Teeny Happy People Skating 2 (Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 (GBA))

Member Name: D1A1

Product:	Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 (GBA)
Date:	29/06/01 (154 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great graphics, sound and an addiction rates unrivalled, It's SO small!, Play on the bus, train, in the car, bathroom etc

Disadvantages: No two player link up!, Some modes lost

If there was only one game I could have for the Game Boy Advance, it would have to be Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, simply because it’s one of the best console games around thanks to intuitive and original gameplay, stunning graphics and it’s such an addictively playable title. So, I ended up selecting the world’s greatest extreme sports game around, and it’s fantastic. At around £30 - £35 per game, be sure to buy something that’ll last more than an hour of play. Tony Hawk’s in one such game that is worth every penny. It is ‘different’ to the PlayStation/Dreamcast and PC versions, but it’s undeniably impressive.

Tony Hawk’s 2 is the world’s first 3D handheld skating game, obviously, and remains just as addictive as the console versions. Controlling your mini skateboard person isn’t sophisticatedly complex, and just like the home console games, the controls are easy to learn, and you’ll be discovering and performing new tricks every time you switch it on! B acts as the jump button – hold it down for longer to release into a higher jump; A performs the switch as well as grind where you can find a rail or edge; L and R are the main tricks – use a combination when in mid-flight to gain higher points and pull off even more spectacular stunts. Anyway – you’ll learn how to play very easily, with the D-pad in use for changing direction of course. Seeing as the GBA is about the size of a standard control pad, you won’t have any trouble reaching the buttons. It’s all very good indeed.

Unfortunately there is no link up mode in the game, so it remains a single player experience throughout, but it’s not such a great loss – the game is one of the best one player classics ever. You’ve got 3 modes of play and an options menu, so you can either partake in the Career mode, Free-skate or Single session. Free skate would be the best cou
rse of action if you’ve never played before, just allowing you to get to grips with the game engine without the pressure of time limits. Single session allows you to play in any of the unlocked skate-parks (unlocked in the Career mode) – your score will be saved in the high-scores table. Career mode is the main goal in Tony Hawk’s – select a skater from 13 of the brilliant pro-riders, take the tutorial if you want some guidance, then get ready to unleash your skills in as many levels as you can unlock.

Your career will start off in the hanger level, with further levels and competition stages being unlocked as you complete enough mini tasks on the level goal check list. Each level, that I’ve encountered so far, has been almost identical to the Dreamcast levels, and so they should be, although there are few differences – fewer new sections to unlock per level (the helicopter on the first stage doesn’t seem to want to take off) and there is less detail, but this doesn’t really deter from the gameplay. Every time you play through a stage, you can always go back and try again – get that hidden tape, find the ‘S’ to complete the word SKATE, or simply go back and try some new tricks. In each non-competition stage you have 2minutes to do as well as possible – look at the level goals and see which you’re going to attempt in that go. The competition levels, the first being Marseille, gives you just 1minute to impress the judges and work up a top score out of 100 in order to gain a medal (from Bronze, Silver and Gold etc). The competitions aren’t usually that hard, but they’re great fun anyway. Whenever you achieve something in a stage you’ll be treated to cash! Spend it on new stats, tricks or head to the skate shop for improved boards etc.

What? No create a skate park? One of the main plus points in the console versions was the inclusion of a ‘create your
own park’ feature whereby you could do exactly that. It may not sound overly exciting now, but at the time this was a great idea – using trees, half-pipes, rails and all sorts to create your very own unique park. Aside from that there was a ‘create a skateboarder’ mode as well! This was again superb, allowing you to customise and name your very own player. Neither of these additions made it to the Game Boy Advance version, but it doesn’t really matter – it’d be too fiddly to do and saving them would take up too much memory (stored on the card). I wouldn’t have minded a link up 2 or 4 player mode, but it was not to be…Sigh…

Graphically Tony Hawk’s 2 is not on a par with the Dreamcast version, but then it wouldn’t be. Instead, the isometric viewpoint and true 3D levels and animated characters are highly impressive and look a lot clearer than the PlayStation grainy version. Everything is so teeny that you won’t really notice the lack of detail, but it’s highly colourful, no pop up in sight and it’s very fast indeed. Slick, smooth and supremely stylish, this is one of the most visually impressive games on the system, making use of its 32bit handheld technology to a treat. Even when Tony/other skater falls over you can see those little red polygons.

Sounds good, with some great little lyric free tunes in a carefree papa roach style. The music does get a little boring, but you can always adjust the sound levels. The skaters make noises when they fall over, and that slick sound occurs whenever you perform a perfect trick! Superb! It’s not bad, it’s acceptable, but games will have better sound in the future.

Tony Hawk’s 2 is an essential GBA game, and everyone who played the console versions simply has to get this, and even if you’re new to the whole THPS2 experience, you should give it a try, thank Activision and co. and get some tri
ple A handheld class gaming in.

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