Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

"He tried the 900, but only managed the 720..."

Best Feature: Portable Skateboarding... almost, at its best
Worst Feature: Sometimes the camera angle can distort your position
Just A Little Bit: Glitchy

Introduction
Do you know who Tony Hawk is? Don't give me that ''Well, he's a skateboarder, apparently,'' junk, either. He also happens to have his name slapped on to the best-selling skateboarding franchise of all-time, and though that isn't saying a whole lot, you can still compare Tony Hawk Pro Skater sales to that of other titles.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 for the Game Boy Advance was announced rather quickly, after its not-so-memorable ancestor, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. The latter was a bug-infested slam-your-GBA-against-the-wall-because-you-can't-see-what-the-heck-is-going-on kind of thing, and therefore was it not only terrible, it seemed to certify that the rest of its ''children,'' if you will, would be as loony as itself. Apparently, the kid left his parents house early, and became more successful than its mother and father could've ever hoped to be. Why, you ask? Better hygiene.

Story - ?/?
There... um... is no plot. But hey, you can always get creative and make one up as you go along! ''After skating with a sprained ankle at the tournament yesterday...''

Gameplay - 9/10
The Formula: Person + Oval board with wheels and doodles on said object + Area(s) to combine the previous two reactants together to unlock various features = Classic. How this came to be, no one really knows. But who cares? It's fun and amazingly addictive, enough so that once you put it down, you'll want to pick it back up again within the hour.

Maybe the franchise hasn't made itself clear yet: It wants to own you. And it has a plan to, so don't think it ain't got a shot. What THPS3 does is drip-feed you adequate unlockables at a time, such as extra stat points for your selected skater, a new skate park, deck design, move slot, skater, video, or various secret. And every drop tastes very good indeed.

This game has three different modes for you to choose from at the main menu: Career Mode, Free Skate, or Single Session.

Career Mode is what this game is all about - you go through it, completing as many goals necessary (or all of them for good measure, which is recommended if you want to unlock some extra stuff) to gain some surplus features for the game mentioned in the previous paragraph. A few tournaments to present themselves through Career Mode, and just with every other session, you get two minutes to do what you can do. But, in the tournaments, you get 3 Heats; 3 skate sessions to hopefully make your average even higher than the rest of the opponents, so you can take home the Gold Medal, which you'll not mind having in all 3 tournaments. The goals in each skate park differ for the skater itself, whether s/he is a vert or street skater, which adds a bit of replayability in itself. There are also goals that are park-exclusive, like smashing 5 pumpkins in Suburbia or draining the lava pools in the Foundry. Of course, the old point-breaking goal is still around, as is the well-known and frequent trouble-maker, S-K-A-T-E. Unlike the games before it, THPS3 allows you to not worry about managing your money, as trick slots and stat points are found throughout the skate park. The problem with Career Mode is, well, it's not all that long, nor is it very entertaining. All in all, Career Mode is just there to make the game better, as it adds a whole lot of interesting things to the game. And once you finish Career Mode, you unlock Sponsor Mode, which is just a remixed version of the former. This shouldn't aggravate you, either, because deep down, you know you want to do it again.

Free Skate is where you want to go right after you unlock a new skate park, or want to test out a new move. This mode is also nice to mess around with when you want to see if there are any secret areas to get into, or good combo opportunities.

Single Session is the setup to Career Mode - it's like a practice run, therefore it does not count. You got 2 minutes do what you want, where you want. The overall use of Single Session is beyond me, really. It's got nothing special about it at all. If anything, it's very boring.

There are also 5 Multiplayer Modes, and each are rather enjoyable. The inhabiting options are Trick Attack (you and whomever skate around for a certain amount of time, and the person with the most points, wins), Tag (take a guess), King of the Hill (one person finds a crown, and once this occurs, a timer will start its numerical ascent; the person with the crown on his/her head longer, wins), Horse (skaters will compete to find out who has more points after each round; apparently, the loser gets a letter, and whoever spells the word first, loses), and Free Skate (where you and a friend just skate around).

In a nice twist of fate, you can finally Create-A-Skater. Though you are limited to one, you can still make your own skaterat, and decide what kind of complexion s/he has, shirt, pants, and some other basic attributes. Not exactly large in its contents, the Create-A-Skater feature is only actually worth your time after you've beaten the game with every other skateboarder.

13 various skaters are available right off the bat (there are 2 unlockable ones) in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3, including the likes of Tony Hawk, Rune Glifberg, Kareem Campbell, Jamie Thomas, and others. Each, of course, are equipped with their own arsenal of moves, and they're all fitted accurately in the statistical category. This adds a sense of realism not usually associated with extreme sports titles on handhelds, but it sure is a welcome change.

There are six skate parks, including one secret area, in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3. Each park has, as mentioned before, specific goals. For example, in Los Angeles, you can trigger an earthquake which opens up a secret area. These little things add up in the overall equation and actually play a moderately-sized factor in value.

Many moves can be pulled off with ease, and better yet, you can edit them on each and ever skater to operate as you see fit. A fun, albeit not all that great trick is to grab on to the back of moving vehicles (skitching, I think it's called). The physics of each move don't really apply, however. You can do Kickflip McTwists on flat ground without any form of ramp! That's not right. Whether you could call this a glitch or not, no one is going to listen. Because when you're in a jam and you know you can link together special after special without having to even go near a ramp, why would you, let alone anyone else, complain?

That leads to another flaw in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3. It's quite easy. Sure, every now and then there'll be an irritating goal, but that's about it. The simplicity is amazing.

Graphics - 9/10
Well, I sure as heck didn't expect to find such great texture mapping when I bought this game, and I was pleasantly surprised when the visuals that represented actual people with real physical qualities jumped out at me. Vicarious Visions, the developer of THPS3, obviously knew what they were doing. And everyone can be grateful that they made the game look this good.

On the other hand, the 3/4 top-down perspective (isometric) is, sometimes, a challenge to overcome, especially in poorly lit areas. Not only can you not tell when you're going to hit a ramp, you sometimes can't even tell where it is! But really, it takes a ninny to not realize after a try or two what is where, so it's no big deal.

Then again, when you're looking for something, those see-through ramps and, from time to time, entire buildings, can easily manipulate the eye. The sense of direction can be slightly distorted, but it's really not a problem once you get the hang of it.

The skate parks, not only being incredibly large, look superb. Easily, THPS3 surpassed expectations with its graphical representation. Even the wandering thugs, airport workers, family members, and the occasional old lady look rather nice. When you knock'em over (or if one of them knocks you over instead), it's not a choppy ordeal. The whole game is smooth, as it has an easy-going yet intense framerate that suits the needs of anyone.

Sound/Music - 9/10
So, what can you expect from this game for audio? That's easy - wheels a-rollin', people fallin', grunts emanating, horns beeping, and goal completion sound effects. It's not much, but each, though not exactly being a pleasure to hear, are easy on the ears.

In terms of music, you have some various beats, ranging from rap, to rock and to (slightly) techno. There are no words, but the tracks were done exquisitely. However, the songs do get repetitive quick, and it's safe to say that you'll probably not be listening to the sound/music at all by the time your first hour has been chipped in. But if you are, then you'll notice that the quality of it all is above normal for the Game Boy Advance.

Controls - 10/10
What's not to understand? B is used to ollie, A for grinding, L for flip tricks (as well as setting up Nollies and Fakies), and R for grabs. Linking any of them together is a snap, and the controls in essence are very responsive. Soon, you'll be going right along like there's no tomorrow, and all that real life technical skater mumbo jumbo will have left your mind.

Replay Value - 10/10
Add it up.
-15 Skaters.
-7 Parks.
-2-3 Tour Modes
-And you can go through with each skater over, and over, and over, and over, and...

Plus, if you have someone who'd like to hook up with you for some Multiplayer action, then it is recommended that you do so. Not only is this incredibly fun, but it can last for many hours in a very flowing manner.

Value
--Genre Fan: 10/10
--Casual: 9/10

OVERALL - 9/10
With Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3, Vicarious Visions has made it clear that an excellent skateboarding game can be made, albeit ported, to a handheld. Sporting great graphics, awesome sound, and absolutely astounding replay value, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 for the Game Boy Advance is a top choice for skaters wanting a fix on the road, or off.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/19/03, Updated 02/22/03