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Eddie F III
United States
North Catasauqua
Pennsylvania
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Here is a review I wrote back in March 2005 for a small handheld site I used to run called handheldheadquarters.com.
Tony Hawk Underground 2 Remix
It’s amazing how an upper 30’s skating legend can be so fresh in today’s youth. It’s amazing that he has more video games sporting his name than most kids have report cards. I’m talking about Tony Hawk. His face and skating style has been represented on almost a dozen consoles in the last decade. So, don’t be surprised to see Tony Hawk on a Sony PSP near you. Activision throws their Tony Hawk Underground 2 game onto the PSP. Don’t worry its not a straight port, they added Remix to the title, but that’s not just it.
Yes, it is the same game that PS2 gamers enjoyed. Except they are awarded with 4 whole new cities. The PSP version of the game starts off in one of those new cities, Santa Cruz. So, you can imagine that the story line is slightly different from what we seen. The Remix game is geared a little more towards Bam Margera in a world destruction tour. The game is full of his humor that we all come to love from his MTV Viva la Bam show. By far, the best Jackass spin-off shows out there. There is quite a bit of trash talking and grotesque humor that some parents might be offended by, but those are only those extreme soccer moms.
The gameplay is just the same as on your home console except on a much smaller screen. It is easy to control and fun if you are used to the Hawk games. If not, it will take gamers awhile to get used to the controls on this tiny handheld. This is a perfect handheld game to just pick up for a quick 5-minute time killer while waiting for the bus or a few hour sessions while waiting at the DMV. The game is goal oriented as all the other Tony Hawk games. The goals vary from combos, knocking stuff over, races, etc. Each level, in story mode, has you skating as four different people. Each of these players has their own set of goals to accomplish. You start off as your created player. Then you can skate as your selected pro teammate, and two special skaters that you need to track down. This shakes it up a little. Some of the secret skaters are Ben Franklin and Steve-O on a mechanical bull.
The goals in story mode aren’t easily visual while skating around but there are new and different ways to find your way around. One way is, certain goals (like combos) will light up once you skate across them. The best way I found was in the game menu that will give you a detailed picture description of what is needed from you.
The create a skater feature is very complex and massive. There’s dozens of features that you can choose to make your own style skate punk. You can also face map your own face, which we are familiar with in the past Underground series. However, the PSP makes it a lot easier to bring over a photo. I decided to create a zombie skater sporting a wizard hat and a Jeep T-shirt. You can go back and change him whenever you like, so you’re not stuck with your original creation.
Besides the story mode, you can tackle the Classic mode of the game. This is a nice retro feel to the old time Tony Hawk gamers. Granted, the high score run or trick attacks are done on the same levels as in story mode, but there are a few classics from the past. This is a nice touch. How much more can they add into a handheld.
Graphically, this game looks great. Of course the 3-D layouts had to be toned back a little for the PSP, but it’s barely noticeable. It’s as noticeable as a dead pixel during gameplay. I was quite impressed with the skaters’ detail and the frame rate. There is a lot to take in on such a small screen, but the details and colors help separate what is what. Imagine playing THUG on a Game boy Advance. There would be no way. This is the perfect handheld for today’s Tony Hawk adventures.
The sound of the game is great. I’m talking about the 50+ song soundtrack that is included. You will be skating to a wide array of music and genres. Not only is the variety there but also the sound emitting from the PSP is rich and vibrant. Who wants to hear the Violent Femmes through a mono speaker via MIDI format? Not me. The PSP gives it to you in dual speaker heaven.
If you are looking for multiplayer action, THUG offers wireless local play between four gamers. You can go against friends in 11 different game modes. These are the same fun games we all come to love in the franchise. These include trick attack, king of the hill, and combo mambo. This is a huge part of the game, especially if you and a few friends own a PSP and THUG2. It would have been nice to have it Internet enabled but there is always room for THUG 3. There is a way to play multiplayer PSP games on the net through a tunneling service called XLINK.
I have played every Tony Hawk generated game since the beginning on almost every console. This isn’t my all-time favorite (Tony Hawk 3 on PS2) but this is up there in the top 3. THUG 2 Remix has everything skating fans love from dozens from multiple half pipes, gaps to jump over, and rail slides to take you higher than Snoop Dogg in Amsterdam. There are so many excellent launch titles for the PSP that it’s hard for one specific to stand out but this is one of those stand out titles. Hopefully you made the wise choice as I and chose this title to start off your PSP library.
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