What is perfection? Is it a 900-degree twist high above the coping of a half pipe? Or a method air over a parked car? In real life, only Tony Hawk can do both of these, but in his video game we can all pose as the greatest skater in history.
Skateboarding has never been really fun to play in video game form. I mean, Skate Or Die was cool for about ten minutes, and since then there have been a lot of forgettable attempts. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater will not soon be forgotten. It is that fun and insane. I honestly don’t know where to begin gushing, so I’ll start with what I noticed first: the cast of characters. Ten skaters make up your synthetic journey through skate parks around the country. You can grind as Tony Hawk, Bob Burnquist, Bucky Lasek, Andrew Reynolds, Kareem Campbell, Rune Glifberg, Chad Muska, Geoff Rowley, Jamie Thomas, or Elissa Steamer. They look pretty real for a video game and give you a greater variety than just getting your kicks with one guy and a lot of courses. I was partial to Bucky Lasek for no other reason than he is god on wheels.
Now let’s talk about the next thing that impressed me: the graphics. Of course I was taken with the gameplay too, but I sucked for a while, so I could still enjoy the graphics as I face planted left and right. The courses are golden. The skaters never get blocky when viewed too closely. From the ramps to the rocky cliffs down to the trees inside the mall, you’ll be dazzled. Trust me.
So what of the gameplay? This is perhaps the best part of the game. The tricks seem endless. You can make up so many combos that it will blow the laymen as well as the true skaters away. I couldn’t get over the moves. The grinding is amazing. You can actually balance your skater on the way down a pipe or jump from a ramp into a grind on a ledge or pipe. The more insane the move, the more points you score. I particularly liked the medal competitions. You pit your skills against the best skaters. No matter how hard I tried or how gnarly I got, I couldn’t do better than a bronze. This game is no walk through. I remember one extremely sick run with no falls and nothing but huge moves. Well, I got an 89 out of 100. The judges are tough, so don’t think you can win them over with your wimpy grinds and wall rides. You’ve got to come close to breaking every bone in your body to score in the 90’s. The courses get more difficult as you go on. Your goals get a little harder to achieve and honestly take a lot more thought than you’d ever expect. You’ll find yourself coming up with strategies just to get certain things done within the time allotted.
Last but not least is the sound. You can hear the grinds on metal or wood. You can hear your face splat against the concrete as you miss a killer move. You hear a great soundtrack that never gets boring while artists like Primus and Black Flag rip you up. Soundtracks usually get tiring quickly, but for over a week I played and played without turning it off. Perhaps my favorite sound is when you get hit by a cab and hear them yell, “Get out of the way, punk!” Perfect.
There is so much to talk about. I don’t want to spoil it all, so I’d rather you buy or at least rent it. If you own a DreamCast and you don’t rent this, then you are missing out on a truly mind-blowing game. I’d have given it a perfect ten were there a few added touches and maybe more competitions than just you against the clock. This game is just about perfect in every way. Buy it and get ready for some thumb-numbing action.
+ b boy
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