Initially I picked up the Dreamcast version of this because I read it was the better version out there. It really is too, because the graphics and the audio are better, but what really matters in this game is the way the game controls and feels and the PSX isn't lacking in that regard.
Regardless of what version you play …
Initially I picked up the Dreamcast version of this because I read it was the better version out there. It really is too, because the graphics and the audio are better, but what really matters in this game is the way the game controls and feels and the PSX isn't lacking in that regard.
Regardless of what version you play (I ended up playing the PSX because i really was wanting to try and get some retroachievements on this one, as the majority of the set is probably some of the most brag worthy ones on the site) you'll be practicing it for a while to get good. It took me a while to get the hang of this game. Maybe its because i'm unfamiliar with skateboarding or because I have very little in sport simulations but I did manage to figure out some things and improve. At first I didn't know that if you hold down the jump button you will actually accelerate. Tony Hawk will hunker down and start accelerating and then when you release he will jump, or if he's going up a ramp he'll jump off the ramp and you can begin yoru trick move. From here its a matter of timing and practice and finess and feels like a mix between a sports simulation and a fighting game or something to that effect. Depending on your familiarity and skill you can do anything from simple timed moves that you rotate in a 2:00 match to maximize novelty and awarded points, or you can crank out mind bending blends of combos and execute one after another really quickly.
This really is a fun, addictive game. I missed out on it and I can imagine easily how some people might play a game like this and practice it forever endlessly. I knew lots of people at SKOOL who really liked this game. A lot of sports simulations seem to be like that but this one is somewhat more approachable to me maybe because of the arcade like experience and the fact you can just go into a 'free skate' mode where you can investigate and explore each of the maps to familiarize yourself with them and what the game lets you do.
I have very little experience with sports games and sims, but this is good albeit very challenging. I had to eventually put it down but made it through about 80% of the game until hitting a wall on downhill jam and thereby being unable to make further progress to unlock the last competition and the final map (and of course the crazy sounding bonus map)
The only fault I really have against this game is it's really repetitive in the same way practicing a sport is. you just do the same thing over and over and over again until you get the hang of it. Also to really excel in scoring you are going to have to learn to exploit it and cheeseball it the way in which you do a fighting game. Your goal isnt to be 'good' necessarily but to max out your points, and the best moves are signature moves which are executed by three button combos and its something you cant really learn unless you look at a guide. The game is also very arbitrary and has an 'on rails' approach to scoring criteria. As you play the game you start to get a sense for how to build better scores and it often means finding secret or map specific actions and performing tricks interacting with those places (like jumping off a car or onto a car or something on maps that have cars) and on matches not screwing up on your first move to avoid reduction on second attempts and not repeating your repertoire of tricks. This makes scoring a more rigid and procedural task in many instances, its almost like a floor plan in rainbow six or something, then its up to you, the player to follow through and execute.
All in all this is an excellent parkour game that plays like a hybrid arcade style game with it's 'rush' mode in addition to having a 'open' mode with no time limits where you can just play around in as you trial-and-error your way in a map. It also features multiple multiplayer modes. This and Jet Set are some of the earliest parkour games I've played, and we now have so many games like this now. THPS is well conceived, well liked by it's fanbase, and really showcases off both the era in which it was made as well as manage to look baller doing it with a nice selection of punk/ska from the era.
I hate myself for abandoning it and have been tempted many times in less than a day to just pick it back up and waste six hours chasing one of the VHS tapes that feel just out of reach. But hey there are several of these games plus so many more like it to check out!
