noiseredux vs.
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[img width=640 height=640]http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/3/365573_50635_front.jpg[/img]
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is one of those games that I've beaten so many times yet never feels old to me. Instead, it's what I call a comfort-game. One that I can return to when I'm tired or stressed out and just want to relax and feel better. A lot of that probably has to do with how it fit into my gaming life. When I moved out on my own at the age of 18, I'm pretty sure I had never seen a Dreamcast in real life before. But my roommate in college brought one with him. Because I went to a community college initially, we lived off-campus. This was great because it meant we could smoke cigarettes and drink beer while we played this new-fangled console, what was it? Ah, yes... the Sega Dreamcast.
I had quit gaming not too long after the PlayStation had hit big. So really I wasn't sure what to expect from a new console. What I got, was hooked. Specifically on Pro Skater 2. It was just such an amazing game -- especially to someone who had been so out of the gaming scene for a few years at that point. I couldn't believe how fluid everything felt. How life-like everything looked. How kick-ass the soundtrack was.
[img width=630 height=460]http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/screenshots/dc/tonyhawk2/tonyhawk2_b3_screen015.jpg[/img] [img width=630 height=460]http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/screenshots/dc/tonyhawk2/tonyhawk2_b3_screen078.jpg[/img]
Actually, that's a good place to start -- the soundtrack. At the time of the game's release I wasn't really a fan of most of the music present. And yet, throughout the years it's become one of my favorite game soundtracks ever. Hearing something like Lagwagon's "May 16" or Millencolin's "No Cigar" doesn't just remind me of the game; it sounds like the soundtrack to that year of my life. That year away from parents, screwing around and having no idea what I was doing. There's a strange tone of optimistic rebellion that runs throughout those songs that not only fit a game about thrashing everything in sight, but also fit what it feels like to be 18 and wide-eyed.
But of course it's not all nostalgia that makes me love this game. The bottom line is that it's an excellent game. There's so much to it, with its two-minute runs that let you pick how to tackle your goals. It's got great level-structure with secrets all around. It's got a wonderfully addictive scoring mechanic made possible by the combo-enabling manual. It's got money to build up your skater's stats or tricks RPG-style. It's even got customizable skaters and levels!
[img width=640 height=476]http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/screenshots/dc/tonyhawk2/tonyhawk2_screen003.jpg[/img] [img width=640 height=476]http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/screenshots/dc/tonyhawk2/tonyhawk2_screen010.jpg[/img]
My last play-through of Pro Skater 2 before this week was just about four months ago, though that was the PlayStation port. I can honestly say that while the PlayStation version controls a lot better in my opinion, the Dreamcast port is still my preferred version. And here's where nostalgia really comes in. Certainly the Dreamcast port looks better, but ultimately hearing that soundtrack and holding this clunky controller just brings back that rebellious optimism -- magically making a comfort game even more comforting.
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This game is such a classic. I look at the Tony Hawk series now with discuss but I can never bash the first 2 games in the series. This is one of those games you bought new when it came out and you defiantly felt like you got your moneys worth. Even if you are not into skateboarding you could still spend hours on this game and not get bored. It's defiantly ruff to play now with the aging and stuff but it is still one of the best sports games out there.
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My first exposure to the series was with THPS4. My friends and I love it so much we used the park creation tools to recreate the local places we liked to skate at and also had a level themed after our work (4 of us worked at the same grocery store) complete with challenges from our co-workers. I still have that saved on my memory card and boot it up for a good nostalgic laugh every now and then.
After LOVING 4 I quickly grabbed up 1-3 kept up with THUG 1&2 and THAW. While it was a litte odd to go backward in the series since I was missing some moves introduced later in the series I still have a soft spot for any of the THPS games from the previous console generation.
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I've spent countless hours on THPS games. My first experience was the GBA port of THPS2, and I played that game through multiple times.
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