Gaming Target - Game Boy: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

Written by Derek Noad on June 29, 2001

Review: First, Mario was more recognizable to youth than Mickey Mouse; next it will be Tony.

The world's favorite pro skater, Tony Hawk has hit for the cycle. You'll find the famous pro skater on Playstation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy Color. Unfortunately the GBC version left a lot to be desired, mainly quality. Vicarious Visions made up for a previous portable failure with the new Advance technology.

The formula is the same as it has been before. Take about a dozen pro skaters, mix in a variety of locales, and add over a hundred of authentic tricks to produce a hit video game. The greatest aspect of this game is that it feels like the console, but you can take it anywhere.

In terms of portable games, THPS 2 is graphically amazing. Even with 32-bit hardware most games turned out to be two-dimensional, but Tony takes advantage of the technology quite well. You will not be able to change the camera angle and will be forced to endure a strange transparent view when you are behind something, but the courses and characters look great. Each character is unique (only to their clothes, the GBA isn't good enough for facial features) and is fully animated. All the moves look like their Playstation counterpart, right down to Chad Muska's hand standing manual special move. This early in GBA's existence it's great to see something like THPS 2.

Let's get one thing straight, does anyone really expect to hear CD quality songs complete with lyrics? That being the case, THPS 2 filled the gap with some catchy techno/rock tracks. They're better than rap but fall short compared to some of that cool punk music we have come to memorize from long hours in front of our various Tony compatible consoles. So there are 10 or so jammin' beats accompanied by the squeaks and grinding sounds of the skateboard. Don't forget the sounds of agony and broken bones when you bail. Overall THPS 2 keeps all the sound effects and makes an adequate substitution for the songs. In short you got some quality audio.

Gameplay is hard to explain. All the console veterans will go insane (as I did) when trying to skate while adapting to the new controls. It takes time before you will come close to your existing skill. People who never played Tony before won't have as much difficulty picking it up. With some practice you will fall in love with the action packed skating fun. As a matter of fact I have surpassed my Playstation skill and am better now at the GBA version. Patience and determination are the only ways to overcome the tricky controls.

During the Career mode you earn money by accomplishing tasks and winning competitions to beef up your stats or board and unlock new levels. All of the courses offer their own challenges and advantages. You will have to collect cash, items, a hidden tape and the letters of SKATE. Plus you might have to jump some gaps or hit some grinds. This becomes increasingly difficult until some goals are damn near impossible. This may be good for some or extremely frustrating for others but it makes the game play that much better.

Where GBA's tiny Tony lacks is definitely in the features department. It doesn't have nearly as many options as its console brothers and sisters. At the main menu you are presented with Career, Single Session, Free Skate and then the Options. This means no creativity in fashioning your unique skater or constructing your own dream park. The worst of all is no frantic multiplayer one of the most attractive features for portable titles. Customizing a skater is an unnecessary bonus and there's no great urge to build a park but being able to link up with friends would be such a great addition. Thankfully a few features are still present. You can modify your Career skater's stats to fit your style and purchase new special moves to break the high scores. The gap checklist is available for those who want to fully explore each level. But these modes don't make up for MIA multiplayer and a condensed main menu.

Depending on how much you enjoy the type of game, THPS 2 is like Tetris as a great portable replay. Every time you can try to bust the biggest move and set the sickest score. With each completion of a career you unlock a new cheat and come closer to accessing a new course. You better have a lot of time (or cheats) if you plan on discovering the secret characters. It can get repetitive doing the career over and over again but with the exception of a few goals the fun and secrets are more than enough incentive to keep you coming back for more.