvelous, though everyone roughly has the same build. All the levels are a skaters dream, filled to the brim with things you can grind, ollie, and manual off of (or onto.) Half pipes, quarter pipes, kickers, walls, pools, tables, everything can be used in a trick. All the skaters clothes look like what they wear, and you can customize our own skater to wear anything you want. However, when you are playing some of the bigger levels (most noticeable, the school or Philadelphia) when you’re at one end of the level, and you begin to move, you each some fog and pop up for the last part of the level. All the levels look faboo. Everything is filled with so much color and life (though you see no life inside the level except for your own) the levels have many things floating around in the levels, like money, and S-K-A-T-E pieces. When you pick which board you want, and you do some moves, you can tell which board you chose by looking at it. When you make your own skater, you can customize what clothes he has, and you can see that cast color palette that they give you. You could make him just with tighty whiteys, or a plaid suit with shorts. You really can’t get much better on the Dreamcast.

Gameplay: 9
The whole point of THPS2 is to skate. Really, you can just have a good time doing free skate looking at the levels. Really, the whole goal is to become to top skater in the world. You do that by winning gold medals in all 3 competitions, one in France, one in the US, and one in: The Bullring. To get to those competitions, you need to make certain amounts of money. You gain money to beating challenges in the levels, like collecting a certain amount of points. However, they are also goals by level, like take example, in the school level, you have a goal called; Wall ride the 5 bells. This goals means, you must wall ride (which is like grinding on a wall a little bit) and hit 5 school bells. If you do that in the two-minute time limit, you gain a certain amount of money. The more money you make, the more levels you unlock. You can also find 50, 100, and 250-dollar bills floating in mid-air in many hard to reach places in each level. You can use money for 3 things. One; To buy more stat points, which, when you get enough money, you can max out your stats. Two; To buy new moves for your skater, getting better moves which give you more points. Three; To buy new decks, which could have added attributes, like speed, turning, and durability. Once you get a medal in all 3 competitions, you see a video of people falling and breaking their special area for the sake of the sport. Doesn’t that make you feel all warm inside?

Along with career, you have park editor, 2 Player, and Create a Skater. 2 player has the most replayability in this game. You have 4 modes of play (Trick Attack, Tag, Graffiti, Horse, and Free Skate) that gives you many options to play with your friends. Park Editor gives you the tools to make your own skate level, but the level is very small, and I find most of it awkward to use. But Create a Skater was very nice. I like my skater: Dodd Mintz. If you can figure out what both of those names come from, I’ll give you a cookie :^).
Over all, everything is great, except for trying to make the greatest skate park ever.

Sound: 10
How could I not give this soundtrack a 10 by itself? They got a great selection of songs and a wide variety of artists to make the soundtrack perfect. Just choose free skate, the ________ level (it’s a secret!) and pick guerilla radio by Rage Against the Machine, and I cruise. 15 songs (equaling to about 50 minutes of music) so I can sit back, relax, and get into the zen state of mind. However, I’m just gonna say it out loud here, song of those songs suck. Badly. But you can easily skip those. The Sound Effects, however, don’t take a back seat to the music. You hear every bone crunching fall, every ball breaking stunt, every trick that should make anyone that saw it feel the pain also, in clear quality over the music. When you are close to something very important, a sound should come up to tell you want it is, like a ring of rattling of a subway. Sound in THPS2: Perfection on the Dreamcast.

Fun Factor: 9
You will have a great time playing this game on your DC, but one thing that stops this from getting a ten in fun factor is one thing: Park Editor. I really don’t like the way it is set up. Controls are great (when you use the D-Pad to steer. I find the stick a little loose) Career mode gives you the biggest bulk of the game, because I find that the challenges are harder then the first and third, meaning it would take you longer to complete it. Just getting all the gaps....I don’t know how anyone could do it in less then a month. If you want the best extreme sport game on the DC, then get Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2.

Buy or Rent?
Buy it, I don’t know anywhere that you can rent DC games anymore, and it is only 8 dollars more then the first. If you go and play the 2nd, then go and play the 1st, it feels neutered. Get the 2nd. Though this is a great game, I gave it a 9. Why? Do you ask? You gave graphics and sound 10! Yes, but Gameplay and Fun Factor were 9. Those equal 70 percent in my scoring. Though this is a great game, it’s not the greatest.

Graphics: 10
Gameplay: 9
Sound: 10
Fun Factor: 9

Reviewer’s Score: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/22/02, Updated 08/22/02