Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

"You've gotta be kidding me."

A Tony Hawk game that doesn't deserve my attention. Now that's sad.

I don't know what was the deal here, either poor licensing or a hurry to get teh game released, but this game screams "I'M NOT FINISHED!" over and over again. And the only way you wouldn't hear it is if you were deaf, but that's not to say you wouldn't SEE it.

"Three modes... and one is a copy of another one."

When you start up the game, lo and behold, you'll find that there are only three modes, in the WHOLE GAME. Those modes are half-pipe, tournament, and 1-on-1 mode. One-on-one mode is basically tournament with only one opponent absolutely nothing's different besides that, so that brings the game's total down to a whopping TWO modes.

"This game must like two..."

Half-Pipe mode is easily the best of them all, and it's still bad. You just move back and forth for two minutes or so, doing tricks with the A and B button and the D-pad. Nope, no specials or anything. The graphics for this mode are so simplistic that it could be mistaked for a lesser system, and I really loved the way that, no matter what, your skater falls the same way (even if it would defy physics) EVERY TIME. You can choose from one of ten skaters with a whopping TWO stats, speed and acceleration, but Speed is the only real important stat. Which means Tony Hawk is the ony skater you'll need. And did I mention that all skaters look the same, save for the color of their shirts!?

Tournament mode, the game's "main mode," is even worse. It's basically a race through five locations, heavily bent on getting "speed icons" to go faster. Come in first and/or pull off a lot of tricks (which don't decrease in point value) and you'll win. Actually, all you have to do is pull off the 5-point tricks over and over and over to win a course. But guess what? IT'S POSSIBLE TO SKIP TO THE LAST LEVEL AND ONLY PLAY THAT ONE. And if you come in first, YOU'VE BEATEN THE GAME. The quickest beat game I've ever gotten.

One-On-One is just like tournament, except with one opponent and no score. It's just a race. Really, why even bother with this mode?

Overall, this game is the worst game in the Tony Hawk series, and that's a fact. Don't even bother with this, and on the off-chance that you find it, quickly throw it far, far away.

Pros:

Um... let me think... uh...

Cons:

Graphics
Ultra-Simple gameplay
TWO real modes
Man... this game's bad...

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 08/20/04