Tony Hawk's Underground

"Finally, Not Just The Same Old Tony Hawk Game"

In the first four Tony Hawk games all you really did was pick a pro, skate around, and complete goals. Well in Tony Hawk's Underground it's a little different....excuse me, a lot different!

Gameplay: 9/10
Instead of skating around as a pro, this time you get to skate around as you. Once you start off Story Mode you get to create your skater, and make them look any way you want. You can then create your deck just about any way you want. From there the real game begins. You start in New Jersey, and from there make your way to many other big, open cities. Along the way you get lots of goals, but they are different from the previous Tony Hawk games. Sometimes the goals are easy, some hard, and some are just really fun. Besides Story Mode, there are many other things to do in THUG. Multiplayer this time around is much better. There are lots of new modes to do now. You and a friend will have hours of fun doing multiplayer. Like in the other games, you can create a skater, or create a park. But this time you can create a deck, which is fun. If none of these sound appealing to you, you can just do free skate and just skate around for as long as you want. You can also unlock lots of cool skate videos to watch. Like in Tony Hawk 4, one of the best things this time is there is no time limit in the levels. Overall, the gameplay is the best I've ever seen in a skateboarding game.

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics are pretty nicely done. It's very well polished, and the cutscenes look pretty good. The character designs are awesome, and they made the pros look very much like they do in real life. The only real problem is the minor graphical glitches.

Audio: 9/10
The soundtrack in this game is excellent no matter what kind of music you like. If you like punk music, you can just select punk from the list, if you like hip hop, just select hip hop, and so on. All the music is good music to skate to. The game also has way more songs then the other games in the series. The voice overs are also pretty good. All the pros provide their character's voices. The only small problem is that your character's voice sounds a little bored at some points. The sound effects are done very well. Thanks to the skating sound effects, it feels like your really skating.

Story: 8/10
The basic story is your a kid from Jersey who wants to make it big in the skating industry. You have a best friend named Eric who kind of comes with you on your journey to becoming a skating star. The story has some surprises, but it's also sometimes predictable. It's really never been done before, so points for that.

Controls: 7/10
The skating controls are good, like the two other tony hawk games for the gamecube. It didn't screw up there. Where it screwed up was the driving controls. The driving controls are horrible, and very hard to control. Turning is the hardest part because in order to turn properly you have to brake, then turn slowly. Luckily your not in vehicles often. You can also get off your board in this game. Those controls are alright, but just minor issues with jumping.

Value: 9/10
If you buy this game, it may never get old. After you beat story mode once, you'll keep wanting to do it again, because there is lots to unlock. You also get special rewards if you complete every goal in the game. It's also fun to try to hit every gap in the game. Even if you beat all of those, it's still fun to play it again. This game is very worthwhile.

Overall: 9/10
Buy this game now! It's hard not to like Tony Hawk's Underground due to it's addicting, fun gameplay, wonderful graphics and audio, and original story. You'll like this game, skating fan or not.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/21/04