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By Lonnie on December 1st, 2001
Introduction The first Tony Hawk game was released at the heals of a few, in most peoples opinions, sorry skate boarding games. Tony Hawk Pro Skater Redefined skating in video games and became the most popular Skater game since Skate or Die on the NES. Does the third installment on the Nintendo Gamecube live up to all the hype? Is it worth playing without the additional online feature? The answer to these questions is yes.Presentation Gone is the original menu system, which I actually liked much better. Instead Neversoft has implemented a psudo-skateshop where you can access all of the games different modes. Also while in the skate shop you can change your riders’ board, grip tape, and wheel color. The skate shop approach is very nice in comparison to the menu system of past Tony games. It is nice looking and easy to navigate. However, people who have played THPS3 on PS2 will notice the nonexistence of the Network Mode. That’s right kiddies, no modem, no online THPS3.Graphics & Sound I can remember looking at the first Hawk game and thinking, "man, this is so real." Well that was quite a few years ago and times have changed. Remember the first impression when playing Treyarchs port of THPS on the Dreamcast. The level of effect here is almost as dramatic. Graphically I do think it outperforms its PS2 counterpart, However, it is very hard to tell. In other words they are virtually identical. Everything maintains a smooth 60 fps frame rate, and will likely keep you pleased. There is literally enough music in this game to keep it from becoming too insanely annoying. There is everything from Xzibit to Alien Ant Farm. Neversoft went all out including voice acting for people in the arena’s as well as awe-inspiring sound effects. Yes that annoying cameraman that Justin mentioned in his review of the PS2 version is still there.Gameplay While the career mode has been completely retooled there is still the same familiar elements, such as collecting S-K-A-T-E, or Completing the area with three different max scores. It would appear that the developers have made the competitions a bit harder this time around. In order to place first you will need to go bigger, bail less, and move around the park more. There are three competition levels and in each I was only able to get a bronze medal on my first attempt as opposed to the golds I got on the competition stages from the first two games. Also scattered throughout the levels in the career mode are five stat coins. These coins can be traded in for upgrades to your overall stats including speed, ollie, rail balance, hang time, and several other categories. While most are easily attainable there are a few that you will have to go back for after you have upgraded your stats a bit.
The levels themselves, while far ahead than pretty much any other extreme game out there aren’t as well thought out as those in THPS2. Also some of the levels are quite small (Rio comes to mind) although the fact that a lot of the levels are also multi tiered makes up for this. As for new features the game boasts a "revert" trick. By pressing R2 or L2 right before landing on a quarter pipe you can pull off a trick that much like a manual will allow you to continue on linking more tricks and getting bigger scores. Although not quite as useful as the manual it is still a noteworthy addition.Lasting Appeal This game may be short to some people, however, not everyone is a god at the game and it will keep them busy for some time. Throw in the multiplayer options and this is a great game when hanging out with friends. The absence of Online multiplayer is a minor drawback. Don’t get me wrong this is one of the funest games on the GCN.Conclusion The third installment of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater will likely be one of the few games that you absolutely must own if your a fan of the series. It mixes the innovation of the first two games into what appears to be more of an action paced ride. People new to the system or those who passed up THPS2 will likely find landing tricks a tad bit more challenging. But all in all this game is just as good as the Playstation 2 version if not better |
