Reviewed by: Funkadelic
Rated: 
Posted on: October 17, 2000
This review is quite significant to me, as the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was the first video game I reviewed for MPOG.com. In fact, THPS was the first game I ever reviewed for a professional Web site. Thus, reviewing the terrific Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, developed by Neversoft and published by Activision, is a great way to celebrate my one-year anniversary as a game journalist. Well, I am pleased to report that THPS 2 is a giant ollie above its predecessor, and it is easily one of the best PlayStation games available!
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| Notice the helicopter in the background? Yup, you can grind it! |
In THPS 2, three new skaters — Steve Caballero, Eric Koston, and Rodney Mullen — join the elite cast of pros from the first game, which include Tony Hawk (duh!), Bob Burnquist, Kareem Campbell, Rune Glifberg, Bucky Lasek, Chad Muska, Geoff Rowley, Jamie Thomas, Elissa Steamer, and Andrew Reynolds. Two of the new skaters, Steve Caballero and Rodney Mullen, are straight from the old-school of skateboarding, and they were two of my favorite skaters growing up as a young skate punk. They, like Mr. Hawk, have crafted several of their own spectacular tricks, bringing much flavor and variety to the game as a result. Eric Koston, the other Pro Skater newbie, has a slick riding style, and he fits in well with the rest of the pros.
Before the game begins, you will get a small taste of what each pro skater has to offer during the exciting opening FMV, with Rage Against the Machine's energetic "Guerrilla Radio" providing the mad beats in the background. If any of these skaters catch your interest, you can learn a little bit about their background in the manual or within the game's menu system. You will also want to compare the pros' 10 stat levels carefully, since each skater has his or her own advantages and disadvantages. The skaters' stats vary greatly, with some skaters excelling in vert skating (e.g., Tony Hawk), while other excel in street skating (e.g., Rodney Mullen). However, THPS 2 does include some good all-around skateboarders, such as Steve Caballero, so you will need to decide who is right for you.
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| There it is — the 900 in all its glory...at least part of it, anyway. |
Many game reviewers have labeled the Pro Skater games as simulations; this could not be further from the truth. While both Pro Skater games do contain real tricks, the way in which players can string them together to create insane combos is pure fantasy. Tony Hawk on his best day is not guaranteed to pull off the miraculous 900, let alone a 900-degree kickflip to stalefish to nosegrind to manual — which is exactly the type of crazy combo you can do in THPS 2. Also, any skateboarder who falls from a high building, or gets hit by a speeding bus or subway train, will probably not live to tell about. The virtual skaters in THPS and THPS 2, however, laugh in the face of such trauma and will only shed a few blood drops. Nevertheless, it is Pro Skater's mix of realistic tricks and fantasy-based stunts that makes it such a joy to play for skateboarding fans and video game junkies alike.
Like the original game, THPS 2 features pick-up-and-play gameplay and a smooth control interface. Players can choose between automatic (default) or manual kicking, and they can even edit and assign their own tricks. New to THPS 2 is the inclusion of manuals, blunt slides, bonelesses, and no complys — all of which are very easy to execute and add tremendously to the game's combo system. In fact, most of these new tricks will assist you in meeting many of the objectives in Career mode (the boneless and no comply help you make bigger jumps, while manuals stretch your combos). Other new additions include a nollie button (L2) and a switch stance button (R2), both of which come in handy.
Scoring is based on several different factors, including multipliers (the number of tricks in your combo), type of spin (180, 360, 540, 720, 900, etc.), and length of time you hold a trick or a grab. Nollies are worth more than standard ollies, as are tricks done while riding switch stance (your rider's stat levels will determine how well he or she can execute switch-stance tricks). The more times you do a trick, the less it will be worth, so you must mix up your tricks and keep your run fresh. Besides the regular tricks, each skater can have up to five special tricks in his or her repertoire. These special tricks are a great way to rack up points, especially when you add them to a combo. Before you can do a special trick, however, you must fill your skater's Special meter by doing various tricks without falling. Successfully clearing a gap type (air, rail, manual, and wallride) will also add points to your score, with the bigger gaps resulting in huge point values.
The huge interactive environments are the real stars of the game, as you can do tricks on just about everything you see within them. Even moving automobiles are not safe from the wrath of Tony Hawk or the 12 other pros. Perhaps the most exciting element in THPS 2 is discovering new things within the levels that you can grind, shred, or launch off. And don't let measly obstacles like glass barriers get in your way — crash through 'em!
All in all, THPS 2's gameplay is considerably better than the first game's, and the many new additions help take it to the next level.
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| Rodney Mullen is the man! |
All the modes from the original game are accounted for in THPS 2, with two new two-player modes (Free Skate and Tag), a cool create-a-skater feature, and a nifty skatepark editor thrown in for good measure. The single-player modes are as follows: Career, Single Session, and Free Skate.
Unlike the first game's Career mode, which revolved around earning video tapes, THPS 2's Career mode places an emphasis on money. Players must still meet tricky objectives within a two-minute time limit, but this time there is a total of ten objectives for each level instead of five. The game awards cash upon completion of objectives, which range from meeting a preset high-score to collecting letters of the word skate. To make things even more challenging, though, players must also collect the many cash icons that litter the environments to earn a 100-percent completion. Like in the original game, THPS 2's Career mode contains three competition levels, in which players must compete in three one-minute heats to earn one of three medals (bronze, silver, and gold). Naturally, earning a gold medal in every competition yields the greatest reward (i.e., a special video). And as with the first game, you must unlock the eight levels in the Career mode before you can shred them in the other modes.
Thankfully, you can use the cash you earn and collect during the Career mode to purchase stat points, new decks, and better tricks. (You will need to have high stat levels to complete certain objectives and to score gold medals during competitions.) While THPS automatically updated the skaters' stats and unlocked extra decks during the game, THPS 2 forces gamers to do those things themselves with proper money management. THPS veterans, or those who hate to manage money, may dislike this new aspect at first, but it works well in the end. THPS 2's Career mode has a ton of replay value owing to its large selection of secret stuff and its immense gap checklist (clear all the game's gaps for a special bonus), so this challenging mode alone will keep the average gamer busy for quite some time.
The other two single-player modes, Free Skate and Single Session, should be familiar to anyone who has played the first game. Free Skate is an untimed mode, and it allows players to skate around any of the environments they have unlocked in Career mode, including the two awesome secret levels. Single Session, on the other hand, contains a two-minute time limit like the objective levels in the Career mode, and it is a great way to get some practice and top high scores.
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| C'mon, why is skateboarding still not an Olympic sport?! |
Besides the three two-player modes that Neversoft carried over from the original Pro Skater (Trick Attack, Graffiti, and Horse), THPS 2 has a new Tag mode and a two-player Free Skate mode.
Free Skate lets two players skate together via a split screen. Like the single-player version, the two-player Free Skate mode does not contain a time limit. If you are a skateboarder who often skates with at least one other person, you will enjoy simulating your skate session with a friend.
Trick Attack mode is a basic head-to-head competition — via a split screen — to see who can score the most points within the time limit (adjustable). Of course, you can interfere with your opponent's run by crashing into him or her...but this might cause a fistfight between you and your "friend." Unlike the two-player Free Skate mode, which is basically a friendly session between two friends, Trick Attack brings out the competitive beast of the players.
Graffiti mode is another head-to-head competition, and it also features an adjustable time limit. What sets this mode apart from the others, however, is its unique "tagging" aspect. Each time you or your opponent does a trick on an object, it will flash either blue (Player One) or red (Player Two), signifying that it has been tagged. Both players can "steal" a tagged object by doing a bigger trick on it to add it to their total. Whoever has tagged the most objects at the end of the time limit wins the game.
Tag mode, THPS 2's new two-player mode, is the final split-screen mode. The main idea of this mode is to avoid being it. During this mode, both players are on a timer, with the it player's timer slowly counting down to zero. As the it player, you must perform sick tricks and combos to reduce the other player's stats, thus leaving him or her open for a tag. Once you tag the other player, your timer will freeze, and he or she must try to tag you. If your timer reaches zero before you make a tag, however, you will lose the game.
Horse, the final two-player game, is similar to the popular schoolyard basketball game of the same name, only here it is played using skateboarding tricks instead of basketball shots. The rules of the game are simple: Playing alternately, you and your opponent must match or beat each other's trick scores within a given time limit to avoid getting a letter. Whoever receives every letter of the word loses the game. If you get tired of using the word horse, you can create your own word (up to ten letters) to add variety.
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| The split-screen action is quite smooth. |
THPS 2's new create-a-skater feature lets you adjust the details, appearance, and performance of your very own skater. First, you must take care of the basics, which include creating a name, selecting an age, creating a hometown, choosing a stance (regular or goofy), and assigning one of three skating styles: street, vert, or all-around. Once you have done that, you can alter the appearance of your skater in the following areas: weight (88 to 378 pounds), complexion, head, cap color, torso, tattoo, legs, pants color, socks, and shoes. Finally, you can adjust your custom skater's stat levels by adding five preliminary stat points where you see fit (you must take your custom skater through the Career mode to earn additional stat points). Stat categories include the following: Air, Hangtime, Ollie, Speed, Spin, Landing, Switch, Rail Balance, Lip Balance, and Manual Balance. You can save four custom skaters to a memory card, and you can use them in every mode.
THPS 2's custom skater feature really helps spice up the game, since you can create wacky skaters that range from a 300-pound bald guy to a stick-thin skater with ugly tattoos and a bad haircut. Experimentation is the key here, so go crazy.
Another new feature in THPS 2 is the rad park editor, which lets you show off your design skills and create your very own skatepark! With its simple control interface, the park editor allows prospective skatepark designers to try their hand at creating a skateboard wonderland filled with ramps, rails, stairs, pools, gaps, and more. The park editor offers five different park sizes — 16x16, 24x24, 30x30, 30x18, and 60x6 — and has four different themes from which to choose: power plant, industrial, outdoor, and school. The themes simply alter the look of the background, but they provide some atmosphere nonetheless.
In all, the park editor contains ten categories of pieces for you to use in the design of the park. Heck, you can even create your own gaps (i.e., you can name them, set their point value, etc.), including ones with deadly spike pits. Once you have created a killer park, you can skate it alone, or play a game of horse with a friend by adding up to six starting points. Neversoft conveniently included 50 pre-made parks for you to shred, should you need some inspiration for your park.
Overall, THPS 2's park editor is a wonderful edition to an already great game. Not only does it add a limitless amount of gameplay to the game, but it also encourages creativity and lets gamers trade their parks with one another.
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| Fun fact: Tony Hawk created this wicked trick, which a shoe company later named itself and its shoe line after. |
Graphically, THPS 2 is more refined than its predecessor. Environments look sharper, and they range from an empty school to a bullring complete with an angry bull and a death-defying loop. The motion-capture is also a treat, and the bails are more varied and look more painful. Beyond the smooth-looking tricks and detailed environments, THPS 2 contains many small touches, including animated and destructible objects, sparks during grinds, and realistic-looking powerslide animations. The frame-rate remains smooth during the single- and multiplayer games, with only a few noticeable instances of major slowdown.
Unfortunately, there is still plenty of fog present on the larger outdoor levels, as well as during two-player split-screen games, which can become distracting at times. And while most of the skaters are quite detailed, some look downright ugly and bear little resemblance to their real-life counterparts. Also, there were several instances during the game when I encountered bad collision detection and nasty clipping problems. Still, even with these flaws, THPS 2 features some of the best graphics on the PlayStation.
Regarding audio, THPS 2 has great sound effects and a stellar soundtrack. Just about every skateboarding sound effect in the game, from grinds on metal pipes to 180-degree powerslides on the pavement, sounds realistic. Each level also has a variety of ambient sound effects that play in the background, such as the crashing waves and annoying seagulls on the Venice Beach level, and the loud gunshots and terrifying screams on the New York level. Even the bails sound more varied and painful than the ones in the last game!
THPS 2's soundtrack features several well-known groups that differ in musical style. The full list of groups looks like this:
From in-your-face rap to hard-hitting rap-rock, THPS 2's soundtrack has got you covered. Like any video game soundtrack, however, the music eventually becomes repetitive. Luckily, THPS 2 sounds great without music, thanks to its high-quality sound effects and ambient background sounds.
Simply put, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is a video game masterpiece. Although not without flaws, THPS 2 deserves a five-star rating for the simple fact that it surpasses the original game, which I awarded 4.5 stars, in every area. Those who own a PlayStation and a Dreamcast might want to wait for the more graphically pleasing Dreamcast version, but true THPS freaks will surely scoop up both versions. If you are looking for the most enjoyable skateboarding game on the planet, and one of the best PlayStation games around, THPS 2 is the game for you.
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