When I was about 13 years old, I had gotten an issue of Nintendo Power that had announced that the world famous skateboarder, Tony Hawk (along with Activision and Neversoft), would be putting out a game called 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (THPS)'. Me, being a huge skateboarding fan, was extremely excited about this new genre of gaming no one had thought of before now. In this review, I am going to attempt to score each of the games in the franchise so that you know which TH titles to purchase when you feel like some old school gaming.
Let's start off with the very first one: 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'. I had this particular version for N64 (also available on PS and Dreamcast). It was probably the most difficult thing for me to grasp at the time. Combos, lines, and the ever-emptying 'special meter' added to the difficult level (not to mention the two minute timer on every level); but after about 2 hours, I was a pro. The game included 10 pro skaters right out of the X-Games, plus 3 unlockable secret characters. Each skater had their own style, tricks, and special move that could be performed only when the 'Special meter' was full. It also featured a two player mode, where friends could challenge each other in horse, graffiti, or trick attack. This game was pretty basic, probably because it was the first title in the series. Nevertheless, it was tons of fun, and, once you got the hang of it, kept you playing for hours.
7.5/10
Now, 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2' (N64). What can I say about this title except: MANUALS!! Yes its true, you could now manual (or nose-manual) to link your tricks together for bigger combos and bigger scores. This game also introduced a new 'create a' mode where players could create their own skater and create their own skatepark. With 3 more pro skaters and a slew of new secret skaters (including Spiderman), this game not only looks better, but also plays smoother when it comes to linking tricks and pulling off big combos. The only downfall to this title: no new two-player game modes. It was still Trick Attack, Graffiti, and Horse. Still fun, though.
7/10
'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3' (GCN). What a step! On Nintendo's brand new system, the Gamecube, the Tony Hawk series really has a chance to shine. The graphics were amazing at the time and I was very impressed. They had now added bigger levels to skate, complete with pedestrians, traffic, and other skaters. Better 'create a' modes included the ability to color hair and clothing whatever shade you wanted and even more pieces in the skatepark editor. Added to the tricksets were the ability to perform flatland tricks while in manual to give you even bigger scores while linking your tricks. This game still had 13 pro skaters, but the jewel was the secret characters. This time around you could skate as Darth Maul, Wolverine, Kelly Slater, and a Demoness; each with their own movesets and amazing special tricks (Wolverine's Berserker was very cool). Personally, this was probably the most memorable TH game so far.
8.5/10
'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4' (PS2). Say goodbye to Mr. Two-Minute-Timer. The biggest step in the franchise: free roam skating. now you could take all the time you wanted to skate and not have to worry about being in free skate mode. You pretty much go about the level and find people to talk to to complete objectives, and by doing this unlocking more levels and characters, getting closer and closer to becoming a pro skater. Neversoft also added some pretty interesting new tricks and moves. These included the ability to 'skitch' behind moving vehicles, by crouching behind it as you held on to the rear bumper. You could also skate on moving objects, and (one of my favorites) spine transfer over the gaps between quarter pipes, to link tricks together in a whole new way.
8/10
'Tony Hawk's Underground' (PS2). The Tony Hawk series is now looked at in a whole new way. They've introduced a story-mode, wherein you create a skater to you and tour around the country completing goals to get closer to the top. On of the coolest things about this game is the addition of drivable vehicles, used to complete certain goals. You didn't need to be on your board the entire game; this time you could get off and on whenever you choose. Sometimes you needed to walk or run (or climb) to complete certain goals. The coolest thing about THUG was the create a trick option; you could create your own trick to be used as a special move, call it whatever you want, and assign it to whatever button combination you wanted. I myself have created some tricks with pretty wicked spins and flips, and upside-down, I might add.
8/10
'Tony Hawk's Underground 2' (PS2). Activision and Neversoft take the series in a whole new direction. In this game, you are chosen to be a part of Tony Hawk's team, who is in a competition with Bam Margera's team to see who can prank the best in Bam's World Destruction Tour. Reminiscent of MTV's Jackass series, this game takes skating to a whole new level. By incorporating skating and driving, this title is one of the most fun yet. It's laid out a little different than past editions. In each level you have a pro skater, special skater, secret skater, and, of course, you. Each skater has different goals he/she must complete. Usually your secret skater is on a vehicle: Jesse James has a suped-up, two-wheeled chopper; and Steve-O has a mechanical rodeo bull that he rides on. They have also incorporated a 'tagging' feature where you can create your own graffiti tag and tag wherever you want. Also, this is the first game to have both a story and 'classic' mode. Classic mode is old school TH. each level has 10 goals and the two-minute timer. This is an all-around fun game and should leave you with hours of gameplay.
8/10
'Tony Hawk's American Wasteland' (PS2). One of the best and my favorite TH game of all time. In this game you play a skater living in LA, who discovers an old skate park on some land owned by a renowned skater. Your goal in this game is to go around to the various cities and collect parts to add to the park to make it the biggest and baddest skatepark ever. In this game there are no load times; its just one massive world. The load times are cleverly concealed by hallways that link each level together. This is the first TH game to feature ridable BMX bikes, you are able to freely switch between bike and board. A cool feature that was added to this game are the various old school Dogtown-esque style of skating; including the cool 'bert-slide' that you can use to link some flatland tricks together. With a cool story mode and tons of hours of gameplay, this game is worth playing, even now.
8.5/10
'Tony Hawk's Project 8' (360). Just by the title you can tell that they were running out of ideas for the next in the series. Unfortunately, Neversoft failed to please gamers with their attempt at the next great TH game. Where should I start? First: one of the things that made this series great was virtually nonexistent, the 'create-a-skater' mode. A very weak story-actually, there really was no story at all. What happened? TH was doing so good. Sure the counting the number of bones that were broken when you bailed was cool, but besides the 'Nail-the Trick' (a matrix style slow-mo, fliptrick mode) that was the only thing that was different. Sure the graphics were alot better on the next-gen console, and the skating physics were cleaned up, but give me more story, more of that TH feel. Unfortunately, this title just doesn't cut it in my book.
5/10
'Tony Hawk's Proving Grounds' (PS3). Sorry, folks, the series is just getting worse as the years go on. With tough competition that year, what with EA's amazing 'Skate', Neversoft wasted precious time and money putting out the next installment. In THPG, you are, once again, a nobody, who is trying to hit it big in skating. This time you are living what they call the 'rigger lifestyle' (whatever that is). It pretty much means you make ramps and rails out of whatever you find lying around a deserted parking lot or warehouse. It, surprisingly, has worse graphics than THP8, which is weird considering its on Sony's powerhouse: the PS3 (8 cores, anyone?). Needless to say, I didn't bother progressing through any of the story. It was that much of a disappointment.
2/10
There is one thing that I would like to touch on. The music and song selection of all the TH games has been awesome in every title. Starting with just a few songs in the first couple of titles, to having massive 80 to 100-song playlists in the newer ones. The mix of music style is second to none. With artists such as Rage Against the Machine, The Bravery, My Chemical Romance, and even classic rock like ACDC's 'TNT'. Don't get me wrong, the games have also had many hip-hop songs including artists like KRS-One, Xzibit, and even N.W.A's 'Express Yourself'. The games even included Frank Sinatra's 'That's Life', and Johnny Cash's 'Ring of Fire'. The music, I think made the game for me sometimes. Its just good to have great music playing while your tearing up the town!
Thanks for reading
-JD
Look for a full review of EA's 'Skate' later this month.
Let me start by say this isn't going to be a normal review because this is not a normal game and thus, will not get a rating. This is a stand alone track pack (you don't need either Rock Band game to play it) with 18 AC/DC songs (all live). This game is full of disappointment, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULDN'T GET IT! (please read whole review before any decision making) The first disappointment is the price. $40 ($30 for PS2) for 18 songs? Give me a break! Secondly, the game is made on a bare bones version of Rock Band 1. Everything is exactly the same as Rock Band 1 except there's only 18 songs, they're all AC/DC, the lag calibrating sucks compared to Rock Band 1's, there's only 1 venue to play at, and you can't make customized characters. Other than these, it is exactly the same: hit or miss hammer ons (they fixed em in Rock Band 2, so why this has them still I'll never know), same menus, even the same loading pages! 
