Template:GameTony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, often called THPS2, is the second game in the Tony Hawk's 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, Game Boy Advance (by Vicarious Visions), Mac OS, 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. It was re-released and remade in 2001 as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2X.
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. THPS2 was also the first game in the series to introduce the manual, a skateboarding trick where the performer balances on two wheels. This enables players to string together trick combos. The game also introduced the Noseslide, Tailslide, Bluntslide, Noseblunt, Feeble, and Overcrook grinds. It was also the first of the Pro Skater games to feature Create-a-Skater and Park Editor features, now staples 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, each task rewarding a player with cash. Cash is also scattered around the levels in order for players to find, increasing the use for replaying a level. Once a player has enough cash, they can continue on to a new level. The maximum amount of money that can be obtained in a single skater career is $150,000.00. The other type of levels are competition levels. The rating by the judges that a player receives is based on how much they score, variation of tricks, bails, and how much of the level they have used. The judges give scores based on these criteria, the highest and lowest are taken away, and the three scores are given an average. There are three runs total and the best two count. Competition levels also contain cash hidden for a player to collect.
Levels
- Hangar (Mullet Falls, MT)
- School II (Southern CA)
- Marseille, France
- NY City, New York
- Venice Beach, CA
- Skatestreet (Ventura, CA)
- Philadelphia, PA
- Bullring (Mexico)
- Skate Heaven outer space
- Chopper Drop (Hawaii)
- Downhill Jam (PC only)
- Hoffman Factory (Oklahoma City, OK) (N64 Only, from Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 1)
- Rooftops (Boston) (GBA Only)
Soundtrack
The following songs are from the original PlayStation release. Other versions may vary.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Papa Roach - Blood Brothers" | |
| 2. | "Anthrax Ft. Public Enemy - Bring The Noise" | |
| 3. | "Rage Against the Machine - Guerrilla Radio" | |
| 4. | "Naughty by Nature - Pin the Tail on the Donkey" | |
| 5. | "Bad Religion - You" | |
| 6. | "Powerman 5000 - When Worlds Collide" | |
| 7. | "Millencolin - No Cigar" | |
| 8. | "The High and Mighty feat. Mos Def & Mad Skillz - B-Boy Document 99" | |
| 9. | "Dub Pistols - Cyclone" | |
| 10. | "Lagwagon - May 16" | |
| 11. | "Styles of Beyond - Subculture" | |
| 12. | "Consumed - Heavy Metal Winner" | |
| 13. | "Fu Manchu - Evil Eye" | |
| 14. | "Alley Life ft. Black Planet - Out With the Old" | |
| 15. | "Swingin' Utters - Five Lessons Learned" |
Reception
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 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: Ocarnia 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.
External Links
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