Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x

"This game is pretty fun, but gets old after a while"

Introduction:
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2x (which will hereafter be referred to as thps2x) is a skateboarding game. It is basically a remake of the first and second Tony Hawk games, way back on the Playstation, Nintendo 64, and the Dreamcast, but it has a couple of new levels, and better graphics.

Gameplay: 9/10
During the course of thps2x, you will play as either one of the 13 real-life vert or street pro skaters, or your own custom-made skater. Each skater has their own special tricks, that are usually worth more points than normal tricks.
Your mission in the career mode of thps2x is to complete certain goals in the 2-minute time period for cash. These goals start off being fairly easy, but slowly become more difficult as you progress.
In the game, cash will buy you stat points, decks (the board part of a skateboard), simple tricks, and most importantly, special moves.
Stat points will go start at 200 dollars (don’t worry, that’s NOTHING) and go up fifty dollars every time you get one. Each player starts off with different stats.
Decks: Each time you buy one of the skaters decks, the stats of your skateboard will go up, however the price of the deck will go up $250. Another feature about the deck is that the graphic will change.
The graphics on your deck are real graphics from the sponsor the pro had at the time the game was made. You can also chose to use other decks besides yours from the same sponsor.
Simple tricks are tricks such as kickflips and melon grabs. The prices of these are different depending on how many points they will give you if performed.
And finally, special tricks are tricks such as the 900 spin. These will give a lot more points, but they are harder to perform, and you will have to have your special way up to perform them.
Your Special meter is basically how good you have been doing since the last time you fell.
This may seem complicated, but it really isn’t. Within 10 minutes you should be able to understand how the game works.

So what is the point of completing the career mode? If you beat the last level of Tony Hawk’s pro skater with a particular pro, you will get a video of the pros busting while skating, and unlock Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and the 2x parts of the game. If you get all golds in the three skate competitions, you will also unlock a short (but good) video of the pro skating.

There are also modes that you can skate around a level freely, and you can make your own skatepark, which is always fun.

Graphics: 6/10
This is definitely the worst part of the game. Although they definitely improved the graphics over the ''last-gen'' consoles, they still need a lot of improvement.

Sound: 7/10
The overall sound is fair. You basically have to turn the TV way up to hear the music.
The music selection is also fair, because it offers a wide selection of tunes, including punk and rap.
The best part about the music on the game is that you can listen to your own custom soundtrack by loading your tunes on your Xbox hard drive.

Playtime: Varies
Playtime in the game varies greatly in the career mode. The first time I beat the game it probably took me, like 5 hours, but now it takes me less than an hour.

Replayabllity: 8/10
If you become good at the game, you might consider beating the game with every character. Also, there is virtually no limit to how many skateparks you can create, since it only takes 5 blocks of memory to save a skatepark.

Overall: 8/10

Final Recommendation:
If you liked the other Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Games, you will like this game. It’s only like, $20, so it is a good buy. But, if you’ve never played any other Tony Hawk games, you might want to rent it first.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/29/03, Updated 07/29/03