Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix

"Tony VS Bam 2 Turbo EX Plus Alpha The New Challengers"

The day I purchased my PSP, I had to make the decision of what game to get. I hadn't been exposed to Lumines enough to know how addicting it was, and Mercury wasn't out yet. My plans of getting Metal Gear Ac!d were shot when I saw it was a card game, and not a good one at that. The next logical choice for me was something I was familiar with: the Tony Hawk series. This was actually a hesitant decision because I had already owned THUG2 for the PS2, and this was basically a port of that game. I'd heard there were new additions, such as four entirely new levels, plus playing Tony Hawk on the go sounded cool, so I bought THUG2 Remix. Here's the scoop...

Graphics - 9

At first glance, it looks just like the PS2 version. That in itself is amzing. Up until now, the only portable Tony Hawk games were for the gba, and they looked about on par with a NES game. The sudden jump to having a PS2~esque Tony Hawk game in th palm of my hand was enough to impress me, even if they hadn't added some extras. Once you start to really pay attention to the game you'll notice a few visual things that give away that this isn't exactly on par with the PS2 version. Instead of nice shading on an awning for example, you'll see big triangles of color that kind of move oddly as you look at it from different angles. Sometimes things in the distance suddenly appear. The worst case scenario is some of the clipping situations. You can end up in a sidewalk or missing an object you'll swear you touched. It's annoying but it doesn't ruin the game.

Concept - 8

If you're here then you probably already know what the Tony Hawk game series is. Chances are also that if you're here you already know alot about THUG 2, considering it came out on PS2 and GC quite a while ago. Well assuming all that, I won't go into the concept of the game, because you probably know it. I'll just say that this gamre will appeal to you if:
a) you never played any Tony Hawk game
b) you played Tony Hawk games but never got around to playing THUG2
c) you played THUG2 but don't remember how to complete all the goals and you'd like to see 4 new levels
While that probably doesn't cover everyone in the world, it covers a vast majority of the population, so I'd say this game is an essential purchase for PSP owners.

Controls - 7

The controls, unfortunately, did not translate over as well from the PS2 as the graphics did. There seems to be a shortage of buttons compared to a PS2 controller. As a result, many simple tasks have now become annoying. For example, to change the camera, you have to hold the circle button and use the analog nub to look around. There is no R2 or L2, so the R button now has about 353646 functions, completely depending on the timing of when you hit it. It can save you from a bail, do a revert, hold onto a ledge, etc. Getting used to all that takes a while. The camera also seems to be extra crappy for some reason. For example, in the goal in Australia where you have to find the hidden tape, you must climb up several flights of a fire escape. The camera is zoomed in so close, that you have to climb each flight, stop, spin the camera around so you can see the next ladder, run over to it and climb, and then stop and change the camera again. When you have to firmly press circle and then switch over to the analog nub to do this, it becomes really time consuming and annoying. These are fairly moderate complaints, but the game still functions pretty well and nothing should be too impossible.

Sound - 8

The sound effects in the game are great, just as they are in their PS2 and GC counterparts. All the voiceacting is there, which is amazing considering this is a handheld. Every song from THUG2 is also here, which is a good thing, but also kind of a bad thing. It's awesome that they were able to fit and keep every song from the console versions, but most of the songs aren't that good. There's a few I really like, such as Jimmy Eat World's "Pain" and the Distiller's "Beat Your Heart Out"...but most of the other stuff is real dull. I miss the days of Tony Hawk 1 and 2, where every song on the soundtrack was good. TH4 and THUG seem to have about 40 crappy songs instead of 10 good songs like in the old days. But hey, what can ya do?

Gameplay - 9

This game is packed with stuff to do. The Story mode is huge, with tons of skaters to choose from. Not to mention to you can make your own, completely customizable. There's lots of levels, especially now that they've added four new ones. Each level has multiple characters who each have their own set of goals. The Story mode in itself is huge, but I prefer the 2 minute timer and list of goals from the old TH games... and guess what? Yup. There's a classic mode for just that very thing. Unlike the Story mode which shows you a little run through and description of how to achieve each goal, in Classic mode it's totally up to you to figure it out. That means you'll be doing alot of trial and error against that 2 minute clock to try and get all the goals completed. And if all that weren't enough, you can go back and try to find all the gaps in each level. Lots of gameplay here.

Replay Value - 8

As I just mentioned, this game has alot of content. To make it even better, there's Wifi multiplayer, face-mapping to make yourself a character in the game, and a create-a-mode for everything. You can create your own goals. Your own moves. Your own levels. And all that is ontop of the already-large Story and Classic modes. You'll probably get sick of skateboards before you even finish everything there is to do in this game.

Overall - 8

Although there are some clipping, camera, and control problems, the game is amazingly similar to the console versions. Some goals may be annoying at times due to these problems, but ultimately you should be able to get the hang of it and do what you need to do. With so much to do, this game is good for long periods of play or an on the go quickie during breaktime. It may not be too original with being a port and all, but right now it's one of the top games for the PSP. Enjoy.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/09/05