CGA-2026-09 š¹ļøšāāļøš¹ INSERT CARTRIDGE š¢ Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Hey, wanna listen to some tunes? throws a tape at your head, causing Out With The Old to play
Introduction
Legends come in many forms. For some, it's charting unknown space in a wildly complicated ship. For others, it's carving their own path as a pirate on uncharted seas. And for many gamers, it's stopping every "big bad" you can think of: chaotic embodiments, pantheons of mythic gods, egocentric wizards, and so on.
But this month, we're not chasing cosmic threats or fantasy epics. We're hitting the skatepark to prove our mad boarding skills, with Tony Hawk himself as the centerpiece.
He's the same guy who landed the first-ever documented legendary 900Ā° aerial spin in competition on June 27, 1999, popping it out of a half-pipe in a single leap. He'd later land two more 900s in the 2010s, get credited with inventing 88 named tricks, and appeared in countless videos, films, and TV shows, both as a skater and as himself.
Just ten days ago, the second and final day of Vert Alert, his own vertical skateboarding competition in Salt Lake City has wrapped up. That pedigree is exactly what backs the entire Tony Hawk's franchise, especially the first four Pro Skater games and the gloriously unhinged Underground series.
Pro Skater 1 took the bare-bones fundamentals of real-world skate tricking and mapped them onto a video game blueprint. Suddenly, you could chase mastery without wrecking your body through endless falls.
The core loop has you choose a skater and board from a roster, each with different tricks and stats that shape your playstyle. Then, drop into one of several skate parks to chain stunts for big scores and complete literal fetch-style goals within a tight time limit.
Our CGA Game of the Month, Pro Skater 2, expands and refines that foundation in almost every way, including:
- Manuals: The game-changing addition that lets you chain tricks on flat ground without being forced into a stop when you run out of rails or airtime.
- Bigger, more varied levels: More complex park design with more routes and secrets.
- Deeper Career Mode: Instead of just grabbing tapes, smashing objects, and chasing high scores in 2-minute runs, you get more varied and elaborate objectives.
- Expanded roster and tricks: More skaters, more moves, more ways to play.
- Create-a-Skater and Create-a-Park: Full customization for both your rider and your levels.
The one big mechanical piece still missing? Reverts to chain aerials into each other. That wouldn't arrive until Pro Skater 3, and is finally addressed in the 2020 remake, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, which also folds in various gameplay tweaks from later entries up through Underground 1.
My Personal Background
When I was a kid, I vaguely remember seeing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2 everywhere: for sale and rent in every store, featured in strategy and tips magazines, and even in those massive Sears holiday catalogs. We also had friends who were always messing around on real skateboards.
All of that eventually convinced my brother to rent Pro Skater 3 on GameCube. We both took turns with it. We loved how addictive and technical the gameplay loop was, but we didn't end up buying it, or any of the sequels, because we assumed it would be a short, shallow experience that wouldn't stay relevant.
We were wrong.
In 2004, our parents bought us a PS2 copy of Tony Hawkās Underground 2 instead of renting. That game blew us away: twice as many intricate, unique levels, plus new gameplay elements layered on top of the already addictive core.
A few months later, I beat both Story and Classic modes, which unlocked a set of hidden characters. The most shocking (and hilarious) one is tied to a movie finally coming out in 2027, an icon of the 2000s both commercially and as a meme.
The fun didn't stop there. I accidentally discovered a bunch of out-of-bounds glitches thanks to weirdly programmed boundaries (the Los Angeles level sticks out in my mind; I loved those rebounding invisible walls I could endlessly jump off). I also managed to clip Player 1's position marker into odd places in Create-a-Goal mode. We felt like we were game developers, which might be what inspired my brother to pursue a career in the video game industry. Good times.
Fun fact: at one point, he even helped debug the then-upcoming Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5. Many of the bugs he found and documented still made it into the critically panned final release, because the game had to ship before the licensing deal between Activision and Tony Hawk expired at the end of 2015. And it barely had any development timeā¦ Yikes!
Regardless, I'm looking forward to trying the original PS1 version of Pro Skater 2 for this month's CGA, warts and all. It has the gameplay loop I know and love, and I can get over the fact that I can't walk off my skateboard anymore, something I haven't dealt with since beating American Sk8land on Nintendo DS over a decade ago.
Game Information
Years of the release: 2000, 2001, 2006, 2010, 2020, 2021
Platforms: PS1, PC, GBC, Dreamcast, Mac OS, GBA, N64, Xbox, Windows Mobile, iPhone, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 1
Genre(s): Action, Sports
Links: Original - Mobygames, Original - Wikipedia
Windows - Mobygames
GBC - Mobygames
GBA - Mobygames
2x - Mobygames, 2x - Wikipedia
1 + 2 - Mobygames, 1 + 2 - Wikipedia
A brief overview at some of the versions:
-
PS1
- Easiest to access in terms of controller layout and emulation.
- Great baseline "classic" feel.
-
Windows
- Potentially the most authentic way to experience Pro Skater 2 if you're comfortable with modding and tinkering.
- Requires tracking down a out-of-production software and configuring it properly.
-
Dreamcast
- Similar to PS1 in feel, but with a noticeable visual fidelity boost.
- Often considered the best-looking original-console version.
-
N64
- The most technically compromised 3D version.
- Still functional, but stunts feel awkward with the C-button layout.
-
Xbox (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x)
- Essentially "what if Pro Skater 1 + 2 came out right after Pro Skater 3?"
- Adds mechanics and quality-of-life improvements from later entries.
-
GBA
- A surprisingly playable top-down/isometric conversion of the full Pro Skater 2 experience for a low-powered handheld.
- Requires adjusting to the perspective and controls, but it holds up.
-
GBC
- Drastically different due to hardware limits and too few buttons.
- Becomes a sidescrolling, scope-limited version of Pro Skater 2 with mediocre controls, despite being an improvement over the GBC Pro Skater 1.
Where to find the game:
- Physical Release: Prices seem to be fairly reasonable on eBay. A loose cartridge/disc is usually much cheaper than a Complete-in-Box copy (which includes the game, manuals, and box), but not by much.
- Digital storefronts: A convenient fallback solution, especially with its frequent sales. Only applies to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2.
Game Setup
The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the game. As such, it's recommended that you:
- Share what hardware you're playing it on
- Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
- Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
- Ask questions if you need help
Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the game and its time period:
- Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
- What about its system or era?
- What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
- What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
- What are you expecting from this game in particular?
Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:
- Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
- Ask for help if you get stuck.
- Offer help to others.
It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.
IMPORTANT: Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.
IMPORTANT: Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.
<details>
<summary>Spoilers</summary>
Spoiler text goes here.
</details>
FAQ
What is CGA?
Colossal Game Adventure (CGA) is Tildes' retro video game club.
Each month we will play a different retro game/games, discuss our thoughts, and bask in the glorious digital experiences of yesteryear!
Colossal Game Adventure is a reference to Colossal Cave Adventure. It's one of the most influential games of all time, one of the first text-based interactive games, and one of the first games to be shared online.
What do we want to do with this group? Play influential games; interact with each other through text; and share the love for retro games online!
It also abbreviates to CGA (because we love chunky pixel art), and its name communicates the Colossal amount of fun and excitement that we have with retro video Games in our shared Adventure of playing them together.
Do I have to sign up?
No. Participation is open to all.
There is a Notification List that will get pinged each time a new topic goes up. If you would like to join that list, please PM u/kfwyre.
Are there restrictions on what/how to play?
Each month will have a focus game or games that will guide our discussions. Beyond that, there are no restrictions. The philosophy of CGA is to play in a way that works for you!
This means:
- Choose whichever version of the game you want.
- You can use cheats, save states, mods, etc.
- You can watch a streamer or longplay instead of playing it.
If you have already played a game and want a different experience:
- Play a different version of it.
- Play a related game (sequel, spiritual successor, something inspired by it, etc.)
There is no wrong way to participate in CGA, and every different way someone participates will make for more interesting discussions.
What is the schedule?
Each month the Insert Cartidge topic will be posted on the 1st, while the Remove Cartridge topic will be posted on the 20th.
Nomination and voting topics will happen in March and September (every 6 months).
Schedules are also posted then.
All CGA topics are available using the colossal game adventure tag.
What do Insert and Remove Cartridge mean?
Inserting and removing cartridges are our retro metaphor for starting and stopping a given game or games.
The Insert Cartridge topic happens at the beginning of the month and is primarily about getting the game up and running.
The Remove Cartridge topic happens toward the end of the month and is primarily about people reflecting on the game now that they've played it.
There are no hard restrictions on what has to go in either topic, and each can be used to discuss the game, post updates, ask questions, etc.
Without further ado, let's hit the parks and go buck wild with tricks and stunts!
> CONTINUE
(Credit to @Boojum for the splash screen. Still rock-and-rolling after a year!)
CGA Announcement: We have officially inserted the cartridge for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. Use this topic to get set up for the month, help other people get set up for the month, and start playing!
If you would like to be added or removed from the Notification List, please PM u/kfwyre.
Notification List
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Okay, I'm not saying we need to have a thread for posting screenshots of our high scores, but, well:
We now have a thread for posting screenshots of our high scores.
Show off below!
Also, Friendly Competition is available to anyone who wants it! Note which version of the game youāre playing, and play fair (e.g. no cheats/save states/changing the speed of the game, etc.). Highest score for a particular level+platform wins that category. Prizes are bragging rights
and some M&Ms from a bag I found behind the couch.For anyone who DOES want to use cheats/save states/whatnot, have no fear! Itās also fun to see people break the game completely with some Balatro-worthy scores. Just note that you did use those in your post so they donāt stomp on anyoneās organic, grassfed scores.
This isn't a high score screenshot, but I still think it's worth posting.
I managed to finish a level mere milliseconds before disaster.
I was toying around with a similar idea earlier, except mine was a contest about whoever hold the highest amount of top records in this CGA.
But my overly ambitious self overlooked the fact certain versions of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 have differences in gameplay mechanics, like the 2020 remaster and Pro Skater 2x. That would require having separate leaderboards in order to even the play field, yet unfortunately not all of us have access to each and every version that's part of the contest.
So, simply posting high scores just for fun might be the better approach for this event.
I think a little friendly competition could be fun for me because Iām going to absolutely smoke everyone. š
People can simply note which version theyāre playing in their screenshots so that others can try to beat them if they like. We donāt have to keep a tally or anything out of fairnessās sake, and it can all just be for the love of the game and bragging rights.
Editorās Note: kfwyre is not actually going to smoke anyone in this competition. His hands are old and clumsy now.
I kicked this off today! I first tried the Dreamcast version via RetroDECK but it was stuttering really badly in menus for some reason, so I swapped over to the PlayStation version via Afterplay.
It was kind of wild to me that my fingers knew EXACTLY what to do. For example: the double tap up to get a Boneless for more air. If you had asked me directly about that prior to playing it just now, I wouldnāt have known what you were talking about. Nevertheless, it just automatically happened the moment I hit that first ramp over the halfpipe in the opening hangar level (and was naturally part of my tricking grammar as I played further).
Also, I had completely forgotten about
Extremely minor spoilers, if you can call them that
grinding the helicopter to have it take off and open up the outside area. Same for grinding the propeller in the half pipe to get to the wind tunnel area.
Iād genuinely forgotten that the levels had secret areas that you could unlock by tricking in the right places. I cannot understate HOW COOL THIS WAS to kid me. Genuinely mindblowing at the time!
I do plan on trying to get the Dreamcast one up and running by playing around with different settings/cores though, because going back to the PSX version isā¦ shall we sayā¦ unflattering.
Itās so much chunkier than I remember. The polygons and textures do that PSX jittery/swimming thing constantly. The draw distance is very poor. Itās genuinely amazing to me because I do remember being blown away how how good the game looked back in the day. Maybe a CRT-filter would hide some of its more glaring eyesores to my modern, awakened eyes?
That said, itās not a problem per-se. The game still plays well, and I actually have a fondness for early 3D chunkiness and jank, but Iām hoping the Dreamcast can give me those same vibes but smoother and with more visibility.
Also, Iāve had clippingās āDominatorā on heavy rotation recently. I genuinely didnāt realize its first line (āOnce again back, itās the incredibleā) was actually a reference until I heard it pop up in the game (via Public Enemyās āBring the Noiseā). This was quite a serendipitous discovery.
Speak of the devil!
There's currently a sale for both the Xbox One and Switch 1 version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2. Both are $20.99 CAD and $23.99 CAD respectively, with the discount ending on September 3rd for Xbox One and September 10th for Switch 1.
I've been listening to the soundtracks to Pro Skater lately, so this is very fortuitous timing! Pro Skater 3 was my first and only exposure to the series, so keen to fire up 2.
I'll probably play the remake, but PLEASE can someone do a GBC run and let us know how that goes?
Oh man, I played 1 on the GBC from the $10 CVS bargain bin and I remember asking, as a distinguished eight year old game critic, "why do they have every single trick trigger a cutscene?" lol
I'll brave 2 if I remember and post the war stories. And maybe the Xbox version too, I've been looking for an excuse to use my modeled one...
Oh wow those ācutscenesā are insufferable! I get what they were thinking, that all the tricks were going to be indecipherable at that resolution if they didnāt do something to differentiate themā¦ but yikes, it completely pulls you out of the flow of whatever youāre doing, everyā¦ singleā¦ time. And that flow is what makes the THPS games so fun to play in the first place!
It seems the GBA version fared better. I never had one but I remember the reviews for that version of THPS were surprisingly positive. The isometric perspective was weird. As I recall the characters were actual 3D polygonal models (on a handheld system!!) so the game was able to feel unexpectedly modern despite the constraints. It was almost enough to make me want to own a GBA. But not quite.
The cutscenes are giving old-school silent film where the dialogue is displayed in text on separate title cards between shots.
I think I had THPS 3 on GBA, and I remember really enjoying it. Definitely no cutscenes for tricks.
I remember first encountering THPS as a teenager. I wish could recall the circumstancesā¦ I was at the house of someone who had a PSX. It wasnāt a friend of mine, probably a friend of a friend. I was blown away by the coolness of the game. It had the perfect combination of pick-up-and-playability and authentic teen-culture vibes. The music was unlike anything Iād heard in games prior to that. I loved the pace of the game ā 2-minute runs were quick enough that it didnāt feel like a time sink, and the controls were easy enough for anybody to start doing cool stuff in game almost immediately. Of course the real secret sauce was that the controls actually have a lot of hidden precision and depth, and the game really does reward practice and experimentation. It feels immensely satisfying to finally nail a particular goal youāve been struggling after for days.
I never went back to that guyās house, whoever he was, but eventually picked up the game (and THPS2) for Dreamcast and it took its place as a cornerstone of my high school years. One thing thatās worth remembering is how dramatically video games were evolving at that time. Just within my childhood I watched skateboarding games go from this to this! THPS was revolutionary, and it was part of a larger revolution in games.
Of side interest to me was that Tony Hawk himself seemed to be the model of what a ācool nerdā could be. He was obviously a tremendously talented athlete, but also had great tech and business savvy. I was (and I guess I still am, to some degree) an Apple apologist and I remember geeking out about seeing him featured in MacAddict magazine talking about graphic design and video production. I loved seeing this example of an adult doing what he loved and appreciating technology and charting his own course in life, and finding success.
TBH I didnāt stick with the series after 1 and 2, despite the hundreds of hours of good times I had with them. I picked up the PS5 remake of them a couple years ago but they just didnāt grab me the way the originals did in their heyday. I blamed the controls being different from my muscle memory but maybe I just outgrew them. Iāll definitely be firing up the olā Dreamcast to play the OG this month with yāall though!
I got 1+2 on the Switch a while back during a sale and have been slowly working through unlocking the content in 1, so I suppose I will swap over and work on 2 for a while so I can participate.
My first encounter with THPS was probably...2? I don't remember exactly, but undoubtedly, it came on a PC Gamer demo disk. I do recall being excited to get into the game, because my friends had the original one on their Playstations and finally I could get a taste of it.
I did very much like the demo and ended-up playing it quite a bit, if memory serves. As a person who isn't athletic and has never been into Skateboarding, this game was just damn fun in general. I still go back periodically and put it on my various emulation devices, though almost never actually play it so this should be a good excuse.
I'll be emulating the Playstation version, as that's the one that sticks most in my head and the system that's associated with this particular game. I'll be likely playing it for awhile on my RG DS, as it's a nice, compact system that can run PSX no problem and I have another Game of the Month which happens to be a DS game, so I can easily switch between the two.
So far, I did jump in for about 10 or 15 minutes and while the 2-minute timer doesn't feel like enough time to actually ride around and explore, I feel like it's going to really benefit the Game State of Mind (TM) I'm in right now, encouraging me to do short play sessions here and there and not having to remember anything in particular to keep advancing. Looking forward to trying it out some more.
I was a fan of Tony Hawkās
Pro-SkaterPro Skater. It was fresh and exciting and I had a really good time with it.But when THPS 2 came out, I fell fully in love.
It was everything the first one was, but better. Adding manuals unlocked an entire new frontier of tricking. If Iām remembering correctly, they also added the ability to put points into your characters, building their stats over time. I got so much mileage out of that, playing things over and over again to max out each of the characters, then deleting my save so I could do it all over again (I did the same with Jet Grind/Set Radio and SSX Tricky by the way ā amazing that I used to have so much time that I would play the same game on repeat for months!).
I bought and played the modern remaster some years back, and while I thought they did a good job, something about it felt off. Like, the gamefeel didnāt match my muscle memory. I have no idea if thatās the fault of the game or, far more likely, the fault of time and age taking their toll on me.
It wasnāt just the gamefeel though ā for some reason I remember hating the menus and unlocks. Itās been long enough since I played that the specifics of the complaint are lost to me, but I remember feeling like they unnecessarily muddied what was, in the original, a very clear and satisfying sense of progression.
As such, Iāll be returning to the original game this time.
I played it exclusively on the PSX back in the day, but Iām also a Dreamcast forever fan and am tempted to play that version just because I like whittling down the list of DC games I havenāt played.
Does anyone know if thereās a material difference in the game in only having one set of shoulder buttons versus two? If so, that might determine where I land.
Also, Iām almost certainly going to try out the GBC version, cutscenes and all.
Will I stick with it? Doubtful.
But will I do it so that I can genuinely say āIāve played THPS 2 on the Game Boy Color!ā to other likeminded millennial nerds when we have our nerdy millennial get-togethers? Of course I will.
I've finished career mode on the Dreamcast version (well, one character). I played as Tony Hawk and got all levels to 100% completion. It didn't take me very long (maybe 3-4 hours total?), but also I've played the game SO much that it went really fast for me.
I'll save my full thoughts for the Remove Cartridge topic, but the short of it is that I was happy to return to this. It didn't let me down!
Given all the time left in the month, it's only fair that I try out the GBA and GBC versions. Also I might return to the remaster just so I can give it a comparison with fresh eyes.
I happen to think that for emulation of THPS 1 and 2, Dreamcast is the best way to go. Emulation is accurate, efficient, and it frankly looks better than the Playstation port for colors, 3d bodies (don't have that PS1 mesh warp thing), and overall performance seems better. I've got them on my Steam Deck with Retroarch.
You're absolutely right!
I went back to the Dreamcast version, and it's simply better in every way. The issue I was having initially was that, for some reason, the Flycast core absolutely chugs on the level goals screen. I didn't really solve the problem, but since the game runs fine the rest of the time (including for the gameplay, where it really matters), I've just learned to live with it.
The draw distance difference is the biggest upgrade, IMO. It isn't super noticeable in The Hangar since it's so small, but the moment you unlock School II, it's night and day. For anyone curious, you can see the difference in this video (if the timestamp link doesn't work, the level starts at 4:06).
I have like no connection to THPS 2 and 3. I played the first in 1999 on PS1, then N64. I missed 2, and played it occasionally and hated how wrong it felt. I then completely missed 3, and came back on board with 4, which I personally think is the best. It has just enough narrative to tie things together, large open levels, and great mechanics.
That said, I'll definitely play some THPS2, I emulate it on Dreamcast when I get the itch. It definitely emulates smoother than the Playstation version in anything I've tried, but I tend to use Steam's RetroArch with the Flycast core.
Eventually, I came to appreciate it more, especially after the THPS 1+2 remaster in 2020. The levels are great, the addition of manuals definitely helps with expanding combos significantly, and for the higher-skilled players back in the day apparently this was huge. You could level off and keep the combo running, which led to massive scores.
I went into this game pretty blind. I had never played it. I had never even heard of it until CGA. I haven't really played any PS1 games at all. I know nothing about skateboarding. I had to do a web search to find out who this Tony Hawk person is.
I'm playing the PS1 version. I have no idea what I'm doing. I get the physics and that I can do tricks with button + stick combos. But at this point, I'm playing it the same way I play fighting games like Soul Calibur and Street Fighter. Button mashing. I recognise that it's probably not the most productive way to progress. I'm still in the hangar.
I thought the manual could help me. But it's like starting to read a science fiction series from the second book, with heavy in-universe terminology. The manual tells me that some buttons do ollies and others do nollies but I feel all I manage are rollies, hollies and follies. Oh gollies.
The music takes me back. As does the fashion. So, I'm not totally disconnected from the game. I'm with you cool kids. Maybe some safe distance away. And maybe you don't notice me. But I'm here. In the general vicinity of cool kids. (Although only until 9pm, as that's my bedtime.)
I have made peace with the fact that I might never get out of that hangar, but I've enjoyed the couple of evenings that I've been there. I got all the barrels and fighter wings already. I almost made it to 10,000 points once. And I will go back. I'm prone to motion sickness, especially from games of this era, but the 3D engine hasn't made me sick yet, which is a testament to how well this PS1 game runs and was designed.
Based on my personal experiences so far, if I could add a song from the era to the game's soundtrack, it would be Chumbawamba's Tubthumping.
This is poetry.
Also, genuinely: tricks are actually hard to do at the beginning of the game because your character's stats for them aren't great (no matter who you choose).
I'm a THPS veteran and tried to muscle-memory a bunch of complicated stuff right off the bat at the beginning, only to have it completely fail because my character simply wasn't built for the big stuff yet.
So, don't feel bad! You're experiencing the game as intended.
Completely unsolicited advice
IF AND ONLY IF you're looking for tips:
The easiest way to get big scores early on is vert tricks/grabs -- that is, circle + direction while you're in the air. Pop in the halfpipe in The Hangar and just go back and forth up the sides, trying to get the feel for starting/stopping a vert trick while you're in the air.
Once you're comfortable with that, you try spinning with the shoulder buttons. Get a feel for doing a 180, 360, 540 (your beginning stats probably won't let you get a 720).
Once that feels good, try combining the two: spinning while doing a vert trick. This gives you more score, but it's also harder to land -- especially for tricks that twist/move the board, as it won't necessarily be clear if you've under/over-rotated. Eventually you'll get a "feel" for how to land the different tricks, but that takes a decent amount of repetition. It wasn't until I was late-game in my most recent playthrough that I felt that I could really nail most landings without thinking about them.
Anyway, following that, if you're feeling spicy, you can add a street trick beforehand. That is, launch into the air, hit square+direction, followed by circle+direction. Your character will do something like a kickflip, followed by the grab.
Feeling even spicier? Street trick + vert trick WHILE spinning. Now you're starting to look at some tasty big score combos.
The final piece of this strategy (and this part is certainly not necessary but can help get you to those Sick Score threshholds) is adding a Boneless beforehand -- that is, double tapping up before you release X to jump when going up the side of the halfpipe. A successful Boneless gives you more height, as well as an additional trick for the combo, which increases both your points and multiplier.
So, an ideal big point vert trick looks like: Boneless > Spinning Street Trick > Spinning Vert Trick
(Well, a truly ideal one also includes a gap, but I'll spare you the details on that since I'm already at the point where I'm doing WAY too much and basically writing an entire GameFAQs guide despite not being asked for any of it in the first place).
Anyway, as you complete objectives and get money, put the points into these stats: Air, Hang Time, Speed, Spin, Landing. Once those get up a bit more, you'll have more room to breathe while you're in the air and it'll be a lot easier to execute and successfully land higher point tricks. Also worth noting that, if you're going this route, it's best you choose a Vert skater (e.g. Tony Hawk) and not an All-Around (e.g. Bob Burnquist) or Street (e.g. Kareem Campbell) one.
Anyway, learning how to do solid vert tricks will get you through a LOT of the game with nary a manual nor nollie in sight. Chaining street tricks and grinds with manuals is genuinely a ton of fun, but it's way easier to mess up and way harder to get right. Nearly every level has a half-pipe like spot where you can just do vert tricks back and forth and rack up a pretty sizable score for it.
I actually picked up the series on the Dreamcast. In spite of this Iāll actually be playing the PlayStation version out of pure convenience because I donāt want to dig out the Dreamcast or deal with emulation.
It occurred to me that I've had Powerman 5000 stuck in my head all day from this thread. But like, bitcrushed Powerman 5000... Because I played the N64 version...
Definitely will take part this month.
If we have any RetroAchievements fans in the house, there are full achievement sets for each of the retro versions of the game (sans Windows):
So I am not planning on doing THPS 2, but will be playing THPS 3 as that is the game I remember playing (or maybe it was THPS 4, but I will start with 3). Back in May I set up a PS2 emulator and been playing through my old game catalogue, so I think this is the month to tackle THPS. I have been using my old PS2 controller, so that has made it more fun
I am now 30min into the game, and have managed to unlock the Canada level in THPS3. If you asked me a week ago of my memories of THPS, all I would be able to remember is the zoo level (which is in THPS4). However, starting in the Foundry in THPS3 is quite nostalgic, so is Canada. As a kid I was probably a bit too young to get good at this game and so it was more my dad and older brother who played it. This year as I have been going back and playing through my childhood PS2 catalog, this is the first game that I did not complete as a child and am still struggling as an adult. And unlike the SSX series, I cannot just skip all the trick competitions and only do races. So I am looking forward to playing through this game this month
This is such a throwback! I think I last played this game when I was like 6-7 years old. I have no idea how I did it back then, because it's kicking my ass right now.
Meta/offtopic: this should be 2026-09?
I didn't realize that the topic's title has the wrong date in it earlier, and now I can't modify it after it's posted. Whoops!
Maybe @mycketforvirrad can help you out.
I can. And I did.
\(^ā½^)/