Retro Lookback: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

Developers: Neversoft Edge of Reality (N64) Vicarious Visions (GBA) Treyarch (DC/XBX) Natsume (GBC) Gray Matter Interactive (PC)
Publisher: Activision
Platforms and Release Dates (US): PlayStation (September 20, 2000), PC (October 31, 2000), Game Boy Color (November, 2000), Dreamcast (November 6, 2000), MAC (2001), Game Boy Advance (May 30, 2001), Nintendo 64 (August 21, 2001), Xbox (November 14, 2001), iPhone (April 2010)
Genre: Extreme Sports

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (now will be referred to as THPS2) is the sequel to the first in Tony Hawk's line of Pro Skater games. The sequel takes what the first game did and makes it more refined.

The gameplay takes the structure of the first game. You are given 10 goals to achieve on the levels and 2 minutes per run to achieve said goals. The goals usually involve getting high scores, collecting the letters in SKATE, collecting other objects, finding the hidden tape, or grinding or hitting certain objects. When you complete the goals, you earn money to buy better boards and to upgrade the stats of your skater. THPS2 introduces the Manual, which allows you to ride on 2 wheels to maintain ground combos, and more grinds, like a bluntslide, to score more points. There is also Cash scattered throughout the levels and add to your cash total when you collect them. Along with the regular levels, there are now Competition levels as well. In these levels, 5 judges score your 2 minute runs based on factors such as Score and give you a score. The highest and lowest are tossed out and the 3 average scores are your score. You get 3 runs, with the best 2 counting towards your overall score. The objective here is to earn the Gold Medal by getting the highest score, but also Cash is still scattered on these levels. THPS2 brings back the pro skaters from the first game and adds 3 more to the roster as well. New to the series are the Create a Skater and Park Editor, which would become main stays of the series. The Create a Skater allows you to make a custom skater to use in all modes, even in career mode. The Park Editor allows you to make Custom levels to use in Single Session, Free Run, and Multiplayer modes. The Multiplayer is pretty much retained from the first game, with game modes like Horse and Grafiti to provide plenty of options. Overall, the gameplay is as fun as THPS1, but THPS2 takes it and makes it better.

The soundtrack is good to listen to as well, but on subsequent ports to platforms like the N64 and iOS, the music was altered or removed entirely.

The GBC version is fairly different from all the other versions. The action takes place all on a sideview instead of the 3D view or even the GBAs 2.5D view. Because of this, the GBC version feels inferior to all other versions of THPS2.

Bottom Line: THPS2 is a great extreme sports game and is probably the best of the series. It took THPS1 and made it better in every way. This game should be Played!