N-Philes

With the running popularity of the Tony Hawk series, it's difficult to break into that particular style of gaming in the extreme sports genre. In the category that Neversoft dominates, there has never been a lack of trying, namely on Activision's part, with the creation of Matt Hoffman's Pro BMX, Shawn Palmer's Pro Snowboarder, Kelly Slater's Pro Surfing, and Acclaim's own Dave Mirra BMX. With so many games under a similar premise, it's easy to get lost in the confusion and not even bother sorting things out. However, to do so would be to miss out of one of the greatest games of its time, one that was so impressive it spurred Activision to purchase the development company behind the game, and to earn a nomination for 2003's Console Sports Game of the Year by the AIAS. That game happens to be Aggressive Inline, a fast-action sports title that gives the inline skating world a good dose of Tony Hawk style.



If you're going to be a spin-off to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, it's inevitable to borrow some ideas from the franchise. That's certainly true with Aggressive Inline, but how many games can boast that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater borrowed ideas from them? You'll find some familiar things, from the standard stunts, grinds, gaps, and forgiving world physics, but Aggressive Inline keeps going by including bails, bar vaulting, pole spins, and skitching. Some of this stuff we only started seeing in Tony Hawk's fourth iteration, a game that came out a good five months after Aggressive Inline. Z-Axis's fantastic inline sports game also shaped the beginnings of what we now know as the spine transfer, and started the whole concept of talking to people to earn objectives.

I'm not here to discuss who did what first. Aggressive Inline, in its own respect, is a very good extreme sports game. It does everything that Tony Hawk does, except in certain cases it does things better, because the freedom of using inline skates makes the use of skateboards seem chokingly restrictive in comparison. Of course it's just a feeling, as this doesn't change the gameplay in any respect. Aggressive Inline also tries very hard to break away from the formula by providing some absolutely outrageous objectives. Try performing a handstand on a massive Ferris wheel, and hold it for one entire revolution. Find the hidden bonus stunt in the very first stage, performing nothing but wall-rides. And my personal favorite, try and collect a secret item found in the middle of an empty airfield, with the catch being that the item is literally floating several hundred feet in the air. It's ideas like this that I've been itching to use in the Tony Hawk games. We've seen this progression away from completing tasks merely by grinding specific bars or performing specific stunts ever since Tony Hawk 4 came out, a process that carried on to the Underground series, but all this just proves to me how much Aggressive Inline was ahead of its time.


The thing about Aggressive Inline is that it's a good game. It's not a niche title and doesn't cater to a very specific taste; I'm sure people would play it if they heard of it. If you hate extreme sports games, than obviously this title won't suit you, but my point is that you would be in the minority. For the millions of fans who try out every rendition of Tony Hawk, Aggressive Inline is more than worth your time and money. What it lacks in polish it makes up for in style and sheer ingenuity. Tony Hawk's Underground has started to blur the line between an adventure game and a sports one, so if you're missing the old-school flavor of the original Tony Hawk games, you can't go wrong with Aggressive Inline. It's not a big investment either, as the game has hit the bottom of the price barrel. Take a look at what Aggressive Inline has to offer, I played it long after trying the latest generation THUG titles and I didn't leave disappointed. It stacks up to the competition, which in itself is substantial praise considering who the competition happens to be.