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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, often called THPS2, is the second game in the Tony Hawk series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2000. It was first released for the PlayStation, with subsequent ports to the Nintendo 64 (by Edge of Reality), SEGA Dreamcast (by Crave), Game Boy Advance (by Vicarious Visions), Mac OS9/X, Dell Axiom PocketPC (By Aspyr) and the Windows PC (By Gray Matter Interactive). It was also released for the Game Boy Color, and was better received than the first installment on that machine. In spite of that, it still bore little resemblance to the other versions of the game. The Game Boy Advance version, however, was highly applauded for translating the style and sense of the game accurately into an isometric (pseudo-3D or 2.5D) game. On April 1, 2010 a cut-down port to iOS devices was released.

Gameplay[]

It features the series' trademark open-ended gameplay, in which the player (playing as a professional skateboarder) completes a number of missions which result in cash rewards. With money gained, the player can then purchase skill improvements and better skateboards. It was the first of the Pro Skater games to feature Create-a-Skater and Park Editor features, now a staple in the series.

Some levels in Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 are designed for the player to complete a set number of tasks in two minutes. Such tasks include finding the S-K-A-T-E letters, high scores and finding a hidden tape somewhere in the level. Each of the non-competition levels contain ten tasks for a player to do. The other type of levels are competition levels.

Game features[]

Manuals[]

THPS2 introduced manuals - a ground breaking move that allowed players to connect different tricks in combo on ground. Default Manual and Nose Manual tricks were assigned to Up+Down and Down+Up combinations, which became standard in the series. Also special manual tricks appeared, such as the Casper, Anti Casper, etc.

Switch Stance/Nollie indicator[]

THPS2 focused a lot on skater stances so that the player had the ability to toggle between Nollie and Switch, which affects trick score. Switch toggle animations that look like such would later be known as Revert.

Manual balance bar[]

While balancing in a manual, player can see a balance bar. However, rail and lip tricks didn't provide this until Pro Skater 3.

Customizable tricks[]

From now on, skater is allowed to setup his tricks, including signature moves known as Specials. More lip tricks were added. All tricks are customizable, except grinds.

Directional double tap tricks[]

These tricks require player to press the direction twice followed by the trick button, thus limited to 4 tricks per trick type. Grind tricks only featured 2 directional double tap tricks: Down+Down+Grind for Bluntslide and Up+Up+Grind for Nosebluntslide. Lip tricks do not have this modification.

Additional grind tricks[]

Default grind tricks are predefined in THPS games and in THPS2 it took its final form, introducing Feeble, Overcrook, etc. which will remain as the default layout onwards.

Cash system[]

Every goal in the career mode is awarded by some amount of cash. Also some collectible cash icons are located all around the levels. There is Tony Hawk's photo on the cash icon. Player is allowed to spend it on stats, tricks and boards. Maximum allowed cash amount is $150,000. However there is a cheat that gives $900,000 to every skater. This system would eventually see its return in THPS4.

Create-A-Skater[]

This new feature allowed the player to customize their own skater, in which features such as appearance and stance could be changed.

Create-A-Park[]

This feature allowed the player to create their own skateparks. It also came with several pre-made levels by Neversoft.

Big Drop[]

The "Big Drop" mechanic appeared in this game, but was dropped in later installments due to criticism from fans. It returned once more in THPSHD, being met with the same reaction. Despite the mechanic being introduced here, it would not be featured in THPS1+2.

Available Characters[]

Fin K. L. band singers, exclusive to the Korean version:

  • Lee Hyo Ri
  • Ock Joo Hyun
  • Lee Jin
  • Sung Yu Ri

Levels[]

PC & iOS Exclusive

N64 Exclusive

GBA Exclusive

Soundtrack[]

Full article: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 Soundtrack

Unlike THPS1's emphasis on underground punk rock and ska for the soundtrack, THPS2 soundtrack caters to a more hip-hop feel, while keeping the punk rock intact. 15 songs featured in the game, including bands such as: Rage Against the Machine, Naughty by Nature, and Powerman 5000.

Korean release[]

In the South Korean version (as well as other Asian versions not released in Japan), members of the South Korean pop band FIN.K.L. were featured as playable skaters. Lee Hyo Ri, Ock Joo Hyun, Lee Jin and Sung Yu Ri are playable skaters, and 8 additional songs from FIN.K.L. were included into the main soundtrack on top of the original 15 songs. The FIN.K.L logo was also added to certain objects, if the player skated as one of the members.

Completing the game with one of the members is not possible, as the game will crash after obtaining the final gold medal.

The game is presented in full English in this version.

Japanese release[]

In Japan, the game has been fully translated on the PC. The Japanese Playstation version, which is the only other release in Japan, is fully English, but swaps the X button with the O button, to blend with their customs. This is flip flopped with Matt Hoffman's Pro BMX because the game is fully Japanese on Playstation but completely English on PC.

Steve Caballero's Gundam '95 board is redrawn, recolored and renamed "Godragon" in order to avoid copyright issues with Sunrise, the studio that produces the Gundam series.

iOS release[]

A cut-down port of the game for iOS devices was released by Activision in 2010. The version's only playable modes were the Career, Single Session and Free Skate modes, and the soundtrack was remade. The game's controls were visually displayed on the screen as four virtual buttons and a directional cross. The game was removed from the App Store in 2014.

Unused content[]

Several versions of the game contain following unused content:

Reception[]

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was met with a tremendous amount of critical and commercial success. Due to its almost universal high ratings, THPS 2 was the highest rated game of the decade from its release until 2010. As of January 2010, it is the second best scoring video game ever reviewed behind "The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time" according to Metacritic. According to GameRankings, it is the twentieth best scoring video game ever.

The PlayStation version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 has earned Platinum awards from gaming magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly. Because of this, it is the only game in the magazine's history to ever have earned a Platinum award twice (but is only acknowledged as a single game in EGM's records due to the game receiving a 10 from only one reviewer as opposed to the PlayStation game receiving 10s from all 3 of its reviewers). The PlayStation version of the game received a 10 out of 10 from the magazine Game Informer, while the versions for other consoles received lower scores. The Game Boy Advance version received particular acclaim for being an accurate translation of the series.

Trivia[]

  • The Marseille and Mexico levels are the first in the Tony Hawk series to take place outside the United States.
  • This is the first game in the series to feature the manual which would be a feature in future titles.
  • This is the first of three games in the Tony Hawk series where a Marvel character is featured as an unlockable, as Spider-Man appears in this game, whereas Wolverine appears in THPS3, and Iron Man appears in Tony Hawk's Underground.
  • Pogo appears as a special air trick ingame, however it would not reappear as a regular manual extension until Tony Hawk's Underground.

External links[]

Gallery[]


Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 levels
HangarSchool IIMarseilleNew YorkVeniceSkatestreetPhiladelphiaBullringChopper DropSkate HeavenHoffman FactoryRooftops, Boston
Tony Hawk's Game Series
Pro SkaterPro Skater 2Pro Skater 3Pro Skater 4UndergroundUnderground 2American WastelandProject 8Proving GroundPro Skater 5
Downhill JamMotionRideShredShred Session
Pro Skater 2XUnderground 2 RemixAmerican Sk8landPro Skater HDSkate JamPro Skater 1 + 2
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