N-Philes

Tony Hawk's American Sk8land

Posted December 8th 2005 by Jorge Gomez.

When Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was released back in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance, it was widely considered the pinnacle of handheld skateboarding games. After each iteration of the series on that platform, devote followers began to grow weary of the seemingly endless monotony that was published thereafter. But now in 2005 it looks as if developer Vicarious Visions aimed to change all that with a DS version of th latest in the flagship skateboarder series, known to consoles as American Wasteland.

Under the moniker American Sk8land, meant to separate the dual-screened outing from its console counterparts, the game breathes new life into the otherwise redundant series with a totally new graphical style never seen before in a skating game; cel-shaded graphics really stand out and bring skateboarding to life on the little handheld. Furthermore, gone is the irritating isometric view used in its GBA forbearer, in favor of the much more natural behind-the-back view we've all come to expect from the big screen brethren.

The storyline of this skateboard outing ditches the old "punk to pro" narrative seen in recent Hawk games in lieu of a more kid-friendly affair. While you're skating around your city doing your thing, your impressive skills catch Tony's eye. Soon you befriend the skateboard legend and the both of you head to Los Angeles, where you meet up with Mindy set out to build the skate park of your dreams. As in past games, you're given a huge amount of freedom to skate around as you please, and you achieve your skatepark goals by completing missions given to you by random passers-by, who are more than happy to offer monetary compensation you for your much-needed help. The goals in story mode range from the extraordinarily easy to the insanely hard and there's no telling what kind of mission you'll be given beforehand, adding somewhat more variety and randomness to the game. Overall, story mode is short but very sweet, featuring seven huge levels in the likeness of the Underground games.

The game also includes a classic mode for all the nostalgic Hawk-heads out there, bringing back the old school two minute time limit and long list of frantic goals. You'll find yourself collecting S-K-A-T-E, C-O-M-B-O, and earning all those exceedingly high scores, furthering the game's replay value after you've beaten story mode. Classic mode is also considerably more challenging than story mode too, offering such goals as earning 2 million points within the time limit. The only downside to Classic Mode is that there aren't any classic levels from previous Pro Skaters. It's a minor upset at the most, and certainly doesn't kill the whole experience.

While there aren't any movie clips in Sk8land, it does flaunt comic strip-style cut scenes that feature some pretty well executed voice acting, adding some amusement to the mix. The skate punk soundtrack, which has become a trademark for the series, hits most of its marks here, with tracks from bands such as The Dead Kennedy's, Green Day, Strike Anywhere, and about twelve other popular punk outfits. There's also an option to record your own voice to play when you bail or perform a special is really cool too, and further adds personalization to your character and the game.

The control scheme of Sk8land is like that of the console games, considering the DS has adequate buttons for the game to finally feel comfortable on a Nintendo handheld. The game also boasts somewhat helpful touch screen implementation. The use of the touch screen as a map works for me, but using the touch specials falls short of the mark. It's so simple (just a touch of the proper place on the screen executes an insane move) that it feels like cheating , which is probably why you're limited on how many times you can use them in a combo. Focus mode however, which slows down time all Matrix-style, is there for some odd reason and should've probably been canned, as it never once crossed my mind at any time to use it. All the moves you've come to expect from past Hawk games are here as well, with the exception of Underground's ability to get off your board and run around (good riddance) and the addition of the new Bert Slide combo-linking trick, featured in the console versions.

The Create-a-Mode departments are here to boot, and are well executed, co-functioning with the touch screen nicely. Players have the ability to choose between four skin tones, with a variety of hairstyles and an assortment of clothes for their character (which can both be colored). Additionally, the game sports Create-a-Deck mode in which you're able to use the touch screen as a canvas to paint some pretty interesting images and customize your character's board to your heart's content. Lastly, the game has the option for you to create your own graffiti piece in which you're able to spray at locations marked with a green "X". All of the Create-a-Mode features, though, are able to be taken online and shown to the Sk8land community, where it has the chance to be gawked and observed at, by your fellow skateboarding peers.

As one of the first games to take advantage of Nintendo's new WiFi Connection Tony Hawk's American Sk8land currently holds that title with only Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing: Wild World. While online sure is fun, only two players are able to face off head to head at a time, leading to such thoughts as, "Why the levels are so huge?" And sorry folks, no keyboard or chat function here, just pure skating action. The system to pick a game works almost exactly like in Mario Kart, very simplistic, just searching for another gamer, friend or foe, and then setting it up to go. You and a friend can play a slew of multiplayer games online such as: Trick Attack, Combo Mambo, Score Challenge and the new Price Is Wrong, in which getting a specifc score is needed to whoop your online buddy. The game also features local wireless multiplayer in which all of the former are playable, with the only set back being that the music is disabled. Well that, and that there's no option for single-cart play, which brings us back to the Dark Ages of GBA connectivity where everyone needs a separate copy of the game to play local multiplayer.

This game gets an N-Philes score of A.

Tony Hawk's American Sk8land is an experience anyone can enjoy, skater or not. With its new take on the story mode, to its challenging Classic gameplay, it's a title that should be a blast for anyone to play, whether they're a fan of the past games in the series or not. Add all that in with the lasting appeal of its online and local multiplayer modes, and you have yourself one heck of a game that rises above its genre as something everyone can play.

Posted in: Reviews

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