PlayStation 2

Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam

I feel that fans of the original two Tony Hawk titles and the SSX series will probably enjoy Downhill Jam quite a bit. It takes the series to a territory that it should’ve been at quite some time ago. With the next gen consoles, Downhill Jam probably has quite a bit of potential to grow in - that is even if Activision decides to bring it out for another one. I, personally, was surprised to find the game to be as much fun as it is, and this is coming from a very harsh Tony Hawk critic who hasn’t been too happy with the series’ direction as of late. There’s nothing extremely overwhelming about Downhill Jam, but the game certainly does thrive on its simplicity and its instant accessibility.

If you're expecting to show off your skills in Tony Hawk's standard style, you're going to be disappointed. Downhill Jam puts everyone on equal footing, ignoring the countless and arguably convoluted changes the core Tony Hawk games have endured over the years. It's a nicely designed and welcome departure, at least until it's milked in what will undoubtedly years of sequels.

Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam mag dan wel al ruim een half jaar oud zijn, voor mij en velen met mij, is het een nieuwe game. In de oude Tony Hawk-games kwam de nadruk steeds meer te liggen op trucjes, en die spelen in deze game van Tony gelukkig een ondergeschikte rol. Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam doet geen poging om realistisch te zijn en is daardoor erg vermakelijk. Hoe lang het spel je blijft vermaken is echter wel de vraag, want veel afwisseling zit er niet in de game. Alle challenges gaan om het naar beneden skaten, waarbij er soms wel een beetje variatie zit in de opdracht, maar de basis blijft gelijk. Downhill Jam moet eigenlijk gezien worden als een racegame zoals er zoveel zijn, maar dan eentje met skateboards in plaats van auto’s. Voor iedereen die het race element een beetje een ondergeschoven kindje vond in de oude Tony Hawk-games, of iedereen die gewoon te slecht was in trucjes is Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam een goede game.

Su descenso por Wii fue una de las primeras sorpresas de la consola de Nintendo, aunque su apartado gráfico no era lo que se esperaba de un juego de nueva generación. Downhill Jam tiene la oportunidad, ahora en PS2, de redimirse y demostrar que sus defectos sólo fueron producto de una mala conversión.

As I sat here playing Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam I couldn't help but feel like everything in this game was done better by the SSX series. If you can ignore the difference between a snowboard and a skateboard you'll find that these two games are practically identical. And while that should be a good thing, I couldn't help but feel like SSX has done a better job of combining tricks, racing and an open world. Downhill Jam is a fine game with plenty of exciting moments, but if you're going to play this then why not just go all the way and pick up SSX3 for a fraction of the price? As a spin-off series Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam has a lot of potential, too bad most of it is wasted on this ultimately forgettable PlayStation 2 game.

Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam starts with a time-tested trick system and an interesting idea on how to reinvent it, but the concept doesn't come through clearly at all. There aren't enough different tracks to keep the action fun for long, and you're sort of left thinking that the game should have just stayed on the Wii, where its unique control scheme at least helps set it apart from the other Tony Hawk games. If you're absolutely dying to check out a downhill take on Tony Hawk, you might want to try the Nintendo DS version of the game instead, which offers multiple goals for each level and, yes, online play.

La version Wii était une bonne surprise, cette figuration PS2 n'est qu'un concurrent de SSX parmi tant d'autres. Les carences de l'original, et plus particulièrement les bugs de collision, sont accentués par une prise en main qui manque de réactivité, et donc inférieure à celle avec la Wiimote. Egalement un peut trop court, ce Tony Hawk Downhill Jam est un jeu moyen à tous les niveaux.

Downhill Jam was op de Wii nog net te doen als een toegankelijke skategame, ondanks een gebrekkige afwerking en matige presentatie. Voor deze PS2-port heeft men zich echter geen enkele moeite getroost om de verscheidene foutjes uit het origineel te fixen, en in bepaalde opzichten, zoals de instabiele framerate en stijve bediening, is deze versie zelfs minder. Daar komt bij dat we op de PS2 al heel wat betere en interessantere games binnen het genre gewend zijn, waardoor deze game als een overbodig achterafje aanvoelt.

This game is a skateboarder’s worst nightmare. It’s a 20-foot plummet onto a lineage-ending metal pole. It’s not even worthy of being endorsed by Bam Margera. By no means is it an extension of the highly revered Tony Hawk series. This standalone racing game, which originated on Wii, doesn’t push players to hone their skateboarding skills to create amazing runs. It’s all about barreling down a hillside with nothing more than shoddy gameplay and a worthless trick system at your disposal. By coupling the most forgiving balance meter ever created with uninspired track designs, I found that it’s possible to win races by grinding for thousands of feet uninterrupted. At the most, this game is great for punishing ill-behaved children. They will think that you just bought them a new Tony Hawk game, but in reality, you’ve handed over a punishment worse than anything else out there.

There just aren’t that many of these kinds of games anymore – the ESPN Extreme, Skitchin’ and, to a lesser extent, Road Rash-style of personal combative racers. I understand the appeal of wanting to trip the person about to pass you by, and I can certainly see how that mixed with the tried-and-true trick system of the series seemed like a fantastic combination, but the results speaks for itself. A rental would do more than satisfy your curiosity. Oh, just go ahead and save your $7 and skip it altogether.