Tony Hawk's American Sk8land

"Ever wanted to play a game where every level is a tutorial?"

I've generally been a fan of skateboarding games since I took the time to play Tony Hawks Pro skater 2 on the playstation. Don't get me wrong, I'm no 'skater boi'; I dislike the music, I am appalled by the slang many skaters use, and I generally dislike the whole image of it. However, I can appreciate that skating takes a lot of skill, and playing a video game involving the sport generally is fun. I also loved the THPS GBA games- the isometric view gave it a surprising amount of charm, while keeping the core elements of the console versions to some extent.

I thought this DS version would be everything I could possibly want in a skating game. Graphics more akin to the home console versions, but which will work on my then-new DS. I believed the hype from the semi-cult following this game seems to have gathered, and unfortunately I let my usual cynical nature drop while buying it online.

Game play - As you would expect from the Tony Hawks home console versions more or less. The controls are worse, due to there being a couple less buttons than a home console's controller and the awful implementation of touch screen 'special move' buttons, but they more than get the job done. As in previous games, what button to press when you need to pull a specific move is becomes second nature after an hour or two of play.

The goals tend to be clear, with perhaps a couple of exceptions, and at first, the goals seem to be plentiful. To accept a mission, you must go and talk to one of many pedestrians, cops, or fellow skaters standing around. All well and good. However, after the first couple of areas, things start getting familiar. It is very well that the first level has very detailed, signposted missions- I assumed it was a tutorial level, after all. However, this continues throughout the game. If you are required to do a specific move, the game goes on to tell you how to do it, and an obvious place where you should do it. The missions are also very short. Fair enough for a handheld game, but some longer missions every level would have been nice. Furthermore, too many of these missions are either pulling off a specific move, or reaching a specific score. If you're VERY lucky, you might get a collect-the-tokens style mission sometimes.

The create-a-skater is pleasing. While your skater has no actual facial features as such, the clothes and hair are yours for the choosing. Even better is the bored designer. the DS' stylus is perfect for creating your own skateboard's design, even if you don't have much to work on. Another point purely for this wealth of options.

There is one good thing about the game play, and the main reason why I am giving this an above average score: The arcade style mode, as was the core element of the game back when THPS started out. Call me old fashioned, but this is what the franchise should all be about, and the moment the series started including the likes of that Bam character was the moment I started getting turned off by the games. Basically, you just go around each of the different stages from before, but with pre-set goals, such as reach the high score, pro score and sick score, and of course collecting the skate letters or finding the hidden video tape. Video game skating at it's purest before it was tainted by pseudo-GTA elements. It's a shame really- the core game play is top-notch, only let down by the mediocre story mode which the developers clearly concentrated on. More stages, along with concentrating on the arcade mode, this would be a firm favorite of mine.

Story - Not the most important of skating game elements, I know, but even by THPS standards this is banal. Basically, pick a teen drama movie. Any teen drama movie. Now, change whatever the element in it is to a skater setting, and you have this. Boy skater and girl want to save skate park. Boy skater's talent is spotted by pro, who happens to be passing through. Boy skater, pro skater and girl go on tiring mission to earn the money to save the skate park, with the aide of a large amount of other pro skaters eager to help. While it isn't trying to aspire to Final Fantasy depth, detail and emotion in its story, I have to warn you; it makes Leisure Suit Larry look like an in-depth social commentary. Did I mention the girl has black hair with red streaks in it...?

Graphics - I was genuinely impressed by this. Instead of going for the more realistic look of its console counterparts, this has gone for a cel-shaded look. It certainly more than pays off. The story isn't told through FMV, instead it is more comic-strip style, with more or less static images of Tony and the gang with voice-overs in place of speech bubbles. The in game graphics are surprisingly good, even I wasn't expecting the mix of relatively big environments, lack of any slowdown, generous amounts of interactive, mission giving locals and, dare I say, beautiful graphics. If nothing else, Tony Hawks Sk8land on the DS was an excellent technical demo for the DS early life. The bright colours also please the eye. I'm not normally one to fall for great graphics alone, but these have to be been seen in motion to be truly appreciated.

Sound - I'll try not to be biased, so I'll get this out of the way. I more than approved of the soundtrack of Tony Hawks Underground because there were three Kiss songs on it, and also THPS3 because there was a Motorhead song. Suffice to say, the 'punk' music on here from the likes of Greenday does not deliver for me. However, for arguments sake, I can recognize that this game is primarily aimed at skaters, who are going to be into this sort of music. If you are in this audience, then you will be satisfied. If not, then be prepared to turn al the tracks off. All this music is punk, with no other kind of music for the rest of us.

The skater sounds are good. The noises here are all present and correct, as far as I am concerned. The nice touch here is that you can add your voice via the DS' microphone, so if your skater pulls off a good move, or bails, he will shout accordingly. This is more of a gimmick than a fully implemented feature, but fun never-the-less, providing you like the sound of your own voice.

Final Recommendation - I can't really recommend this game overall for the asking price, as it fails in the main bulk of the game mode so badly. If there were more stages, and thus a decent arcade mode rather than the six-or-so on offer here, then maybe it would be worth it. Even better, focusing solely on the arcade mode would have been amazing, as while this style of play may have been wearing thin by the fourth game on the main home consoles, a very similar skating game with a 'proper' third person view has never been tried before (aside from the N-Gage THPS, but lets pretend that didn't happen), so even focusing on a good, honest arcade mode would have been a new thing in the world of hand-helds.

I'm going to infuriate some of the people who would call this game most rad, but the so called story mode brings this game down. If you do buy this game, avoid the story mode as much as possible, please. The dumbing down of it is insulting to everyone who has been a fan of the series since early on. A game to impress your friends with, and fun for a couple of days. If you do buy this game, put it on hard mode straight away, trust me. Above average, but only just.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/30/06