Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix

"A good game that could have been better."

The Tony Hawk's Skateboarding series is one of the longer and more successful franchises in gaming. It's been on every major console since its creation. This, of course, means that with the PSP a Tony Hawk game will come, right? Of course. That game is Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix. Anyway, now that I've got the necessary intro paragraph done, I'll move on to the part of the review that a reader would actually care about: the review itself. Wow, that makes no sense.

Features
THUG2 Remix features 16 levels, two modes of single-player gaming, and wireless multiplayer. Yes, I took that from the back of the box. Anyway, the levels are, for the most part, large, visually pleasing, and fun to explore. Most levels have a sort of "destructive event", which alters the geography in some way. Also, the four new levels are surprisingly good, and, in my opinion, are better than many of the twelve original levels.

Single-player
The single-player game modes aren't bad by any means. Story mode takes advantage of many of the non-skating abilities you've been given in the THUG series, such as graffiti and generally running around on foot. In story mode, Tony, Bam, you, and a few other characters circle the globe in a "World Destruction Tour". At each location, you must complete certain goals, which give you points, and once you reach a certain point amount, you move on. The story itself seems like something from Viva la Bam. I know many would think that's good, but I find the story to be a tad immature. Of course, expecting an engaging story from a skateboarding game is a little much. The other single-player mode, Classic Mode, is excellent. Each level contains ten goals, and you must complete a certain amount to move on. The goals can actually be a little challenging, unlike story mode's. I enjoyed Classic Mode's "stick to skating" mentality a whole bunch. To finish this paragraph off, I'd estimate story mode on normal difficulty took me a couple hours to finish, whereas I spent at least ten hours on Classic Mode before I beat it.

Multiplayer
I confess that I haven't done much multiplayer with THUG2 Remix. However, I can tell you this: the game has everything. The game allows you to play HORSE with only one PSP, which is handy. Of course, when everyone has a PSP and a copy of the game, then you really should go to WiFi multiplayer. All of your favorite modes are here, from Graffiti to Capture The Flag. The game plays lag-free for the most part. However, there are still a few cons: for one thing, only up to four people can play, and for a game like CTF, that seems a little too small for me. The second con is the lack of online play, although I guess this can be excused because it was a launch title.

Create-a-modes
The "Create-a" modes are all here, with the exception of Create-a-park mode. In fact, freaking everything from the console versions, with the exception of Create-a-park mode. Anyway, all the Create-a modes are deep and very fun to screw around in.

Controls
Tony Hawk games on handhelds have traditionally been... a challenge to control. The GBA versions' isometric view certainly didn't make things easy. So, the PSP rendition comes to the rescue with the standard behind-the-skater view that we've all come to know and love. That certainly makes controlling things a bit easier. However, this game's controls are sort of held back by being on the PSP. A problem I had was with the lack of a right analog stick for looking around, pushing the task to the left (and only) analog nub. This forces you to be either incredibly flexible or to make a full stop before moving your thumb to the nub for some looking. Another thing I struggled with was the controls for walking around. When you go into walking mode, the nub is used for running, and isn't used for manipulating the camera unless you're holding down a certain button. I thought this was awful. Also, many people have struggled with the fact that the only control option is to use the D-Pad for steering and stuff, since Tony Hawk games on consoles usually let you use an analog stick for that task if you want. However, it didn't take me terribly long to adjust to the D-Pad for this specific task.

Graphics and sound
The game is freaking gorgeous. Seriously, the graphics are almost on-par with the PS2 THUG2. The draw distance is incredible. That's all I've got to say.

THUG2 Remix features the same soundtrack of the console versions. Yep, every song is here. The soundtrack is a mix of underground rap, punk and pop-punk, and some other random stuff. Frank Sinatra and Three Inches of Blood on the same soundtrack? Why not? It's important to note that some users have reported the music sounding "static-y" sometimes. I myself have noticed it, and, while it hasn't bothered me much, a tr00 h4rdc0r3 audiophile might go bananas over it. Watch out.

Glitches
That last point in audio brings me to something: the game's main flaw is all the damn glitches. I myself have fallen victim to the "disappearing skater" glitch, which, as far as I knew at the time, could not be fixed and renders your entire save file useless [if this happens to you, apparently, switching your skater's gender seems to get things back to normal]. After ten hours of playing gone to waste, I was pretty ticked. Also, the new level Atlanta seems to be a hotbed of glitches. I've gotten literally stuck in a few places, and a bunch of people have been unable to unlock a character from Atlanta that they should be able to, due to another glitch.

SUMMARY:
+The levels are good
-Story mode is iffy
+Classic mode is awesome
+Multiplayer is fun, but not anything particularly outstanding
+The game is essentially the console versions minus Create-A-Park plus four new levels
+The graphics are surprisingly close to the console version's
-The controls can be cumbersome, especially for walking
+The soundtrack is all here, and it's good
-The thing is full of glitches

So, I give THUG2 Remix a 7. It's a fun game, but it's held back by somewhat poor controls and a whole lot of glitching. Now, for some people, those two issues might not be terribly important, so please, read my review for the content and not for the score. I mean, if you're lucky, you might never encounter a single glitch.

Rent or Buy? THUG2 Remix really does have a lot of content. If you're a huge Hawk fan, I'm sure you'll want to find all the secrets, max out your skater's stats, and complete every goal in Story mode. However, for the rest of us, 100%-ing can be a little mundane. So, if you don't think that a Tony Hawk game could hold your attention for more than a few days of hard playing, then by all means, go ahead and rent it. However, if you're in need of a new game, and it seems like Tony Hawk is the best thing out there for you, then buy it – it can last awhile for some people.

FINAL SCORE: 7

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/05, Updated 03/12/06