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By Contributing Writer Rob Pecknold Rating: Good Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is probably the most fun you will ever have renting a game. It's fast, it's beautiful, and it has the lasting power of a three-legged, sickly race-horse sent to the doctor for "immediate care." First off, I have to mention how much this game is like real skateboarding. I've been a skater for about three years now, and I haven't really developed skills beyond the basic stuff. But give me two minutes with this game and because I think like a skater, I can rack up points like nobody's business. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater has environments that are so skater-friendly, it's kind of unrealistic. I would much rather play a level that really looked like downtown San Francisco than one filled with bad representations of landmarks and ramps in the middle of the roads. I expect to find half- pipes in skate-parks, not in the streets of downtown Minneapolis. Other than the drastically unrealistic aspects of some of the levels, they are brilliantly laid out. I can't remember having more fun than I had the first time I played the San Francisco level. The layout is perfect, with more than enough opportunities for tricks. The levels in this game are head and shoulders above any stage found in any other skateboarding game. The graphics in Tony Hawk are a mixed bag. The levels are plastered with promotions from companies like Shortys, The Firm, Etnies, and probably the worst video game magazine this side of the official Dreamcast mag, 411VM. The characters are a bit lanky and there's very little difference between the different models, but the animation is incredible. The animation is so good that I found myself re-doing moves just for the sake of seeing them again, regardless of points. One of the best aspects of this game has to be its control. It's so simple, yet so complicated and deep, that it's hard not to love it. The beauty of the control lies in the combination system. Not only is it very easy to combine moves, but you can get over 20,000 or even 30,000 points for a single combo (the most you can get for a single move is 8,000). Therefore, it pays to take risks and attempt dazzling combos rather than stay conversative by sticking with single moves. The only problem is that after you've beaten the game with just one character, there's not enough to keep you coming back for more. If it had a lot more replay value, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater could have been a true classic. As it is, it's still the best skateboarding game ever. Send your thoughts on this review to rob@mastergamer.com
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