Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

The Good
Controlling the character is a breeze (especially if you have a controller, I recommend any of the Microsoft products). There are so many things you can do here, especially when you have such an easy “Build a park” system to muck around with. And although there are all those tricks to perform, it’s getting all those hidden tapes that make this title such a great challenge.

The Bad
Beginners will find it hard to perform some of the bigger tricks, but practice always makes perfect.

The Bottom Line
Finally a great skateboard title for fans of the sport (and all those people that have always wanted to take it up, but didn’t want to get hurt trying). One of the best translations from console to PC that I have seen for some time.

The Good
It's a classic game. It has unique gameplay; it almost could be described as it's own genre, because of the blend between RPG (gaining stat points) and sports (skating). The Dreamcast version is excellent in comparison to the N64 version, because of the advantage of the Dreamcast's graphical capabilities (fogging distance is much farther, for instance). Controls are about the same, and the content within the game seems to be the same.

The Bad
The in-game music can get repetitive. Also, there isn't any option to create a female custom character.

The Bottom Line
It's worth playing, definitely, if not just to see what it's like. It makes an interesting blend of the sports/RPG genres. It also makes for a good couple of multiplayer rounds; nothing to keep a party together, mind you, but a good distraction for a couple of minutes.

The Good
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is an extremely fun game. Although it was made too much like a game, hardly realistic at all. Which if you don't mind moving 60 m.p.h. on a skateboard is fine. For it's lack of realism it gives you many many tricks, a custom skater editor, and a level editor.

The game is really at it's peak when played with a friend with one of the built in multiplayer games, my favorite is graffiti. In graffiti you ride around, doing tricks on elements in the level, and you claim it. If someone can beat the score you got when you claimed it, then they take control. Whoever has the most stuff claimed at the end of a certain time period, they win. There are a few other modes as well, such as tag, and horse.

The Bad
There is really a lack of realism as mentioned above, your skater moves too fast and does not have to propel himself in anyway... he just kind of moves.

There are some bugs in the game that make you press reset, for example with my custom skater I fell in a pool, and my character got into a "superman pose" and moved around the pool and could not get up.

The career mode starts when you're already pro, skating in parks instead of on the street like mostly all pro skaters started. The soundtrack features several sold out rap, and pop rock groups, and gets annoying after about 3 or 4 sessions of the game.

The Bottom Line
If you want a skateboarding game try Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, if you want a skating simulation that makes your skater seem human buy Thrasher: Skate and Destroy. The only thing I found replayable about this game are the multiplayer games, and even those get old.

Despite all of the hype it's gotten from the press, and maybe some of your friends, I do not recommend buying this game. Borrow it from someone, rent it, steal it... Just do not buy it.