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drozen's Tony Hawk Pro Skater (N64)

[March 7, 2008 03:11:34 AM]

Summary: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 on N64 is a single or two-player game where the player attempts skateboarding tricks in order to get points. There are five tapes in every level, and you can only go to the next level if you pick up a certain amount of tapes.

1st game play: For both of my game plays I played the single player version of the game. This is probably my best game as I am most familiar with it. I love this game for the progression that takes place. The game leads you to the end but the route you take is totally up to you. The tricks and routes to the tapes that you need to find vary form one player to the next as the familiarity with the level grows the lines the player chooses through the level become more complex and incorporate more difficult tricks. I love the fact that every time you chose the level something different happens, something unexpected. Even for me a veteran that already has his lines planned out encounters problems like falling which messes up the rhythm or missing a tape and having to go back to it. Every run turns out different, one of the primary reasons that game never gets boring.
I find my self getting frustrated with the games at times because some parts are difficult and even some of the tapes are very hard for me to get, for example the secret tapes in many of the levels are placed very strategically where it is very hard to reach them. I like the fact that the levels get harder as the game progresses. I’ve reached a point where I can get all five tapes in one try for each of the first four levels but after that it is impossible to get all the tapes in one try. The levels get bigger and the amount of points necessary to get tapes increases. The game does a very good job of staying difficult and always posing challenges to the player.

2nd game play: For the second game play the enjoyment only increased as I got into my groove and put together really tough lines that flowed perfectly. The idea that you have to get tapes makes it much more interesting than a regular skating game where you just skate around hurting yourself and ruining property. The tape challenges make you conscious to the time limit and having to find certain obstacles like five tables to grind or all the letters that make up the word S-K-A-T-E. This game is extremely fun and flows really well. Your skater gains experience which makes him a better skater along with getting new gear to improve skating. The game isn’t mundane and throws something new out there every once in a while to change things up. For example there are three levels where you don’t have to collect tapes but it’s a skate challenge against ten or so other computers and medals are handed out. Best 2 out of three runs makes it feel like a real competition. As much as it is possible this game does a god job of making the player feel like a skater as when big tricks are thrown screams are heard. The game does a very good job of incorporating the “Magic Circle” as when you are playing your fully concentrated on throwing down huge grabs and kick tricks and find yourself leaning and turning the controller to try and make harder turns.

Design: My favorite aspect of this game is the fact that you get to chose from real professional skaters that you have heard of before and get to use their real gear. The large variance in levels is very well achieved as levels vary from the best city in the world, San Francisco to a famous Portland skateboard to a mall. Half the fun in the game is skating around the levels and finding thing you can do in one level that you wouldn’t be able to do in another like grind a 50 stair set rail instead of taking the escalator in the mall, or adding a few points to you score by grinding a cop car in SF. The angles in the game make anything possible and it is hard to be bored by the game because there is so much to do and so many lines to take. I enjoy this game very much and is defiantly one of my favorites as it totally encompasses me and doesn’t let me do anything else while playing except for trying to crank out a perfect run.