Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Reviewed by Yardbird
Well, yes, I am a fan of the console Tony Hawk games.
I can't say I ever cared for any of the games that
had appeared on the Gameboy Color. So, I wasn't
expecting to like the Gameboy Advance version either,
but after hearing only positive things about the
game, I bought it anyway. Even though I had a feeling
I wouldn't like it. And guess what, I didn't. I
tried. I still don't. There are a lot of things I
don't like about the game, all of which I will get to
in this review.
Graphics
Can't find much fault here. It really is a beautiful
looking game, possibly the best I've seen on the
Gameboy Advance as of yet. The thing about the GBA is
the fact most of the games still simply look like 16
bit Super Nintendo games and all that. Tony Hawk 2 is
one of the first to actually take a step beyond that.
It actually does look quite a lot like its console
brothers. Certainly not as great as the PSX or DC,
but tons ahead of the GBC versions of the game. The
backgrounds, levels, areas.....all of it looks
exceptional. The skaters themselves look quite good as well.
Audio
The console versions are known for having great music
by real bands. You know, music with lyrics and that
actually sound really great and fit in incredibly
well with the skating action. Well, the songs with
voices are gone, so you just have instrumental stuff,
but surprisingly it all sounds pretty good. This is
also by far the loudest GBA game I have played so
far. The songs literally blast out of the little GBA
speaker and it can be heard quite a distance away. I
know this because I checked. The effects in the game
are quite a lot like the console versions of Tony
Hawk 2, you know the sound of falling down and
smashing your face, or the sound of ringing bells.
It's pretty accurate.
Gameplay
Well, the game plays quite a lot like Tony Hawk 2 on
the PSX. Only smaller of course. Not just talking
about the obvious screen differences or the size of
the cartridges. The game doesn't have as many levels
either. Like I said in the synopsis, the Bullring is
gone. So are the secret areas. Venice Beach didn't
make it in either. Neither did Philadelphia.
So, what did? Well, 2 competition
areas.....Skatestreet and Marseilles. There are 4
levels where you clear 10 objectives. Three of them
are the hangar, the school, and New York City, all of
which appeared in the console THPS2. However, also
making an appearance is the warehouse level from the
first game, with five new goals, naturally, to fit in
with the 10 goals per stage. Now, I love the
Warehouse, don't get me wrong, but since it is SO
similar to the Hangar already in the game, why
bother? Couldn't they have used a different level
from the first? I don't know....like the Mall, or
Minnesota, or Phoenix? Heck, even San Francisco.
Gone is the create a skater and create your own skate
park modes, but I can understand that. That's all
right and if I really want to play them I'll just
pull out my console version of the game. However, the
monetary system of earning money as you clear the
game and then using it to build up your skater is
still in this game. Which is good, I guess. There
really is only one new thing about the game, which is
a stage in Boston. It is an ok stage, but it takes a
TON of work to get it unlocked and it is ridiculous.
It is good but nowhere near worth the trouble to open it.
That's most of what I didn't like, and quite frankly
I didn't like the whole 3rd person perspective and
fixed camera view. I also didn't like the control
scheme. What did I like? Some of the levels were
slightly fun to play, such as the Warehouse with new
goals and all. But that's about it.
Replay Value
Honestly, it is pretty low. I played it for a few
days and put it away, and never picked it back up. Of
course that is coming from someone that doesn't dig
the game all that much. If you like it you will
probably play it more often. I didn't like lit enough
to play it over and over. I'd rather just leave my
GBA in a drawer and not play it at all if I have to
play this one. Sure, it's not a horrible game, but it
isn't that great either. Oh, there are a ton of
skaters, who are different from each other. So, you
can beat it with all of them and all of that. So, if
you really want to do that, then there you
go....there's some replay. Plus, it would take a
while to do everything in this game anyway...beat it
with all players, unlock all cheats, open up the
Boston level, find all the gaps..etc etc etc etc.
Challenge
Not an overly tough game. Once you get used to the
controls, the camera views, and all that it isn't
that tough. Of course getting every single thing in
the game isn't easy. If you are satisfied with just
getting by, then you'll find it is slightly easy. If
you are an extreme completist, prepare for a
challenge. Oh, and under options you can turn on kid
mode and this will allow you to grind without
worrying about balance, so you won't fall off a rail
or anything if you grind it. Makes a lot of the goals
and gaps easier to complete.
Control
I don't like the control setup. You have A button, B
button, and the two shoulder buttons. You use one to
crouch, grind, do holds. You move around with the
control pad. Sure, it all seems ok, but for a game
this complex, more buttons is needed, which means you
won't get the precise moves as they appear on the PSX
version of the game. In other words, the control is
kind of hard to get used to and I don't like it at all.
Fun
I didn't have much fun with this game to be honest. I
had endless amount of fun with console versions of
the game, but I never liked the portable versions,
and this is the same. I maybe had fun with it from
time to time, such as in the warehouse level or at
the school. But other than that, I was either bored
or annoyed with this game.
Stress Factor
The controls can be stressful until you get extremely
used to them, which might take longer than you would
like. One thing that stressed me out was ringing the
bells on the school level. It took me forever to
master that on the console version of THPS2, and
needless to say, getting used to the view and
controls forced me to master wall riding the bells
all over again. Plus the location of some things are
either gone or taken out completely, which can be
tough to get used to if you are overly familiar with
the other one.
The End
Next time I have an instinct that I won't like a
game, I'll listen to myself. I won't buy a game if I
think I won't like it, no matter how many good things
are being said about it. Had I listened to myself
about this one, I could have saved myself some money.
Yep, THPS2 is a waste of time and it is now just
collecting dust on my shelf. Cast aside for better
things, such as Super Dodge Ball and Circle of the Moon.
Overall: 5 out of 10