Tony Hawk's Underground 2

"The best one yet!"

I've played the Tony Hawk games since the very first game. I can still remember the greatness of that game and how fun it was. Each new Tony Hawk game always has something brand new. Tony Hawk 2 had create a skater, create a park, and the manual, which allowed you to link street tricks together. Tony Hawk 3 improved combos by having the revert, which allowed you to link vert tricks with street tricks resulting in huge combos. Tony Hawk 4 had the new Career mode. Tony Hawk Underground 1 introduced walking off the skateboard, creating tricks, creating goals, and a new Story mode where you had to create you own skater and have him go from unknown street skater, to a sponsored skater. And now, Tony Hawk Underground 2 introduces more gameplay elements, more customization, and alot more replay value.

In the Story Mode, Since you worked your way to become a pro in the last game, you now get to have fun. Tony Hawk and Bam Margera invite you and alot of other pro skaters to a contest they made up called the World Destruction Tour, where Team Hawk and Team Bam go around the world, do some crazy stunts and challenges, and attempt to win the contest by earning points for those challenges. The Story Mode is hilarious, and the addition of Phil Margera being in this game makes even funnier. Though the Story mode is kind of short (Tony Hawk Fans will probably beat this in 1 to 2 days) It's still fun, and the levels in the story mode are the best ones yet.

Though the story is that good, Tony Hawk fans may not like having to be a created skater for most of the game. But, followers of the series will be happy to know that this game also has a separate single player mode called Classic Mode. If you played the 1st three Tony Hawk games, you'll remember how you had 2 minutes to do the goals required on the checklist. Well, this game has included that and has the levels from Story Mode (As well as levels from the 1st three Tony Hawk games)

The gameplay has always been the series strong point. And It has gotten a few new changes in this game. This game now lets you spray paint graffiti on the walls, and get points for it during combos. Also, the game now lets you freak out whenever you bail. Lets say you attempt a 900 and end up messing up. A meter will appear above you and you can tap the Y button as fast as you can to Freak out and rack points, which is good for starting a combo. The more you tap the Y button, the more points you'll get and the crazier you character will act. Also, the game lets you do front flips, back flips, and side flips during any grab or flip trick. And, in some levels, you can even pick up certain objects and throw them at pedestrians, which also gets you points and can help you during a combo. And, the game introduces something VERY useful called Focus Mode. Think of it as the bullet tme effect from Max Payne. Time slows down, so you can land clean tricks and have an easier time balancing on rails, or doing manuals. Although it has limits, it still is a very useful new gameplay addition for this game.

Now lets get to what I think are the best parts of the game, the create-a-something options. In this game, you can create you own skaters, your own parks, you own goals for levels in the game and for your own created parks, you own graffiti tags, even your own tricks! These options make this Tony Hawk game even better then last years game.

Now lets get to the graphics. Although this isn't the games strong point, it has improved a bit since the last game, and the character modes look a bit better then the last game.

The Sound, which has always been a strong point to the series. The game has alot of realistic skate sounds, like rail grinding. But, the real greatness of the sound is its terrific soundtrack. The Tony Hawk games always have great soundtracks, and this one is no exception. It has alot of varieties of music from punk, hip hop, rock, and a few others. This game even has a few old songs that go great with this game. Just about anyone who plays this game is bound to find a few songs that they like, since there is over 50 in this game. But if you don't like the games music, this version of the game does support Custom Soundtrack Support.

With all of these new gameplay features, this game is without a doubt the best Tony Hawk game yet. Fans of the series will not be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/13/05