Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

"This Is The Best Sports Game ever!"

When I first played the game, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, I thought this game wasn't going to be that great. But when I played it at my cousin's house, I was hooked on and I bought the game right away. When I bought the game, I played it non-stop until I beat the game. Took a break, and then try to set my records and try to beat the records my cousins had. This game is soo fun that you'll lose track of time, and before you know it you missed breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In 1999/2000, all I have been playing were RpG's and adventure games, no sports, and Tony Hawk was the first sports game I bought since Nfl Blitz. All others I would have rented. I would say this is the best sports game I have ever played

Visuals-8/10: Although the visuals aren't like Final Fantasy 8 , the graphics are pretty great for a skating game like Tony Hawk. The characters look realistic, and all the moves look like the real moves you would do in real life (If you could actually do them). Falling looks pretty bad too when you do it. You see blood come out everytime.

Sounds-9/10: The sounds are great. Other than the groans you would here if you fall, the music while you play the game is great. All the songs are great, and its good that they had real bands play music for this game.

Gameplay 10/10: This is where it gets great. The one player mode has 3 modes: career, single session, and free skate. 2 player also has 3: trick attack, horse, and grafitti. All these modes are great to play and I especially like the free skate. It makes me find all the places where you can score big for points, and then I can show off all the moves in front of my friends. Career mode takes pretty long to beat for every skater, if you want to get all the tapes (unless you want to cheat).

Control 10/10: Wonderful control. Every move is very easy to execute, and the special moves require only and extra button more from the other moves to execute. It isnt that complicated to do moves too. X is to ollie. O is a grab trick. Triangle is grind, and square is a kick trick. Your control pad determines what kind-of trick you do. R1/L1 is to turn while you do a grab trick, and R2/L2 is to automatically turn 180 degrees.

Replay 10/10: Replay is unbelievable. If you're a RpG fan, you'll play this game until Dragonquest, Chorono cross, Hehe, even when Final Fantasy 9 comes out. This game will keep you going for a long time. Trying to beat your records, getting every tape, and play every person you know. I've played with every skater and tried out all their specials. I think my favorite specail is christ air. That is the coolest hold and is so easy to land. There are other great specials to, like the Kickflip McTwist, the 900, kickflip underflip, and others. My favorite special grind is the 5-0 Thumpin by Muska.

Final Word: Buy this game!…You'll be hooked just like I do. Oh yah!, if you want to get a lot of points (like in the hundred thousands), pick a street skater. I pick andrew reynolds and I got 300,000 points because they have special grinds. No codes, no forever specials,no slow motion. The only thing I had up was the stat bars to the fullest. That was probably the only thing, but I didn't have the stats X 10 or 13, I just had the bar up. Try it, and practice. Even today I try to beat my records. This is a great game to get, and you should get it when you read this right away!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/17/00, Updated 01/13/01