| Tony Hawk's Underground 2 | |
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| Developer(s) | Neversoft Shaba Games (PSP port) |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Engine | RenderWare |
| Released | October 4, 2004 March 15, 2005 (PSP NA) September 1, 2005 (PSP EU) |
| Genre | Extreme sports |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Ratings | ESRB: T (Teen) PEGI: 16+ |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 GameCube Xbox Windows Game Boy Advance Mobile phone PSP |
Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (also known as THUG 2 or Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 6) is the sixth installment in Neversoft's Tony Hawk's Series and is the sequel to 2003's Tony Hawk's Underground. Tony Hawk's Underground 2 was released on October 6, 2004 for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Windows, and Game Boy Advance platforms. It is also backwards compatible with the Xbox 360. On March 18, 2005, it was released for the PlayStation Portable and renamed Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix.
Contents |
Story
The opening sequence shows the player skating at home (the New Jersey neighborhood from the previous game). A van shows up in the middle of the ramp and the player slams into the van. Two people wearing hockey masks kidnap the player and take him to a dark room with other skaters like Eric Sparrow, Bob Burnquist, Chad Muska and others. Then, Bam Margera and Tony Hawk explain their plans for the first annual World Destruction Tour, a "sick-as-hell" around-the-world skateboarding tour. The skaters then split into two teams - Team Hawk and Team Bam - and the player joins Team Hawk.
Gameplay
The gameplay in Tony Hawk's Underground 2 is similar to that of previous Tony Hawk games: the player skates around in a 3D environment modeled after various cities and attempts to complete various goals. Most goals involve skating on or over various objects or performing combos. Scores are calculated by adding the sum of the point value of each trick strung together in a combo and then multiplying by the number of tricks in the combo. THUG 2 also sees the return of the much loved Classic Mode. In this mode, the player has 2 minutes to complete as many of the tasks as possible, including high scores, collecting "SKATE" letters and finding secret objects. Many levels return from previous games, including an expanded warehouse from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and the airport from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.
New tricks
- Natas Spin - The character can spin his or her board on objects such as fire hydrants and garbage cans.
- Tagging - The character can "tag" (using a custom tag from the "tag editor") a wall by pressing a button when on foot or not near a rail. Can also be done as part of a combo.
- Destruction Bonus - The character is rewarded with a small bonus for destroying objects. In addition, if certain tricks are performed in some places of each Story Mode level (except for Training and Pro Skater), a massive amount of destruction will ensue, allowing for new skating possibilities (for example, a pile of rubble may be used as a ramp).
- Throwing Objects - The character can pick up objects, such as spraypaint cans and Mardi Gras beads, to throw at pedestrians.
- Sticker Slap - Replaces the Wallplant from THUG 1. As the name suggests, a sticker is stuck on the wall instead.
- Focus - Allows time to slow down to perfect tricks and help keep your skater balanced.
- Flips and Rolls - The player can perform front flips, back flips and roll tricks.
- Freak Out - When a player falls over, repeatedly tapping the grind button causes the player to "freak out" and break his board. This allows the player to begin a combo immediately. The higher the Freak-Out gauge gets, the higher your Freak-Out Score will be when you get angry.
Major characters
Tony Hawk is basically the 'good guy' in this game. His team has none of the 'odd skaters' (ex. Paulie, Eric, etc.) The player is on his team, briefly swapped, and then brought back to his team.
Jackass veteran Bam Margera is depicted as a loose cannon, playing the immature and outrageous pranks he is renowned for. As is the case in Margera's Jackass spin-off Viva La Bam, his favorite victim is his own father, Phil Margera. Margera's prominence in THUG 2 can be attributed less to professional skateboarding than to the level of fame and popularity he had achieved through Jackass and Viva La Bam.
The player's rival from THUG is back in THUG2. He is a member of Bam's team, but after Spain, they swap him with the player. After the completion of the Berlin level, the swap is undone and the player is gladly welcomed back into Tony's crew, who were getting annoyed by Eric's shameful performance. Sparrow is kicked out of the competition after the Australia level and Nigel falls from a crane onto him. In the ending of the game, newscaster Hugh Jass says Sparrow was recovering nicely after undergoing plastic surgery after the incident. Eric is not playable in the game.
- Nigel Beaverhausen
The teams meet Beaverhausen on the Berlin level of their tour in which Nigel offers to sell videos of the tour. After having the skaters refuse his offer (and they also duct-tape him to his own truck and put a scared turtle in his pants), he starts selling out videos with unauthorized footage of the competition. In Australia, the teams temporarily unite and gets their revenge by making some Aussies angry enough pick him up with a crane (by his somehow durable underpants) after the player, disguised as Beaverhausen, annoys the locals. In New Orleans, he finally makes his deal: he pays for the entire tour in exchange of an exclusive video of the event. But in the end of the game he is only being given a tape of Phil Margera on the toilet. A cheat is available for Nigel Beaverhausen, which is sellout, a cheat that enables Nigel Beaverhausen to be unlocked for High Score/Free Skate.
- Paulie Wheels Of Fury Ryan
A ten year old boy that is in a body cast from skating on wood chippers. He and the player were the only two left and Bam had to choose. He chose Paulie over the skater, due to his fiery spirit. His wheelchair is battery powered and he is able to grind and to grab tricks with it. He is selectable in free skate and classic but he is not in his wheelchair. He uses a regular board.
Playable characters
Secret Skaters
Story Mode Levels
Classic modeIn response to longtime fans' dissatisfaction with the format introduced in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, Neversoft has added a classic mode, which allows players to skate through both new and remade classic levels in the traditional 10-goal, two-minute time limit mode that was present in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, complete with the stat points scattered all around the levels. In classic mode, the player chooses from one or two levels in which to attempt to complete enough goals to advance. All of the "remade" levels are accessible only through "Classic Mode" although once unlocked, it is possible to use them in any mode except "Story Mode". Classic mode levels include the levels found in the story mode of the game with the exception of "Pro Skater", as well as the remade levels:
The remade levels from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 are based on the Gamecube, PS2 and Xbox versions as opposed to the versions for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64. Although some of the levels are the same regardless of the version, Canada, Airport and Los Angeles, California are based on the higher resolution versions of the game. ReceptionsGame Rankings currently scores it 84% for the PlayStation 2, 83.9% for the GameCube, 82.8% for the Xbox, 83% for the PlayStation Portable, and 86.1% for the PC. RemixTony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix for the PlayStation Portable is largely identical to the console and PC versions, but adds four new levels ("Las Vegas", "Atlanta", "Kyoto" and "Santa Cruz"), which were exclusive at the time, but later included in Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, in the classic mode. Due to space and battery consumption issues, much of the voice acting were removed. THUG2 Remix was ported by Shaba Games, previously responsible for porting Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 to the original PlayStation. The game was released to generally good reviews, averaging 83% on Game Rankings [1] The following characters were added:
Soundtrack(53 songs)
The Ministry song "No" is actually titled "No W," however, the Tony Hawk games have a history of changing song names for example: Agent Orange's "Speed Kills" is actually "Bloodstains," and in Tony Hawk's Project 8 the Ministry's song is called "Stigmata Remix." Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Special Edition Xbox Console The Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Special Edition Xbox was issued in October 2004 in conjunction with Activision and online skater magazine caughtinthecrossfire in the United Kingdom. This special edition console was only available as a winner's prize at skateboarding and gameplay competitions to commemorate and promote the release of Tony Hawk's Underground 2 on the Xbox. The artwork was airbrush painted by hand in an urban graffiti style with translucent matt lacquer finish. The artwork covered the top of the case and followed the X shape downwards on the corners of the Xbox. A very limited production run of 10 graffiti style units was commissioned and was issued "Not For Resale". Included with the THUG2 Special Edition console was a matching Crystal Controller S and a Tony Hawk autographed copy of Tony Hawk's Underground 2. External links
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