Navigation
menu
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Ever since debuting on the PlayStation, the Tony Hawk series has been widely regarded as one of the best sports series ever. With an accurate portrayal of hundreds of different skateboarding moves, high-flying ramp jumps, and perfect controls, it’s won over a legion of fans who had never even skateboarded before. Naturally, this success led to the inevitable: a version for every platform. With the GBA being such a surefire hit, everyone knew that it would get its own version of Tony Hawk. However, almost no one could’ve predicted just how well it has turned out. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 for the GBA is without a doubt one of the best console-to-handheld conversions ever.
What makes it such a wonderful port is that, despite the limitations of a smaller screen and fewer buttons, developer Vicarious Visions has still managed to deliver almost the exact same gameplay to the little handheld. In career mode, you’ll start out by choosing a skater to use. You’ll then be given a set of objectives to accomplish for one area, each rewarding with you with money. Once you earn enough money, you’ll unlock additional areas to skate in. Each successive unlocked park requires different dollar amounts. In addition, the money will also allow you to upgrade your skater’s stats and equipment so you can tackle the new challenges that lie ahead. In addition to money, you’ll also be shooting at scoring as many points as possible by pulling off stunning combinations of tricks. However, all is not well with the GBA port. In order to bring the gameplay of THPS2 to the GBA, they had to stick with a standard isometric viewpoint, as a behind-the-back viewpoint just wouldn’t work. Unfortunately, long-time Tony Hawk fans will have some trouble adjusting to this new viewpoint. Right and left now represent the skater’s right or left (regardless of which way you’re facing), which will result in a lot of wrong turns early on while you adjust to the new setup. Not only that, but it can often be difficult to figure out exactly how things are oriented in each level. Although a building will become transparent as you skate behind it, it’s still often hard to figure out where certain walls and objects are. Items you need to collect are also often difficult to locate due to the slanted view. An item may look like it’s on the ground in an area, when it’s actually floating above the ground below that area. Although you can use each item’s shadow to determine where an item is located, it’s still difficult to judge how high up that item is. Not only that, but a lot of shadows are obscured by dark patches of grass and other terrain. Thanks to the GBA's screen (which requires a good light source to properly play), this problem is even worse if you are playing in less than ideal lighting. In fact, there are instances where you’re forced to just jump around in an item’s general location and hope you hit it. It’s really a shame too, because a few tweaks to the level design would’ve corrected this problem. With practice you’ll eventually adjust to the new viewpoint, but it still proves to be a less than ideal setup. Everything else about this game is perfect however, especially the graphics. Every level is rendered with amazing accuracy, as rendering each in a set static 2D format allowed VV to include a ton of detail. Even more amazing are the skaters themselves, which are fully polygonal models (up to 300 polys per skater). While they aren’t textured polys, the skaters are by nature small enough that it really doesn’t matter. Polygonal models also allow for a wider range of motion, and this shows in the excellent assortment of animation found in each skater. Every move looks exactly the way it does on the consoles. While the graphics won’t blow you away with flashiness, it’s the solidness of them all that will really help to draw you in.
Just like everything else in this port, the sound area is also first-rate. Unfortunately you won’t find any licensed music here, as it’s been replaced with generic beats created by VV. Luckily those are all excellent, and perfectly fit what you’d expect from a skating game. The sound effects are also good, although these are somewhat limited in their implementation (grinds, landing, grunts, etc.) due to the nature of the game. Overall, any frustration you may experience with the control setup will prove to be inconsequential, and will be adjusted to in time. In the meantime, you’ll still have a blast playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. While the gameplay isn’t perfect, Vicarious Visions has still managed to pull off a stunning technological feat that should be experienced by all GBA owners. Highs:
Lows:
Final Verdict: It’s really mind-blowing to think that this is only a first-generation GBA game, as it’s practically the perfect portable title. Not only is the gameplay perfectly suited for a portable (easy to get into and out of if necessary), but the level of technology found here makes one wonder what we’ll see from the GBA a few years from now. If it wasn’t for the minor design and control issues, THPS2 would easily earn a perfect score. As it stands now, it’s still an amazing achievement. Overall Score: 9.2 Additional Images: Image
1
|
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
