Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

"Think 'fun for 20 minutes arcade game' and you've got Tony Hawk."

Why people call this game one of the greatest PSX games ever made, i'll never know. I admit I'm no huge fan of skating, but even people I know that do skate like the game less than me.

Well anyway, THPS is nothing more then a skateboarding game made into some crappy arcade game. The first indication of this is the horrendous score system. The point values for moves are totally unbalanced. If you do a 520 ollie, you only get 150 points, where as a one simple grind can earn 1,000 or more. The score system really takes alot from the game, making it frustrating and tedious in 'Career Mode.' You see, in THPS, you have to unlock levels for 2 player mode. This is a great sin for such a great chance of a 2 player game. If you're one of those people who refuses to use cheat codes, expect to scream loudly at the Tv in a condescendning way. 'Oh, I didn't get a tape...no S***!'

That brings up my next point: the control scheme of THPS is frustrating at best. To pull off anything close to a good combo of moves, you have to practice the button combination numerous times. I've had the game for months and I still can't do a move out of a grind very well. And you'll be doing alot of tedious grinding in this game, simply because using the half pipes to do moves by mashing buttons down doesn't work well at all. It's one thing to take points off for doing the same move over and over...but why do they have to make it so hard to land moves?! I've bailed so many times while trying to grind, it's not even funny anymore. Even when I maxed out my skater's stats for balance, he still could only grind for a whole 3 seconds before I had to frantically press left and right to keep him from falling.

Worst still, the developers of this game have some twisted humor. The first secret character, Officer Dick is simply a joke about cops. All his skateboards have names that make fun of cops. The second secret character is even more outrageous than Lara Croft in her anti-feminist looks...I won't say anymore. Even though I am a guy, I'd rather not have a girl like this to ruin an otherwise 'serious' game. [I say serious lightly.]

The only redeeming quality of THPS is it's arcade like feeling and 2 player mode. My friend had never played the game in his life and was beating me in mere minutes. So I guess it has that 'pick up and play' arcade thing going for it.

In the end, THPS is a game for die hard skateboard or arcade enthusiasts only. As stated before, its too arcad-ish and pro-button mashing for me. I much prefer long lasting and time consuming thinking games. Sure, I can't score 100,000 points in THPS, but I can still kick anyone's ass at Super Smash Brothers ^.^

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 03/26/00, Updated 03/26/00