GENRE
	Sports
	DEVELOPER
	Vicarious Visions
	PUBLISHER
	Activision
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1
	CONNECTIVITY
	No
	BUY NOW AT

To many gamers, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is not a game. It's an addiction. From the first demo that appeared in the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine to the release of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 for the Sony PlayStation, gamer-skater life has been good.

Though not for portable fans.

The original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater hit the Game Boy Color in an top-down view, sprite-based skating game. It was fun for what it was, yes, but it definitely did not compare to its console big brothers. Tony Hawk 2 hit and, though an improvement, featuring side-scrolling gameplay, it was still a disappointment.

Will Tony Hawk's first appearance on Game Boy Advance equal his powerful 900°, or be a fall off the board?

visuals

Vicarious Visions has done something many didn't think was possible; develop a polygon-based engine for Nintendo's 32-bit portable. Tony Hawk and fellow skaters are made up by a relatively small amount of polygons, yet feature just as many frames of animation as their PlayStation counterparts.

Enviroments are actually 3D rendered, giving a nice, realistic look that is straight out of the Nintendo 64 version of the original. Extremely impressive in terms of both look and design.

audio

While not as impressive as the music in, say, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Tony Hawk 2's music is very impressive, featuring music-only tunes from various bands. Unfortunately, GBA's processor isn't equiped to handle the jams pumped out by the consoles, but we get as nice.

Besides the music, we get various grunts, grinds, and landings, and, while nice, they're not anything to write home about.

gameplay

Ever played a console version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater? That's what you get here, albeit from a pseudo-3D isometric perspective. The control scheme, which used ten buttons on the Sony PlayStation, has been reduced to four on Game Boy, but Vicarious Visions has managed marvelously. It takes time to get used to, yes, but once you do, it's a blast.

In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb here and I say I prefer Tony Hawk 2 GBA to its console brothers. The PS and Dreamcast versions, while fun, got old relatively quickly. However, the portable version, possibly because of its "take it on the road" mentality, never actually gets old. I sat through a seven hour session with this baby, compared to barely being able to make it through one playing the console versions.There are several skate parks, hidden areas, and over nine hundred tricks; it's impossible to put down searching for hidden features and new combos. Don't believe me? Try it.

Long story short: Replay value up the wazoo.

multiplayer

N/A

overall

A worthy value and one of Game Boy Advance's best titles. The control takes time to get used to, as does the isometric perspective, but once its down, and you can't put it down.

8.8/10