Gaming Target - Dreamcast: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

Written by Nick Schmidt on November 20, 2000

Review: Now with ten essential vitamins and nutrients!

Tony Hawk. The "Birdman." Hailed by many as the best skater ever. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. The "ultimate." Also hailed by many as the best, videogame that is. It's almost perfectly fitting that the most influential skater, and one of the most influential games of all time, go together hand-in-hand in a perfect harmonious balance. But before playing THPS2 for the first time, I was actually a little weary that the developers wouldn't be able to make the game as innovative and enjoyable as the first. Because as we all know, the original was pretty damn good, so how can the wonderful folks at Neversoft conjure up a sequel that is supposed to topple its predecessor in every imaginable facet?

And after playing for a few minutes, and learning the ropes, I came to a realization that it was more of a refinement than anything else. Just as the original Pro Skater focused more on massive air tricks (Grinds were an important component of the game mind you, just not as apparent as the vert portion), the sequel does a complete 180 and reverts to massive grind time with the addition of the nifty manual. For those who know nothing of skating, or just haven't played the game, a manual is basically the equivalent to a "wheelie" on a bike. The skater either pops one end of the board in the air all while balancing on the other end on the ground all while moving at a considerable pace. This may sound all fine and dandy, but they really serve a magnificent purpose.

With the aforementioned manuals, combos can now be linked together for extreme points. Remember how in the original, when you would be doing an awesome grind, only having to end it because you ran out of rail? Well, that's not an issue anymore. At all. Now when running out of a rail that you're currently grinding on, simply hop off, land with a manual, skate around to the next rail, and watch the points skyrocket as you chain massive combos. There's really no limit to what you can accomplish, this meaning that point totals in the millions are easily accessible to those with skill.

But you knew they had to add more than just the ability to do a manual in order to make the sequel a runaway success, right? Of course! And that's exactly why more time went into refining the lovely career mode. Instead of collecting tapes as in the original, Pro Skater 2 has you earning valuable cash by performing various tasks throughout each level. Most of the tasks are very reminiscent of the first game, like getting a certain score, or collecting "S-K-A-T-E" in each level, but some are now... odd. For instance, there's a hobo laying on the ground in the Venice Beach level, and you have to ollie him five times to get the money. Trick is that everytime you ollie the "magical hobo," he disappears to another portion of the area. Now it's up to you to find him and jump over him until he finally gives in. Strange, eh?

But wait, there's more. Much, much more. Customization plays perhaps the biggest role of all in terms of improvements. Not just limited to a create-a-skater (which this game does include by the way), there's also an incredibly amusing and easy to use create-a-park mode. As if there wasn't enough already crammed into the game, this mode completely makes it a whole new game in terms of replay value. You start out by picking out the scenery, then the real fun begins as you add bits and pieces of whatever you want, anywhere you want. Of course there is a limit to how many pieces you can add due to memory constraints, but the amount you can do is still fantastic. Now you can finally show off your game-making skills. Good luck.

Just like the original, Pro Skater 2 only features a two-player mode instead of the much needed four-player support. As much as a disappointment that is, it still works out just fine though. All of the multiplayer modes that were previously found in last year's version make their way over, plus a two-player free skate mode. Finally! That was the only thing missing from last year's version and I was so overcome with joy when I saw it I had a little "accident" in my pants... You know what I mean.

The levels themselves are now much more interactive than before. There are even some instances where you can actually affect the layout of the board and open up secret areas. For instance, the first level, The Hangar, has a helicopter conveniently sitting in-between two ramps. If you grind on the actually blades up top, the helicopter will lift up, crash through the ceiling, and fly off. Now this opens up a whole new world in terms of opportunity. While crashing through the roof, pieces of the ceiling fall down and create new ramps, and a whole new area opens up as well. There's just a bunch of little things like this sprinkled in every level.

As far as visuals are concerned, Pro Skater 2 easily one-ups its predecessor. And as expected, the DC version effortlessly eclipses its Playstation counterpart with improved textures, a speedier frame-rate, no draw-in, tripled polygon models, and of course, high resolution. All these factors combine to present a truly beautiful game. While it still has that certain look to it that hints at the game being a port, graphically the game is a gem.

And for once, having improved graphics actually helps out the gameplay as well. Since the draw-in is virtually non-existent, you can actually see much farther allowing for you to plan out tricks and combos in advance. Plus since the frame-rate never stutters one bit, the flow in which you pull the tricks off is never interrupted. And let me just say the shadows in Pro Skater 2 are the most realistic I've ever seen in any game, ever.

But what about the tunes to keep you pumped while playing? Fret not my young Sasquatch, the soundtrack is just as impressive as before, maybe even better. Featuring many great bands like Bad Religion, Lagwagon, and Millencolin, the punk portion of it rules. But I can't say much for the rap side. I'm not the biggest rap fan in the world, in fact, I hate it, so whenever a rap song happens to come on, guess what I do? That's right, change the song! Simple as that.

One thing's for certain, Pro Skater 2 can be played forever and never get boring. There's so many secrets to uncover: Secret characters, levels, options, it never ends. And when you finally finish opening up everything (which will take you a long time, mind you), you'll still want to play it just to topple your high scores over and over again. It has the same addictiveness of the first, only multiplied by ten.