Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

From BlackRage.org by adamcole

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2

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I know how much everyone enjoys the original so I thought I would post on the newest version of one of the best games out there, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. It comes on the 20th (Wednesday) but if you have a mod chip and a little patience it has been available for download since the beginning of last week. (I don't know the attitude of the blackrage community when it comes to video game piracy so I will assume for now it's a-ok *at least it keeps you from renting at blockbuster right?*) This game kicks improves on everything the original was lacking in. My review for you:

Gameplay: Same as the original with the addition of manuals and all sorts of new special moves. The levels are nice and have plenty of hidden secrets. The controls are smooth and just like you would expect them. Nothing but improvements as far as gameplay goes.

Sound: It has some great tunes. A wide variety of different types of music as well. It has some old school NWA, Millencolin, Lagwagon, Rage Against the Machine and even Anthrax. I like all of the songs except for the two that were on the THPS2 demo. Those two songs bug the hell out of me I have heard them so much. The game starts off with Guerrilla Radio by Rage so you know it has to be good.

Features: It has create a park and create a player now. Create a park makes the replay value go on forever. The create a player has most of the bases covered (you can even pick the skate logo for your T-shirt) but it doesn't let you change your hair color or select your exact weight. That bothers me. So instead of my guy being just like me he has to have dark hair and weigh 217 (the next step up was 238 and that makes your dude look damn fat) The weight and hair thing are nitpicky type stuff though. You earn cash to buy new moves and boards and tricks. You can set the tricks you want (even the specials) which adds to it even more. If you go into the options you can even try out Brett Hoffmans (I think) Pro BMX. It's just like THPS2 but on a bike. It's really cool though. You should check that out too. The last level is in the middle of a bull fighting ring and it has that cool circle pipe that Tony hawk rides through on the beginning of part one. It has some crazy drop-ins as well.

My final opinion is buy it if you don't have the means to get it for free. Hell, I may even buy this one to keep the people paid that make these games. Neversoft rocks and know exactly what they are doing. Get it when you can.

Disclaimer: Some people like smoking pot. Some don't. Some people freaked out one time and they never want to try it again. Some people have never tried it and they never want to. After all, in most countries it is illegal. Do what you want. If you've never tried marijuana before, though, you probably shouldn't play intense video games like this one during your first time. That being said...

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is one of the most fun games I've ever played, and it's about twenty times better when you're stoned. The game is really ZOOM, if you know what I mean: vertigo effect from spinning fifteen feet above a quarter pipe, then accelerating down to earth and racing off towards a rail grind and then before you know it a shocking head-over-heels fall into the pavement, complete with a spurt of blood from the mouth...you can really feel it. The THC pumping through your veins is really stirred up by all this, creating a tremendously unique and entertaining experience.

But the true power of the marijuana/THPS 2 combination lies in the cheat codes. In addition to the standard "shitload of money" and "all special characters" variety, the cheat codes cover a vast array of extremely trippy shit. Here are a few of the more mind blowing ones for the PlayStation (pause the game and hold down L1 while entering the button sequence corresponding to the letters shown--sometimes the codes spell out things, too):

U=up, D=down, L=left, R=right, T=triangle, X=X, S=square, C=circle

Slow-Nic: CUTS XTC
This will ablosutely destroy you. Everything goes in slow motion, but only when you're in the air. The juxtaposition of a fast run up to a QP and then the very slow air you get is so shocking it hurts. Equally shocking is the sudden burst of speed once you hit the ground. This contrast is deepened further with the Turbo Mode code, below. This must be experienced to be understood.

Moon Physics: XSLUDUST
Double Moon Physics: LULU DUST LULU DUST
These make the gravity considerably less of an issue...with Double Moon Physics, you can pretty much go into the stratosphere: you're so high that the game doesn't render most of the ground's polygons, so it looks like cloud cover. You can land all these jumps safely, too.

Kid Mode: CUULL CUDS
Big Head: SCULLS RUL
These are pretty self-explanatory...they're best used in combination, which makes your skater look really cartoony.

Turbo Mode: DSTRUC DSTRUC
This gives your skater an insane level of speed, which means he'll be jumping a lot higher as well. Be prepared to fall a lot. This gets pretty edgy.

You can find the complete list of codes at www.sportplanet.com/thps/. I'm sure the original THPS is also a fantastic mix with marijuana, it's just that I own the sequel, so that's what I'm working with.

So, I recommend all you cannabis lovers out there do yourselves a favour and set aside two or three hours with a few friends, the game, and a healthy amount of good weed.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is, quite possibly, one of the most influental video games since Doom or Street Fighter 2. It has been ported to no less than eight different platforms, has prompted two sequels, and inspired countless imitators, almost all of which use similar tricks and nearly identical controls. This is the game everyone should play before trying any other "extreme sports" title.

On the cover, all of the versions of the game have Tony Hawk at the peak of a jump, doing a trick. (The UK versions has a slightly different trick from the rest of the world.) Directly below is the oval logo, with "TONY HAWK'S PRO SKATER 2" in prominent white lettering. The system band, for the various console/portable versions, is on the side or top, depending on platform.

The premise is fairly simple. In Career mode (the main single-player mode), the player is given a list of goals to accomplish, and skates out into the stage, with two minutes to accomplish them. Some of these goals are simple, like grabbing the letters S-K-A-T-E, or knocking over three piles of barrels, and some are less simple, like kickflipping from roof to roof. All of the stages have three score goals, as well, each more progressively difficult. Finishing goals or picking up dollar bills floating in the air gives the player money, which can be used to buy increased stats, new tricks, better equipment, or new stages. Some stages are competitions, and the player gets three heats scored by judges, the best two of which are added together and compared to the other skaters'. Placing in the top three is worth a cash prize.

Tricks are deceptively simple, with an amazing possible variety. Doing a trick, like a grind, stall, manual, or vert trick is worth a certain amount of points. Link a trick into another one, like jumping and landing into a new grind, or doing a second trick on the same jump, not only adds the value of the two tricks together, but also doubles the total. Adding another trick adds together the total value of the tricks, and triples the total. There is no limit, other than space or the player's skill, to how many tricks can be linked together, so increased skill offers dramatically increased payoffs.

Of course, other than bragging rights, mastering the game is handy for playing head-to-head. There's a handful of modes, the simplest being Trick Attack, where both players have a certain amount of time to score the most points. More unusual are Graffiti, where players "tag" objects by doing tricks off of them (and tags can be stolen by doing higher-value tricks off of an object), and Tag, which is just like tag on the playground, only the player who is "it" can do tricks, which make the other players slower. Most popular is Horse, which is just like Horse on the playground. The players have to avoid spelling H O R S E (or whatever other word you choose). The players take turns doing tricks or trick chains. If a trick chain doesn't get a higher score than the last trick the opponent did, that player gets a letter. First with all the letters in the word loses.

The game also has a free-skate mode, which allows the player to practice without a timer in any unlocked stage, as well as a create-a-skatepark mode, which allows the player to create new parks for freeskate or head-to-head play. There was something of a community built around exchanging fan-made parks for the PSX and PC versions, although that's died down with the release of the sequels.

A handful of professional skaters' likenesses were licensed for the game. These include Tony Hawk, Bob Burnquist, Steve Caballero, Kareem Campbell, Rune Glifberg, Eric Koston, Bucky Lasek, Rodney Mullen, Chad Muska, Andrew Reynolds, Geoff Rowley, Elissa Steamer, and Jamie Thomas. There's also the option to create a skater, with a custom skating style and appearance, and there are a handful of hidden characters, including Officer Dick, Spiderman, and Private Carrerra.

THPS2 also set the standard for soundtracks for extreme sports games. The tracklist includes...

• Blood Brothers, by Papa Roach
• Bring the Noise, by Anthrax and Public Enemy
• Guerilla Radio, by Rage Against The Machine
• Pin The Tail On The Donkey, by Naughty By Nature
• You, by Bad Religion
• When Worlds Collide, by Powerman 5000
• No Cigar, by Millencolin
• B-Boy Document, by The High And Mighty
• Cyclone, by the Dub Pistols
• May 16, by Lagwagon
• Subculture, by Styles of Beyond
• Heavy Metal Winner, by Consumed
• Evil Eye, by Fu Manchu
• Out With The Old, by Alley Life (feat. Black Planet)
• Five Lessons Learned, by the Swingin' Utters

All are radio edits, as neccessary. This soundtrack only appears in the Xbox, PSX, DC, PC, and Mac versions. The N64 soundtrack is looped chorouses, with an abbreviated tracklist, and the GBA and GBC versions have looped instrumentals.

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This game has seen a variety of ports, all based on the original release for the PlayStation, although some only very loosely. The original was developed by Neversoft, and all of the variations were published by Activision. Almost all of the versions of the game are rated T by the ESRB, due to song lyrics and minor blood. These are missing in the N64, GBA, and GBC versions, so those versions are rated E.

• PlayStation - September 19, 2000 - The definitive THPS2, this version includes a Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX demo on the game disk, and was rereleased as part of the Greatest Hits series of budget rereleases.
• Windows/Macintosh - October 24, 2000 - As THPS1 was never released for the PC, included in this version were three skateparks from the first game, awarded after getting golds in competition levels.
• Game Boy Color - November 6, 2000 - Developed by Natsume, this is a side-scroller only loosely based on the original.
• Dreamcast - November 7, 2000 - This near-perfect port was executed by Treyarch.
• Game Boy Advance - May 31, 2001 - Developed by Vicarious Visions, this isometric version of the original was otherwise a very nice port, as well as being one of the big-name GBA launch titles.
• Nintendo⁶⁴ - August 22, 2001 - Ported by Edge of Reality, this port was very late, but otherwise quite true to the original.
• Xbox - November 21, 2001 - Developed by Treyarch and commissioned by Microsoft as an Xbox exclusive, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x also included the levels from the original THPS, as well as several new ones. Unfortunately, since the PlayStation 2 already had THPS3 and could play the now-budget-priced PSX version of THPS2, THPS2x sold poorly.

THPS - THPS2 - THPS2x - THPS3 - THPS4 - THUG

New in this version are manual tricks, allowing for street tricks to be more easily connected, and new special tricks to be used when in jumps from ramps/half-pipes/bowls.

Sources: mobygames.com, gamefaqs.com, gamespot.com, malcster