Tony Hawk's Underground 2

After an onslaught of extreme games that came and went and Activision's curious pursuit of the most eccentric regions of extreme sports, such as wakeboarding, the world is left with one -- and thankfully, the best -- of them all, the Tony Hawk series. Going into its sixth iteration, Neversoft's Tony Hawk's Underground 2 is the culmination of six years or refinement, experiment, and expansion from a series that rewrote the way action videogames are played. Not to mention making Activision, Neversoft, and Tony Hawk himself very rich and very popular in the process.

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 finds itself in a weird position. On the one hand, the game is a refinement and an expansion from last year's well-received Tony Hawk's Underground. Neversoft has added new moves, created larger levels, and wrote a new storyline peppered with celebrities and punctuated with humor. It's also brought back Classic mode, i.e. the two-minute timer, for fans of the original four games. On the other hand, it's hard not to see Tony Hawk's Underground 2 as Neversoft's hurl-everything-you-can-in-a-last-ditch-effort in the hope to create something new. The effort, while recognized, is an example of a series that in many ways has perhaps run out of steam and good ideas, and fans of the series are likely to respond with a mixed reaction of disappointment and excitement, while grumpily trudging to the store to buy it anyway.

Story Vs. Classic
What Tony Hawk's Underground 2 has going for it is multi-fold. On the one hand, you've got the cleanest, silkiest mechanics of any skateboarding game that ever was. It's still just as fast and responsive and the gameplay just as addicting as ever. That said, having switched from the PS2 site to the Xbox site this past spring, I came to the sharp realization that many others have already reached some time ago -- while this game works pretty well on the Xbox controller, and is a strain on the GameCube and PC, it's designed perfectly to play on the PlayStation 2's Dual Shock controller. The placement of the face buttons, the ease of the four shoulder buttons, and the general ergonomic shape of the controller will assuredly bring the greatest joy to the PS2 owner. PC owners who've mastered the art of keyboard and mouuse-controlled Tony Hawk may disagree, but it's still arguable. It'll also bring the greatest joy to PS2 and PC owners for other reasons, too, but I'll get to the online bit later.

Total THUG 2 Coverage Even the Birdman knows you've got to see this game in action in our video review, and if you're going to rent or buy the game, you'll most certainly need to read IGN Insider's Head-to-Head comparison. Where else will you find an in-depth breakdown of all the differences between the versions? No where. So just click below and be happy. Head-to-Head Comparison Video Review Join Insider Today

On the other hand, you have the Story mode, which turns out to be a real mix for long-time fans of the series. While I mostly enjoyed the story, other long-time players in our office vehemently dislike it, and when handed the controller, they went straight to Classic Mode. This re-introduction of pure, goal-based levels incorporates all of the levels from the Story mode and a handful of levels from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1-3 in a different order. So, you'll get to nab the Secret Tape, spell out Combo, collect the letters SKATE and attempt to earn the easy, medium, and hard point totals. You also have the choice to go really old school in Classic (and Story) Mode by going into Options and turning off Manual, Revert, Walking and 180 Spin Taps. It's clear the older levels weren't built for the new moves and vice versa, so there is some incongruence, but this option was at least well-thought out.

THUG 2 offers a storyline that's less endearing than last year's game, with less emphasis on you, the newbie star. Instead it focuses on how much terror and damage you can cause to your opponent team and the eight different regions you'll visit in your "World Destruction Tour." Though luckily, you'll be able to play as you the noob, and a smaller selection of pros this year, as well as two special guests per level. You'll visit eight different regions, from Boston and New Orleans in the US, to Barcelona, Spain, Bondi Beach, Australia, Berlin, Germany, and more, in a story that's akin to a loose connection of skits than a real narrative. If you enjoy MTV's Jackass series, and the eat-this-bitch approach to humor, you'll enjoy Bam Margera's heavy spotlight in the game, which features his obnoxious, snarling humor at its best and worst.