Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix

"The best Tony Hawk game yet - and its portable!"

Tony Hawk's Underground 2, subtitled Remix, (to be said THUG2R throughout this review), is the fifth/sixth installment in the Tony Hawk skateboarding series (fifth if you combine this with console versions of THUG2, sixth if you separate it). While some might think that the series is starting to get repetitive, they're wrong. THUG2R is basically THUG2 from the consoles without a create-a-skate-park option (due to UMD's limited space) but does rather feature 4 new additional levels, bumping up the consoles 12 to the PSP's 16. With this being said, lets begin.

Story

The following is written by me. I will try to make as spoiler free as possible, but be warned for spoilers.

Tony Hawk and Bam Margera have planned a World Destruction Tour. Tony will be captain of his own team, and Phil Margera will be captain of Bam's team. In the beginning, you are kidnapped and thrown into a van. Later on, Tony and Bam pick teams. After teams are picked, you start the tour. The catch of the tour is, whoever loses has to pay for the whole thing. Who will win?

Gameplay 10/10

There's 2 main modes of gameplay in THUG2R: Story Mode and Classic Mode.
Story mode is what the Story section above discussed. Typically, you'll have 10 goals of your own, 10 goals that your pro teammate has, 4 that the guest character in level has (after you find him), and 4 the Secret character has as well (again you must find him). Each goal is worth a specific amount of points; for example, most goals are worth 25, 50, 75, or 100.

In each level you must get a certain number of points to move on. But typically, there's what I call an "After Level Event". This is where you do a goal after the level, but its point value could be 500 or 1000. These are typically destroying a part of the level, or someone in it (hint hint).

A few times in the game you will be asked where you want to go next. You can choose between 2 levels to the one you want to go to. Don't worry, you can actually access both, the other by going to Change Level.

The other mode is Classic Mode. This is what the first Tony Hawk games were like. You have 10 goals and 2 minutes per run. You have unlimited times to do the levels and get the goals. Here, you must have enough goals done to move on.

Here as well, you have options to choose which level you want to go to next. As before, both levels are accessible.

One thing I should mention is that, say you need 6 goals to move on, but you had a choice of 2 levels to move to next. You must get all 6 in one level; you can't do 4 in one level, 2 in the other, or 3 and 3, etc.

Here in Classic Mode you have "Stat Points". To raise your stats, you must collect these throughout the levels. If you noticed, when you started classic mode, you probably had 3/10 points in every category. If you get stat points in a run, then at the end of the run, it will ask you where to add them (example, Air, Manual, Rail Balance, etc.)

The tricks in the game, in both modes, are very plentiful. You got your grab tricks, your flip tricks, tricks you can do while in a manual, etc. While some may think this is difficult to remember, its simply a button and a direction. And if you have to do a certain trick for a goal, normally it tells you how to do the trick.

So with all that said, lets move on.

Graphics 10/10

The graphics are very good in THUG2R, especially considering its a portable system. The graphics look just like the console versions. Occasionally, a sprite may be a little pixelated, but thats very ignorable. Everything is in full 3D and is colored nicely. This game shows the PSP's graphical power.

Sound/Sound Effects/Music 8/10

Why does this section get such a score? Simply because the soundtrack isn't as great as it could have been, and more importantly, the traditional "Ugh" grunt the skaters make when they fall has been removed! What were they thinking?!??!

I will give some credit to the soundtrack - They did manage to put the entire 53 song soundtrack into the game. Unfortunately, the soundtrack isn't as great as previous Tony Hawk games. Only a few songs on here did I go, "Cool, thats on here." In my opinion, not all of the songs on the soundtrack are good. But it could just be my tastes.

Play Time and Replayability 9/10

This game is very fun, and with both modes and difficult difficulties, you can replay them over and over again. Plus with all the levels, you wont get bored. While the story is a bit short, its still good for a portable game, however I just shutter to think how small the console versions were...

Buy/Rent/Ignore

I recommend this as a buy. If you loved the previous Tony Hawk games, you'll love this one too. This game typically isn't full price anymore, thus cheaper than most other games. And if you get this as a gift, I recommend keeping it.

Conclusion

Tony Hawk's Underground 2: Remix is the first full 3D/full soundtrack/full everything portable game in the Tony Hawk series. If you see it cheap, grab it. In my opinion, its a must have. Final score: 10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/16/06