Nearly a full year after the release of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Neversoft released Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. Largely, as was common at the time, THPS2 was simply a map-pack of the original game with some fine tuned adjustments here and there. Goals were expanded, stats could be increased with cash earned or found on different levels, and the almighty manual was added to the growing roster of tricks. What THPS2 mostly innovated on was an improved soundtrack and tighter controls, with a focus on higher scores, better trick combos, and a more in depth career mode.
Career mode was largely unchanged, as far as the overarching structure of it goes. You will unlock levels as you complete goals, and every couple of levels or so is a competition where getting the highest score possible allows you to place for a medal. Gaining a medal will let you unlock the next level. The difference here from the first THPS is between the lines. No longer do we have VHS tapes to earn as goals, but rather cold hard cash (of which can be collected in the level as well, usually atop a tight jump, long grind, or high half pipe lip). Levels are unlocked based off of career total cash collected, making certain goals more valuable than others as far as progression is concerned. There are far more goals per level, now adding an even higher score to better accommodate the refined combo system, a goal where you need to do a certain trick (usually a specific grind) on a particular part of the map geometry (like a specific rail in Venice Beach), and another goal that seemed to me to have no consistency between levels, such as finding 4 VB half pipe transfers (not really sure what a VB transfer is honestly - Venice Beach? - but I got it nonetheless). Hidden tapes were brought over, but I found them to be far easier to find than in the previous game.
Gaining cash doesn't just let you in to new levels, however. Cash can be spent on new boards for the careless, new tricks for the combo-hungry, or on upgrading stats to cartoonishly good standards (my personal favorite, even if it did make some of the game much easier). Two of the three uses for cash are on playing a better game, which seems to be the primary focus of THPS2. Combos rule everything here, now that the manual can be used to tie together a string of tricks to different parts of the map without requiring a well placed grinding rail, or half pipe transfer. When you think of a classic Tony Hawk game, you are most likely thinking of THPS2. The only real missing component is the ability to transfer forward from one half pipe to another, meaning all transfers are side to side. Still, with the new features plus slightly tighter controls, THPS2 is the superior game to play.
Levels themselves are almost altogether better designed as well. No longer were you sometimes subjected to the "downhill" level types that felt out of place or like they should be relegated to their own game type (although, I'd much rather have them as a game type than not having them altogether, just don't put them in the main career mode). School 2, while a good level on its own, feels the one slight misstep being worse than the original School level from THPS. The New York level could also be annoying, with its taxi cabs running in to you and the PS1's poor draw distance and the nighttime setting sometimes making reaction time more akin to anticipating something from memory than live reaction. The level also boasts an exploitable grind jump between two subway tracks that can rack up an insane amount of score easily and quickly.
More than likely, the classic Tony Hawk soundtrack you remember is from THPS2 as well. Rage Against The Machine, Powerman 5000, and Anthrax and Chuck D burn up the backdrop as you grand and ollie your way to a high score. There are clunkers here too, but the highs are incredibly high, and match the tone flawlessly. If I had one gripe, it would be that more classic punk should have been included (can you imagine Crass snarling over Pennsylvania half pipes?).
For the most part, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is really just an improved version of the first game. There isn't much in the way of innovation outside of fine tuning what already worked, but reviewing older games like this is hard because of this being the norm rather than the outlier. Games at this time period would often release follow ups that were little more than improved versions with new levels, such as Doom II (which, admittedly, did get some criticism for basically being pay-for mod) or even the Crash Bandicoot games. The development cycle for older games was vastly different. Don't forget that engines were built largely in house, even in some smaller to medium sized studios like id Software, and so squeezing out an extra game or two while the next iteration of the tech was being developed was not only normal, it was virtually expected. Thusly, I have to view THPS2 with almost the same eyes as I would the original. I see the game as an improvement, one that added several features, tightened up what was already there, and, generally, I see it as the definitive game in the series. Despite its lack of originality by today's standards when we consider video game sequels, for the time it did exactly what was expected, and when I go back to try this era of the Tony Hawk games, THPS2 is where find myself nestled.
10
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