Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

"One of the Most Exciting Games Ever Made"

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater revolutionized the skating genre as we know it. It is one of the first truly great extreme sports games that I have played. It is not often that I play much besides RPG's, and I do not really like skating that much, but this game kept me hooked for hours on ends. The enormous amount of things you can do, and the fact that you can pick up the game, and accomplish something new, even if you only have a few minutes is what attracted me too this game the most.

Gameplay - 10/10

The gameplay is the most addictive part of this game. There are a whole bunch of tricks that can be done by every skater, and special moves for each specific skater. Depending on the trick that you do, the frequency it has been used, the difficulty, and the tricks you may link together going into or coming out of another trick, you may earn a high score or a low score. Each run that you take lasts 2 minutes, making it easy to pick up and play, even when you have only a few free minutes. It is fairly easy to become familiar with the controls, and become good at a level, but it is nearly impossible to master a level, since there are so many possible moves you can perform, surfaces you can perform them off of, and ways moves can be linked together.

The main mode in the game is the career mode. You can choose from one of a few of the famous skaters offered, including Tony Hawk, Jamie Thomas, and Kareem Campbell. In order to unlock new levels, and better equipment, you have to find the five hidden tapes in each level, by completing various tasks such as getting a minimum score, grinding 5 tables, knocking over 5 boxes, or getting all of the letters in the word SKATE. There is a good variety in the difficulty for these tapes, making it not too hard to open up every level, but still leaving a challenge to obtain all 30 tapes available.

Multi-player is also quite a bit of fun, with three different options: trick attack, HORSE, and graffiti mode. In trick attack, you both compete at the same time for two minutes, and the highest score at the end wins. For HORSE, one player takes a short turn to get the most points possible in one big trick, followed by the other player. The player with the lower score gains a letter, until one player has spelled HORSE. In graffiti mode, you both skate around, and when one player does a trick in a certain area, a tag of that players color is put down. Of these modes, trick attack is probably the most exciting.

Graphics - 10/10

This game features some very good graphics. Tricks animations were motion-captured, and look very good in the presentation. Even with all of the hectic action, the graphics move at a god pace, and are not hindered by slowdown at all. The top-down view of the camera is handled very well, a factor that is very important during this action. The attention to detail in the graphics is very good. Levels are very detailed, with objects that you can grind, or use to your skating advantage everywhere. In one level, you can even see a music video playing in the background on a huge screen.

Sound - 10/10

The soundtrack is very good, and feels perfect for the skating mood. The tracks are fast-paced and help provide a high-energy mood during skating. Sound effects are very well done and quite accurate, including sound effects for passing motorists, skating on various surfaces like the street, or the sidewalk or benches, and falling sound effects, just to name a few.

Overall - 10/10

You cannot go wrong buying this game. It is an excellent package, and a lot of fun, and it is a Greatest Hits Title, meaning it is very cheap. It is a great game to pick up for just a few minutes, alone or with a friend. With the variety of surfaces you can perform tricks on and off, you can play for hours, and hours, and still have room for improvement in your best scores. Extreme sports game developers should take notice of this game, since it does everything right, and creates one of the most fun games you will ever play. Skating fan or not, you will have a lot of fun playing this game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/13/01, Updated 10/13/01