Gaming Target - Game Boy: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

Written by Ilan Mejer on April 03, 2002

Review: Vicarious Visions proves that the magic is not gone, and lightning can strike twice.

Less than one year after GBA owners nationwide were stunned by Vicarious Vision's triumphant adaptation of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Activision brings us VV's THPS3. Honestly, the initial impact of playing a reasonably accurate handheld version of the 3D extreme skateboarding game has faded, yet THPS3 on the GBA manages to improve on its predecessor in every way imaginable. The levels, mostly redesigned, are now massive and feature many of the dynamic elements we have come to appreciate on our GameCubes (as well as interactive objects such as moving cars and people.) The two new moves from the console THPS3 games, the Revert and Manual Pivot, successfully compound your trick combo possibilities. All of the lines, tricks, special moves, and combos have been faithfully mapped to the four GBA action buttons in a comfortable manner, familiar to THPS2 GBA veterans. Moreover, the gameplay changes incorporated in the console versions of THPS3 are also present; the altering locales, the collectable skate decks and stat points, the interactive objects, and the skater-type specific level goals. Finally, unlike THPS2 for the GBA, this version of THPS3 differs significantly from its console bigger brothers, particularly as far as level design and stage goals are concerned.

THPS3 on the GBA features six main levels from the console version, plus an additional hidden stage that must be unlocked. Tony Hawk newbies will now be able to easily jump into the game thanks to the new Tutorial mode. The main Career Mode that we are accustomed to entering can be played with one of thirteen professional skaters, hidden skaters than need be unlocked, or with a custom made skater of your design. Aside from the new create-a-skater mode, the second most sorely missed feature in THPS2, a multiplayer mode, has also been implemented. This fairly robust option allows up to four GBA systems to hook up, via link cable, and enjoy one of five multiplayer modes: Free Skate, Trick Attack, King of the Hill, H-O-R-S-E, and Tag. For those lacking friends with GBAs and personal copies of the game, a more limited Уhot seatФ version of H-O-R-S-E, utilizing only one system, is also available. An addition to the Tony Hawk career mode is the Sponsored Tour mode, which can only be accessed once you complete a skater's Career perfectly. The Sponsored Tour mode is a remix of that skater's Career mode that will allow you to collect the remaining stat points and complete new stage goals. Another addition is the Trial Mode, which must be unlocked, which will challenge you to complete all of a stage's goals within five minutes. This mode will save your fastest time for each of the stages.

The seven stages, instead of being lifted straight from the console versions and scaled isometrically, are merely inspired by the same locations in the console games. This allowed Vicarious Visions to redesign the levels as they saw fit, and include entirely new missions goals, making THPS3 on the GBA a more refreshing experience that its predecessor was to console veterans. The six main career stages that have been adapted include the Foundry, Suburbia, Rio (first competition), the Airport, earthquake-prone LA, and the Tokyo skate park (the other competition stage.) The main stages allow you between one and a half to two minutes to complete such goals as the ever-present S-K-A-T-E letter collecting and the three high score goals, as well as level and skater type specific goals of varying difficulty. The more difficult goals require you to recognize and trick a very specific gap (a specific set of two or more objects that must be linked by an aerial trick or grind.) The competition levels, however, are composed of three one minute rounds which require you to maximize your score and trick complexity, while minimizing your bails. Each round's performance is graded individually, and your top two scores are added together. The three top scoring skaters are awarded one of three medals, bronze, silver, or gold.

THPS3 now features more than double as many tricks as its handheld predecessor, thanks to fact that tricks can now be inputted with the diagonals as well as the four cardinal D Pad directions. Ollies are still accomplished with the B button, and can be augmented by tapping up once or twice before the jump. Grinds and the various grind tricks are accomplished by tapping button a and a direction as you approach a rail or grind-able edge. Ground tricks can be linked with THPS2's manuals and nose manuals, which can now be augmented with pivots. At the edge of a pipe, you can perform a lip trick by holding one of the eight directions on the D Pad and A simultaneously. Launching from a pipe allows you to pull of either a flip trick (direction + L) or a grab (direction + R) which can be combined with the new revert trick, chained into a manual, and extended along the ground, multiplying your total trick score exponentially! Finally, all aerial tricks can be augmented by simply rotating to your skater's left or right when in the air, in increments of 180 degrees. Of course, the more you repeat a trick during a particular run, the more that trick depreciates in value, so you are obviously encouraged to make use of your skater's entire arsenal of moves throughout your session. Additionally, the more successful combos you pull off, the more you fill your Special Trick bar. Maxing it out will allow you to include skater signature tricks (which are very well animated and a joy to behold) in your combos, boosting the combo point totals significantly. Bailing at any time will discharge your Special Trick bar entirely.

Vicarious Visions raised the graphical and technical bar last year with THPS2. It was the first game to simulate a 3D environment so successfully on the new system, and realistically rendered motion captured fully polygonal (though simply-shaded) skaters and boards. This year's game breaks the mold again by implementing texture maps on the skater and board models, finally allowing for realistic looking clothing, hair, facial features, and board designs. In fact, because of the texture-mapped models, VV was able to include the much-needed create-a-skater mode. Admittedly, it is not quite as detailed and robust as the recent console versions, but it suffices. Additionally, the game also pushes very nice grind particle effects, as well as rudimentary lighting tricks, particularly obvious when riding through the more fiery areas of the Foundry. The larger and interactive stages, better animated and fully textured skaters, and new graphical effects all run as smoothly as the much simpler THPS2 game did on the GBA, truly showing off the beauty of optimized code and Vicarious Vision's increasing skill.

Obviously, given the memory-limited medium of the GBA system, the licensed CD-quality music of the console THPS3 games had to be dropped. Shin'en, the German company responsible for the original tunes of THPS2, reprises their role this year. On a whole, they succeed in capturing the feel and scope of the licensed music. Purists will still quail at the new songs, but casual listeners will be satisfied by the new stuff. Not being one that found the licensed professional songs pleasing, I never felt that this type of music was something to aspire to emulate. Consequently, I have not been able to enjoy Shin'en's efforts in either THPS GBA game. However, the sound effects are a supreme success. All of the trick and board sounds seem to be lifted from the console games. It is a pleasant surprise to be able to recognize the surface type you are skating on simply by the sound the game emits. Furthermore, all of the crashes, grunts, screams, and environmental sounds are equally accurate.