Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
System: Playstation
Publisher: Activision:
Developer: Neversoft
Released: 2000
Genre: Skateboarding Simulation
Capabilities: Compatible with: Memory Card, and Analog Dual Shock Controller

We start off our daily programming of “Gruel” Dale Kulas’ house in Grand Forks, ND where Dale is with Tony Hawk* for an exclusive interview talking about his new sequel video game, “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2.” Now let’s get started in this interview.

Gruel: Hi Tony, how are you doing?
Tony: I’m doing great Mr. Gruel, thanks for having me on your show.
Gruel: The pleasure’s mine, why don’t you start off you show by giving us an overview of...

The Game

Tony: Alright, well for anybody, well, the few morons who haven’t played the first game....
Gruel: I’m one of those few morons...
Tony: Ohh, well why didn’t you play it...
Gruel: I wasn’t into skating, and I thought the game would suck, so I didn’t get it
Tony: So why did you get the 2nd one?
Gruel: I played the demo, liked it, plus with my Sears gift card, I got it for only $30
Tony: Oh, I see, well, back to talking about the game, I wanna say that it plays pretty much like the first Tony Hawk where you go skating around for a few minutes and try to attain a certain amount of points, and do as many stunts as you can.
Gruel: Well, if it’s the same game, why release a sequel?
Tony: Well, the loyalties are pretty nice, I mean .... uh ... there’s lots of new tricks and features
Gruel: Ok, why don’t we get started talking about the

Graphics

Gruel: .....of the game, has their been any improvements from the first game?
Tony: Um, actually no, the game basically looks the same as last year’s game, we do got brand new courses, in the game, really smacked with detail, like look at this school park level, here you see school bells, tables, bike racks, and the whole nine yards.
Gruel: After I started playing the game, I noticed, that a lot of the playing areas and skaters in the game sure look pretty jaggy...
Tony: What! I mean, uh... did you see that great opening FMV video!
Gruel: Don’t evade the question, answer!
Tony: Ok, Well, due to the Playstation’s inferior graphing capability, we had to deal with what we can handle, and most of the jagged graphics in the game aren’t really that noticeable if you play the game in enhance mode on your PS2
Gruel: Actually, I tried that, all that’s really improved is the ground textures look less grainy, and the skaters a little more real, but the jagged visuals are still there
Tony: Oh, c’mon cut me a little slack...
Gruel: Alright, I also played the Dreamcast version, and I notice there are barely any jaggy graphics in there Tony: Oh, yes indeed, the 128-bit power of the Dreamcast allowed us to come out with the best looking version of my game yet!
Gruel: Alright, let’s talk about some other stuff in the visuals department, I notice that the game runs at a smooth rate, even in two player mode, but I believe I do see a heck of a lot of pop up and fog in two player mode
Tony: Yeah, well, as said before, it’s the PSX inferior graphics capabilities which made us add the pop up and fog so the game could still run at a smooth rate, but the game is playable, and easy to navigate in both modes, right?
Gruel: Yes sir, a great experience I had, I also want to add I really like how you got your menu navigation here, one of the most convenient setups I ever saw!
Tony: Why, thank you.
Gruel: And on another note, I would also want to say that all the stunts, and tricks are animated great, and easy to tell apart, and I really like how the game keeps up with naming the tricks and keeping up with the point totals
Tony: Yes, as do I.
Gruel: Alright, now that we got the graphics covered, let’s move onto chatting about the...

Sound

Gruel: I must say, that’s one great soundtrack you got.
Tony Hawk: I know, there some of my favorite tunes also, Activision really shelled out some big bucks enlisting on some major bands and artists like Papa Roach, Rage Against the Machine, Consumed, and many others to get some great background tunes on this game.
Gruel: I do notice there is no Everclear music in the game...
Tony: Who’s Everclear?
- - - At this point of the interview Gruel whacks Tony with a chair - - -
Gruel: The greatest band in the world, that’s who they are!
Tony: Sorry, they’ll have a track in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3!
Gruel: They better, ok, now moving on, I noticed in the manual that there are 16 musical tracks in this game, so why not release a soundtrack CD, I mean, it could’ve been more royalties for you Tony...
Tony: Dammit, you’re right!
Gruel: Next, I want to talk about your sound effects in the game, most of which is done pretty good in the game, like the sound of the wheels of the skateboard, breaking glass, the grinds, and just about everything sounds exactly as they do in real life.
Tony: I know, the developers tried there best to get the best experience when playing this game.
Gruel: Alright, now that we got the Audio stuff down, let’s get onto talking about the main part of the game, which is the....

Game play

Gruel: Alright Tony, let’s start off by talking about how this game controls.
Tony: Well, by using the analog sticks on the Playstation Dual Shock controller, you can freely skate around for free, 3-D movement.
Gruel: Yes, even I have to admit, moving around with the sticks was a breeze.
Tony: Now the developers got a really great button configuration too, they use the X button to jump, and the longer you hold it down, the higher you jump, while in the midst of your jump, you can press the square, circle, or triangle buttons to do tricks in mid air, which are awarded on a point scale, depending on how good the stunt is.
Gruel: Now don’t you get awards for earning a certain amount of points?
Tony: Yes, in the career mode you got a list of ten level goals to do, which can be anything from gaining a certain amount of points, are finding some hidden items within the two minute time limit, and by achieving these goals, you get awarded with cash for your skater to spend on buying stats to increase your skater’s performance, or other hidden stuff like hidden levels or boards.
Gruel: Wow, that’s a lot of stuff to do in Career mode; what other modes are there in the game?
Tony: Well, for one player mode, you got the Career mode we already discussed, plus the Single session mode, where you practice for two minutes in the levels you unlocked and try to break the computer’s high score, next up, we got Free Skate mode, which is just basically a practice mode where you practice stunts and so forth, before playing for scores in the other modes.
Gruel: Wow, that sure is a lot of stuff to do in all those modes.
Tony: Gruel, we didn’t even cover the half of it.
Gruel: There’s more!?
Tony: Yes, we got a two player mode!, where we got all type of versus modes like, Graffiti, where you and a buddy skate simultaneously trying to “tag” objects on the course by nailing better stunts off of them, next there’s Trick Attack where the two of you do as many tricks as you can and get the better score within the time limit, moving on, there’s “H.O.R.S.E” (or any other word you want), where you do a trick, and your partner tries to match or beat the score on it, don’t match the score and you gain a letter, whoever spells the selected word first is the loser, and finally we got the Tag mode, where you and a friend try to do as many ticks in a time limit when you are “it.”
Gruel: Damn, that sure is a lot of ways to play in 2-player, two bad the game couldn’t be 4 players, or this could’ve been party game of the year!
Tony: Who knows? Maybe in THPS 3 it’ll happen.
Gruel: Alright Tony, know that we know what’s all in the game, what added stuff is in here to boost up the....

Replay Value

Tony: Well, to start off Gruel, we got a brand new Park Editor, were you can create your own skate park!
Gruel: You gotta be kidding? Create your own Park? That’s like, a lesson in game design for free!
Tony: You’re darn right it is, you can choose from a variety of ramps, and whatnot, and make your own park, or edit an allotted amount pre made parks.
Gruel: Damn that sounds, great! So whenever I get tired of playing all the game’s levels, I can make my own!
Tony: Yes, so there’s a lot of replay there, but you can only make one per memory card save.
Gruel: Awwww, what else is there for replay?
Tony: Well, you’ll be playing forever trying to attain all the level goals in career mode so you can earn cash to max out the stats of any skater you can create
Gruel: You mean you can create skaters too!?
Tony: Yes, build him up from scratch, even choose his own boards, and set his own stats, you can more attribute points for your stats too in Career mode.
Gruel: Damn, that sounds great. Now that we know everything in the game, let’s try to sum it up....

In Brief

Tony: Ok, I’ll try...

+: We got new Create-a-Skater and Create-a-Park modes; Career mode will keep you playing for a long time, as will 2-player mode, plus a killer soundtrack with 16 tunes

-: Alright, not everything’s perfect, the PSX is only 32-bit, and our visuals aren’t up to par with the Dreamcast version with lots of fog and pop up in 2-player modes, and I really would’ve kissed the developers if we had a 4 player mode

Gruel: Wow! Tony, you do that better than me, now let’s get our scores in from the judges in the...

Final Ratings Rundown

Graphics: 7.5
Sound: 9.3
Game play: 8.8
Replay Value: 8.3

Overall: 8.4

Rounded to fit GameFAQs Score: 8

Comments

Gruel: I just had to say that I had a blast playing this game, I found it to be something I didn’t.
Tony: And that was...?
Gruel: A piece of Crap.
Tony: Oh, well Gruel, my limo is waiting outside..
Gruel: And so is my pizza delivery guy, so I guess this wraps up our interview, anything else you want to add before we go?
Tony: Yes, buy this game, it’s ten times as better that the original, and if you want way better visuals, get the Dreamcast version, and why didn’t you do that again Gruel?
Gruel: I’d rather pay $30 for a game at Sears, rather that $55 for a game at Software Etc.
Tony: Oh, great point made, indeed, well, I had a blast, later Gruel.
Gruel: Later, Tony, and for GameFAQs reviews, signing off, I’m Dale Kulas.

*Disclaimer: Gruel did not really interview Tony Hawk in real life, he just made this up for the intent of a good review, and he apologizes for not making the humor on the quality of Vegita’s scale, the kind of reviewers who does reviews in this format.