Review:
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Reviewer: David Jones
Edited by: Mike Dixon (12/19/02)
Mac publisher: Aspyr Media ($19.99 est. retail price)

Ollie, grind and skate the way you always knew you could! Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is the ultimate extreme sport experience, with a hip hop and punk music soundtrack, skate as the legendary Tony Hawk, one of 12 other pro skaters or create your own pro from scratch. Go head-to-head on terrain that would make even a pro skater drool. Players can also design their own dream park, using a variety of ramps and more. Original levels from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater are included in the single-player mode and the multiplayer play modes include single-player career and free skate modes as well as 2-player modes such as trick attack, graffiti, tag and horse.

This game was tested using Mac OS X 10.2.2. It installed in just a few short minutes and then I was off to the skate park. I used a Gravis Gamepad Pro controller with Gamepad Companion software. The game was very responsive at 1024x768 screen resolution. Though only played using a Powerbook 500 MHz G4, I noticed almost no drag in the playablilty of the game itself on the portable machine. [Editor's note: It is recommended that iMac users with a Rev. C or faster Mac (300MHz G3 or faster) consider this game. Early iMacs do not have enough horsepower or a video card that is powerful enough for this game. It also runs quite well in Mac OS 9.]

This game is one of the best games I have played in along time. The action is very fast paced, lots of tricks and very realistic. As a former skaterboarder, I can tell you first hand, this is skateboarding at its best. The tricks are amazing and very realistic (especially the falls). Using various button combinations, you can perform any trick that Tony Hawk himself can pull off. There are also many modes: Single Player, Multiplayer, and my favorite, the Career Mode. There is also a mode where you can design your own skatepark. Set up ramps and obstacles to design your dream skatepark. The career mode lets you pick your own player (select from a who's who list of professional skaters or create your own) and explore the different skateparks as you rack up enough money for admission to new parks. Money is the root of all evil in the career mode. Your tricks make you money. Therefore the wilder the tricks, the more money you get. The more money you get, the more skateparks you get to explore. So the game continues to grow based on your skill level. There are many small tricks you can find through trial and error which produce really cool results. For exeample, if you grind the helicopter blade on Level 1, It will start up, try to take off and then crash. This crash creates new obstacles for you to skate on. The many different levels and trick variations make this game fun, exciting and new with each run you take.

No problems found.

If you like fast paced, realistic, entertaining sporting games, you must add this one to your collection. I was very impressed with the detail of the entire game, from the realistic movement of the skaters to the extremenly detailed skatepark graphics. But I was most impressed the room for growth with this game. Each time you play, its like a new experience regardless of your skill level. Both beginners and experts with ache to take their next run and see what excitement this game can bring them. [Editor's note: This game is also available for Playstation 2. The reason for mentioning this is because if you intend on playing this game using the keyboard, you might have more trouble in the advanced stages of the game. A gamepad would be helpful.]

A word of warning: the falls can be visually graphic. Some spills produce small amounts of blood. Parental advisory recommended, and never let children attempt the exaggerated stunts in this game.