Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x

"If you've already played THPS 3-Underground, and you want to give the earlier installments a shot then this game is perfect for you."

For many of us, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was a common staple of growing up, in all of it's impossibly primitive goodness (in comparison to later installments). Manuals, reverts, etc, were non-existent. THPS 2 managed to remedy this somewhat with the introduction of the manual...but even then, someone who's just played THPS 3 or beyond that will quickly get fed up with the countless differences in gameplay.

If THPS 3 was your first foray into the series, then I must say that you shouldn't even bother with it's two other Playstation prequels -- because you'll feel nothing but heartache. The smooth and glossy controls and graphics that you've been pampered with from THPS 3-Underground are completely non-existent in the first two games.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x remedies many of these problems tremendously, by upgrading the original engine a bit with much better graphics and smoother controls. On top of that, when you finally have access to the levels from the original THPS you still have the ability to manual, even though that ability was not present in the original Playstation game.

As long as you're willing to deal with tremendous downgrades (for some) and you're willing to change your style of gameplay a bit, then this game should be considered an XBOX classic that successfully manages to make an old game into something somewhat new and palatable.

If you've already given all of the other games in the series a try, and even if you already own the original version of THPS 2, then still buy this game...there is more than enough improvements to make this game worth your while. If nothing else, the custom-soundtrack feature will liven things up a bit more.

PROS--

1) custom-soundtrack is always a plus, especially in a game like this
2) much better graphics, although nothing amazing for the XBOX
3) controls handle a bit better, although an S-Controller is necessary
4) having all of the levels from the first two games and more is great

CONS--
1) you have to play all the way through to unlock the levels from THPS
2) some gameplay mechanics are missing that might make things a bit strange to adjust to
3) as always, your thumb is going to hurt A LOT after long bouts of gameplay

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/20/04