GameCube

Tony Hawk's Underground

Fãs da série não tem como errar em "Underground". E com o novo cenário com menos restrições e a nova opção de dificuldade, a série agora pode agradar tanto os novatos quanto os campeões da prancha.

All in all, Tony Hawk's Underground has really impressed me. It brings a refreshing vibe to the series with the ability to get off your board. Everything is as polished as one could possibly imagine. The story mode actually works well and incorporates some great level objectives in the game. The truckload of customization features (Create-A-Park, -Skater, -Trick, -Goal, -Deck...) make the game really feels like it's YOUR game. The amount of customization is mind-blowing.

Creativity is where this game shines best. Now, instead of a career mode, you have a story mode that takes you from a poor kid that lives in New Jersey, to a total pro at the end. Now, you can also create your own tricks and boards for your skater in story mode. The park editor has been improved to include building, wires, homes, mailboxes, everything a normal level has, even goals. You get to make your own goals for the parks and even the real levels. You can make all different types of goals that you can really play in the levels. You can always take your goals and save them to your memory card and give it to your friend to try and beat it. Even though the PS2 version has the best features in downloading your face into the game and online play, the Xbox and cube version are still fantastic.

Minor issues aside, T.H.U.G. is easily one of the better titles that’s come out in the past few weeks and easily upholds the greatness of the Tony Hawk series. With an enormous amount of customizable options, absorbing story mode and large mod community, T.H.U.G. provides just about anything a gamer could want in a skateboarding title without grabbing a board and hitting the streets. Combine that with the ability to place yourself into the game with the face mapping feature, and you have a product that could easily be considered one of the best games of the year.

Overall, however, Tony Hawk's Underground is a solid, if not a perfect, outing. The level design is virtually flawless, with a honed mixture of wide open and tight designs. The gameplay is still as stellar as ever: Neversoft's brilliant collage of on-the-fly experimentation and lighting-fast trick-popping is still as addictive as any drug and as intoxicating as any exotic woman.

Ich muss schon sagen, dass mich die Tony Hawk-Reihe jedes Jahr aufs Neue begeistert und überrascht. In jedem neuen Teil wird die geniale Spielbarkeit weiter verfeinert und die Levelgestaltung hält nun seit Jahren ein derart hohes Niveau, dass man sich ernsthaft fragt, was die Entwickler denn noch alles verbessern wollen. Die Möglichkeit, endlich vom Brett absteigen zu können, wurde sehr gut umgesetzt und in die Missionen mit eingebracht. Man hat nun erneut mehr Mittel, um seine Trick-Kombinationen in schwindelerregende Höhen zu treiben. Einzig die Fahrelemente wirken etwas aufgesetzt. Sicherlich lockern sie das Spiel zusätzlich auf, aber ehrlich gesagt hätte man sie sich auch sparen können. Ansonsten kann für den Titel - wie auch schon die Jahre davor - eine klare Kaufempfehlung ausgesprochen werden.

This has been out forever, but we were unable to previously review the GameCube version of THUG. In the interest of giving Nintendo fans their due, let me say that this version has all of the things I both loved and hated about Underground – the awesome levels, the annoying story, the untouchable gameplay, and the inconsistently structured level goals. It’s also probably my least preferred way to play Tony Hawk, if only because it makes me curse the GC’s tiny d-pad and weird, oversized buttons. Also, unlike most popular GameCube titles, it does not feature any online play. That’s a joke, people.

Overall, Tony Hawk's Underground is a great-looking game. The levels are large and colorful, and the trick animation is as good as it's ever been. The game runs at a high speed, and, depending on which version you're playing, the frame rate is either completely smooth or mostly smooth. That said, it does have its rough spots. The skater models look fantastic from a distance, but up close they really don't look so hot. This is the same problem the series has had for the past two years, really, as the people you encounter for goals still look a little weird. Only now, you're seeing most of these models--or slightly enhanced versions of them--in the story mode cutscenes, so you get to see a whole lot more of them.

Chaque année, Tony Hawk revient comme pour réaffirmer sa position de leader sur le secteur. Underground marque un tournant dans la série sans pour autant lui faire perdre son niveau de qualité. Au contraire !

Tony Hawk Underground is fun. But the appeal this year might be more for those that are deep into customization. If you just like to power on and skate, Tony Hawk 4 is only $20 if you don't already own it.

THUG is a great game, but it’s been a great game for years so if you didn’t like it before, you won’t like it now. But if you’re already a fan, you can’t ask for much more. It’s a massive, exceptional product that expands every aspect of its predecessors without sacrificing much, though it’s a better game on the PS2 than the Xbox or Gamecube thanks to its great online functionality. The Hawkman keeps on rising.

Tony Hawk's Underground does so much right and very little wrong. The only way a person wouldn't be able to enjoy this game is if they truly don't gel with the whole extreme skating genre. Casual gamers will hopefully not be intimidated by THUG as they may have been with THPS3 and THPS4, and fans of the series will be right at home from the beginning.