Tony Hawk's Underground

"Murs - Transitions as a Rider (best song to describe ya know)"

Is it just me or are there less skateboarders out there compared to two years ago? I think that the Tony Hawk influence is starting to wear off on today's generation as it waits for another breakthrough sports game. In the meanwhile, Tony Hawk Underground, or THUG for short, is here to supply us with brand new things that practically every other extreme sports games lack…the use your damn feet and run, and many more!

I'm really that much of a skater so learning and understanding all these new commands are hard work to get down and skillfully use them in combos. Brand new wall plants and off-the-board commands can help when you're about to lose your combo to a 50-foot brick wall. Pretty useful when you're a street skater (working best with ramps and rails) isn't it? Now for the vert people, well you guys got toned down like Hell! The amount of grab and flip tricks has noticeably decreased. One over abused in particular has been put out of commission; remember the “Indy 900”? Yeah, that got canned this time.

Now you know what your arsenal is, time to know what your up against. In THUG, you can select Story Mode where you create you player and skate around New Jersey like a scrub. As your skills get better, your relationship with Eric Sparrow, your “best friend” gets ugly between money and skateboarding. It's pretty obvious around the end that he has given up his heart for the hobby and filled it with greed and power. That's tainted love folks. Now it's time to take him down and show how skating should be done, with the soul and love of the game.

Other than that, you go on a free play mode where you can choose of everyone in the past games and some new faces that I don't know. From there, the only things you can do is to find gaps while everything else is pretty useless. Then there's multiplayer where all the competition goes down. Our favorite classic games like graffiti, trick attack, and HORSE back and one new one, called Firefight, is introduced. Here, you better hope that you have Mario instincts 'cause you'll be throwing fireballs at each other. How fun!

Going online adds more competition and often more ignorant chumps, but hey, “Take them as they come,” I always say. I addition to a great play online, there are two additional multiplayer games just for online patrons. Goal Attack and Capture the Flag are back once more to have 8 people going nuts in a small area.

Talking about the environments, the graphics are lacking due to the recoil of tuning-up everything else. Not only that, when people talk to you in Story Mode, just watch their tongue-less mouth talk so coherently. That is so PS1 expected stuff right there Neversoft!

There are two things that satisfy me in the game. First, the fact that you can put your face on the game is unheard of. Yes, it is possible with this game. All you have to get is a recent of yourself and mail it to the creators and stuff so they can make you face to stick on later. It's really trippy to e-mail them a picture of your grandmother than yourself, huh?

Second, create-a-park is really detailed this time. Streets, buildings, rails, ramps, oh my how will I decide where to put them all. Once you’re done, there are even the gaps to include. It's feels like if some dudes make Sims Skate park. Ah, the things to keep you busy when you’re bored. It's your world so create how you see fit.

Every year, I am amazed with the Tony Hawk sound selections. The fact that they can categorize the hip hop from the rock (and vica versa) can save a lot of time. I’m surprised that they have a track called “Transition as a Rider” by Murs is a real shocker for me. I've been trying to get that CD because that song is the bomb! The hip hop tracks are really lay back compared to punk and rock so style is going to make an appearance in the competitions.

This game is worthy to put on a must buy list; however, it's not the best THPS game out. Still this game will keep on giving you stuff to do for a while with some cool nostalgic effects. Certain hidden tracks will have you ready to jump a helicopter, tailslide a ledge on the beach, and kick flip TC's gap, if you know what I mean. *hint, hint* Not only that, try making your own deck and even tricks when you want a quick high and tinker with Mctwisting something. One more thing, get the KISS letters twice in the “Hotter than Hell” stage for one of the coolest moments in video game history!

Pros
- Story that makes sense
- Hidden tapes are back
- Ton of hour playtime
- Kick butt songs

Cons
- Graphics look like ****!
- Short pro movies
- Ollie the Bum and Officer Dick is not playable
- Nailing stat challenges are hard!

Tony, Bob, Kareem, Chad, Bam, and others are here to guide you to another direction in skateboarding history. With a brand new destination comes a brand new goal, to go where no other extreme sport game has ever gone before. Wit thy feet, I risen to glory and passion, to skate thy wicked streets of Jersey, Hawaii, and even Moscaw. With the popularity of skateboarding fading there's only one place to turn to...Underground!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/03