Tony Hawk's Underground 2

"As good as THUG1? No. A bloody good game? Definitely."

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 is an awesome game. It's really simple in that sense. One of the best skateboarding games out there. The second best in fact. It doesn't surpass it's predecessor but it's a ruddy good game in it's own rights.

The game's premise is simple. You are a skater from New Jersey. Performing a few tricks for your friends you suddenly get dragged into a van by some masked freaks. You emerge to see Bam Margera and Tony Hawks. It turns out, they're choosing players for their skateboarding team. I won't spoil which team you get to go with, but in the end, both teams have to perform lots of goals, for a set number of points. And then they spit a "loogie" at the wheel of loogies and see the punishment for the losing team, like a player swap, a player getting kicked out.

The game provides lots of celebrity appearances with the likes of weeman, stevo, and all of the celebrity skaters. The game provides dozens of hilarious moments which will crack you up, even if some of them are cheesy. Characters like Tony Hawk definitely portray themselves well, with amazing voice acting, and great animation. It really shows that this was a full effort to get the original people into a game, and it worked.

The gameplay is just like THUG, you go to lots of locations and tear up that city. You can perform the usual, grab, flip, grind. There's a new focus mode, but although it's pretty cool, it's pretty hard to use. Fortunately, it's only mandatory for a few goals, and optional everywhere else. A new part of THUG2 is the team swapping. You get to swap places with a pro for special goals, and two special characters. Usually these come with something special, like a motor powered skateboard or a wheelchair. The different levels are all designed greatly, especially the last one, which is amazing right at the end. Don't forget, the loser of the competition pays for the whole trip, which sounds very expensive.

The game presents itself very well with no frame rate drops or screen tearing. The art style looks great, and don't discount the graphics themselves, they look great. The music provides various musical stylings which will suit all genre lovers. Everyone will find something to love in this game.

Overall, this game is an awesome game. There's something for everyone and everything for most people. 10/10 definitely and a must-buy.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/31/09

Game Release: Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (EU, 10/08/04)