Thrasher Presents: Skate and Destroy

"No dissapointment from me"

To let you know upfront, I have written this 'review' not to give you people an 8 out of 10 rating for what basically is the greatest skating game ever but to brag on about it's many positive sides and it's minor downsides and of course to compare it to the other biggie...Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.

First of all, the game's playability. It's relatively hard to get into, especially for those of us who have honed our 'skating' skills on Tony Hawk's. The learning curve is just above the average difficulty though, so it'll take some time. The tricks are certainly tougher to pull-off and grinding seems impossible at first as your dude can't balance for $h!t without you directing him.

The actual tricks include a wide variety (not less than Tony's fine game, but with many more cool grinds and slides) and linking them together isn't really hard but rewarding when you rack up some major points needed to coplete the later levels. Speaking of levels they aren't as good looking as Tony's but they offer far more interesting environments where risk taking pays-off as the comp doubles your score if you wall ride over a moving subway train. But before you go judo-grab transferring from one 1/4 pipe to another or hardflipping over incoming traffic you should be prepared for a tough time...

The first couple of minutes you're going to be whizzing around like an intoxicated 13yr old, falling over handrails and park benches. Which brings me to the spectacular falls, when your character falls, you will also feel the pain. The skaters do some violently funny 'landings' which includes the splits and almost breakdance-like maneuvres, all shown in slow-motion.

Or maybe you won't if you pull your fallen skater's arms and legs onto his/her torso in time before the ouchy landing comes by pressing O, which is another feature that no other skating game has. There is a damage meter, which is basically a mix between your character's health and your board's condition. Should your character fall from a 2-storey building head down or your board flips down into mud, your damage meter decreases and soon you shall have to restart the level if you repeat that stunt again.

The selectable skaters are all cartoons, resembling no famous skater or golfer, which compared to Tony's is a dissapointment but not a big one since to balance that off- we got better animation, better replays, stats that make a big difference in playing style and most importantly, a choice of sponsors your character may select from if you complete a city (1,2 or 3 levels per city) . Which includes some sk8ing biggies such as THINK,DC SHOES,ALIEN WORKSHOP and ANTI-HERO. It makes no gameplay difference but you sure feel cool, rippin' Germany's skatepark in an independant t-shirt, dc-shoes and an anti-hero deck under your feet.

The game is preety much realistic, apart from several moments here and there. The graphics aren't as crisp and clear as Tony Hawk's but they appear to be much more practical to this sort of game. The replayability is great as finishing the game on normal setting won't get you the skater of the year title and only when you sweat your palms off in fury and anger trying hard to beat the levels on the hard setting, will you truly feel like you've beaten the hell out of a tough game

Oh and don't hang around too long for when the time expires, you get a p'od cop chasing you with a tazer device, rush for the exit and the leave the spot in triumph, smelling of pure sk8ing spirit. Tony Hawk, come in, your time is up...

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/04/00, Updated 01/04/00