Tony Hawk's Underground

"You won't be (skate)bored in this one."

Redesigned, fine-tuned, and deep as ever, the latest entry in the famed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series has arrived at last. Ever since the original Tony Hawk game was released in 1998, each new installment has improved upon the core gameplay with some seemingly minute, yet oh-so integral addition. The first sequel introduced manuals, which allowed the player to string together insane combos and even achieve over one million points in a single combo. With its 128-bit debut, the series established the revert, allowing massive airs to be linked directly into a manual. Although a minor add-on, even Tony Hawk 4's spine transfer served as welcome new ability. The release of Tony Hawk's Underground (hereinafter referred to as ''THUG''), Neversoft has gone out on a limb and created an auspicious new mode to replace the ever-popular Career Mode seen in previous installments. Fortunately, this adheres to the pre-established Tony Hawk formula and is by no means disappointing.

The real meat and potatoes of THUG, and the central focus of the single-player game, is the story mode. After designing your character using the in-depth Create-A-Skater (more on that later) you're thrust into the role of a run-of-the-mill punk from Jersey. After taking part in a few menial tasks handed out by the denizens of your neighborhood you'll actually meet up with some pros. Impress them with some mad skillz and you may just get the chance to go pro.

Of course, things aren't quite as simple as they may sound. THUG is split into over 25 chapters, each replete with a handful of diverse missions. These can range from simply scoring more points than a certain opponent to nailing another skater's best line and even busting out a series of tricks as called out by fellow skater. However, said missions are barely the tip of the iceberg, as the game is packed with a variety of assorted goals, some of which can only be described as downright crazy (leaping off a building over a helicopter, anyone?). To toss in even more depth, each of the four difficulty modes have variants in the missions. For instance, on Beginner mode you may only need to rack up 5,000 points for one mission while Sick mode requires five times the amount.

As for other additions to the already stellar gameplay, THUG adds two main things to take note of--the ability to dismount from your board and the readily available presence of drivable cars. The former is a nice aspect, though rarely necessary, whilst the latter is clunky and poorly-executed. Case in point: the overall physics of the cars are horrible and the Crazy Taxi-esque arrow, which is intended to show your itinerary, moves so slowly that you'll almost guaranteed to go careening into a wall every time you take a turn. Fortunately, few missions require you to drive a vehicle, and many of which can be simply bypassed. The same goes for the ability to dismount your board, although to a slightly minor degree. Running around on foot can be more than just a bit disorienting, but you'll get used to it in due time. Mario it ain't, but the platforming elements do a sufficient job and add an interesting sense of freedom and exploration to the Tony Hawk formula.

As expected, THUG offers each of the creation devices seen in previous games, as well as two new ones: Create-A-Deck and Create-A-Trick. Making your own deck is the most simplified of the four modes, but there are still plenty of designs to mix and match until you find something that tickles your fancy. When it comes to conceiving your own trick, you have a surprising amount of freedom. By combining certain tricks with spins and rotations it becomes a pleasure to design some of the most over-the-top tricks imaginable.

The Create-A-Skater mode more intricate than ever, with vast amounts of appearance-altering tools, including outrageous quantities of clothing, accessories, pads, hair styles, and skin/face designs to customize your skater. However, getting a decent color for anything--clothes, hair, or what have you--is still unnecessarily difficult. No matter how hard I tried, my wannabe-blonde skater always turned out with a sickly green do. Granted, this is a minor complaint, and you can easily make manifest a simple solution--slap one of the ridiculous amounts of hats onto your skater's head. Finally is the Create-A-Park feature, which is bigger and better than ever, providing a mass of skate-able objects to place however you see fit.

Although THUG is undoubtedly the most visually opulent entry in the series, the graphics are still unable to match up to certain astoundingly beautiful games (read: Panzer Dragoon Orta). However, visuals have never been the series's strong suit, and the character models and environments are quite nicely detailed. As with past THPS games, the animation is smooth as silk and a host of new bailing animations add in variety and a touch of humor.

When it comes to the audio portion, THUG has a soundtrack to dwarf the first two games put together. Around 80 songs by artists such as Kiss, The Clash, Alkaline Trio, Dropkick Murphys, Jane's Addiction and more complete the list. Most of the songs are either rap/hip-hop or rock, but there's more than enough diversity to please even the most selective of players. For those who just refuse to comply, the custom soundtrack feature is fully available, allowing you to create your own playlist.

Additionally, the various characters are fully-voiced. While certainly no Metal Gear Solid, the voiceovers are very well-done and do their job nigh perfectly. Sound effects are also as good as ever, with crunching bones as you fall particularly hard and nicely implanted ambient sounds.

Now then, THUG is easily one of the best skateboarding games out there, though it can't quite match up to the brilliance of Tony Hawk 2. Clunky platforming and driving aspects do little to improve the game, and many of the story mode missions are plagued by redundancy. However, the game still controls like a dream and the story mode is a refreshing new take on the tried and true formula. That said, Tony Hawk's Underground proves a terrific sequel and must-buy for any fan of previous installments. For those who haven't yet played a Tony Hawk game, I entreat you to pick up this gem, skateboarding fan or not. Chances are you won't be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/04