Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is a 2001 skateboarding video game developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision for the Game Boy Advance (GBA) handheld game console. It is a portable version of the console game of the same name, starring the skateboarder Tony Hawk. While the console versions of the game have the camera positioned behind the player-character, this version uses an isometric perspective, featuring modified levels taken from the console version. The player is tasked with getting as high a score as they can in a limited time by performing skateboarding tricks.
Vicarious Visions proposed the creation of a GBA version, getting approval from Activision and Tony Hawk. To include the tricks from the PlayStation, they created a 3D engine for the game, featuring polygonal characters. The music was composed by Manfred Linzner as a pastiche of the music featured in the series, as well as songs from "skate punk-type artists". Tony Hawk's series quality assurance testers were initially critical of the game for lacking "purposeful level design" and were brought on to help address these issues. It was released as a launch title for the GBA in North America and Europe in June 2001 after being developed for one year.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 has been generally well received, and has been considered by multiple critics as one of the best GBA games. Vicarious Visions received particular praise for pushing the GBA beyond what people expected it to be capable of. While some critics had difficulty with the game's perspective and controls, it has been called an exemplar of how to port a console game to a handheld system. The 3D engine created for the game was used in future games by Vicarious Visions on the GBA, including its sequel, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.
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Gameplay
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is a single-player skateboarding video game. While controlling the character, the player can perform multiple skateboarding tricks, including ollies, grinds, aerials, and kickflips. Other actions include jumping, braking, crouching, and switching stances. The player scores more points through combining multiple tricks. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 features seven levels, which comprises five from the console versions of the game, one from the first game, and a secret stage. The levels are viewed from an isometric perspective instead of behind the player-character's back like in the console versions. The levels are based on New York, Philadelphia, and Marseille. The game features 13 playable characters, including Tony Hawk, each of whom has their own special technique. It also allows players to input codes that unlock multiple features, including the ability to play as Spider-Man.
The game has three different modes of play: career mode, where the player completes tasks to unlock more levels and increase stats with a time limit; single session mode, where the player can skate in any level with the same time limit; and free skate mode, where the time limit is removed. Each level has certain tasks to complete in career mode, including finding money and breaking objects. There are also objects to collect in each stage, including the letters S-K-A-T-E and video tapes.
Development and release
After completing development of the Game Boy Color version of the video game Spider-Man, developer Vicarious Visions wanted to move on to the Game Boy Advance (GBA), avoiding common projects for the platform like Super Nintendo ports and Mode 7 racing games. During brainstorming, someone suggested a Tony Hawk game. Vicarious Visions considered the idea fun but high risk, due in part to it being an important brand to publisher Activision. Development of this version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 began in August 2000, Vicarious Visions having received an early development kit for the platform. The staff received occasional input from Neversoft, which developed the game's console versions. The team experienced issues during early development, attributing their issues to a shortage of game development kits and hardware revisions. The team intended to use the source code Neversoft used, but the code was programmed in C++, and the development kit's documentation said they must use C. Lead programmer Matt Conte created a proof of concept to show that C++ could be done on the GBA, allowing them to use a large majority of the code from the PlayStation. Conte stated that this is what allowed them to create physics and tricks accurate to the original game. Mockups were created to demonstrate how it might look, which were presented to Tony Hawk, who gave his approval alongside Activision.
This version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 began as a sprite-based game but was changed after staff determined that this would require more than 100 megabytes of storage if they wanted to include every trick from the PlayStation version. Because the GBA was a 2D console, they had to create a 3D engine for the game, utilizing an isometric perspective and a real-time-rendered polygonal character rendered using more than 300 polygons. The isometric perspective was chosen due to the developers believing that the level geometry found in the console versions, if viewed from above, would largely be visible. Additionally, they felt the view would work well with the tile-based graphical system of the GBA. Vicarious Visions aimed to create a similar design to the PlayStation and Dreamcast versions, some maps modified to compensate for the isometric angle. Due to not having a level editor for the GBA, they programmed math functions to design the grid-based levels. The developers set point values for tiles in a heightmap to give the levels depth. Tiles for flat planes rely on the point values whereas the curved ramps are generated with parametric equations. A Gouraud shader was used for the game's real-time renderer, which Alex Rybakov programmed in a month and a half. After trying to use the console's graphical hardware to obscure the character behind objects, the developers switched to a software masking method, with the character becoming semi-transparent when behind objects. The team was unable to add a multiplayer mode, a feature of the console versions, due to time restrictions.
Reception
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was positively received by critics and gamers, particularly for Vicarious Visions defying expectations of what the GBA could do. It received universal acclaim according to review aggregator website Metacritic, labeling it a "must-play". It was identified as a key launch title for the system by Eurogamer writer Oli Welsh, and was considered one of the best GBA games by Den of Geek, GameSpot, GamesRadar+, IGN, Pocket Tactics, and TechRadar. When selecting which GBA launch title to recommend, GameSpot writer Shane Satterfield stated that the game made him excited to see what the GBA could output down the line. He ultimately recommended Fire Pro Wrestling instead, viewing the console Tony Hawk games as superior. Craig Harris, writing for IGN, considered it among the best games at the handheld's launch, finding its gameplay loop entertaining and varied. It was awarded the best mobile game of 2001 at the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards, and received a nomination for Hand-Held Game of the Year at the 5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.
The game's levels received praise as good adaptations of the console versions', with Electronic Gaming Monthly writer Crispin Boyer stating that they were "surprisingly good". He found the smaller stages to be more fun, while finding the more open levels' camera angle confusing. Boyer found the controls limiting, attributing it to the GBA's limited number of buttons. Fellow Electronic Gaming Monthly writer Greg Sewart also found the controls awkward, stating that the perspective made it more difficult to control. He believed that players could get past it with patience but expected that many may become frustrated. Martin Taylor of Eurogamer was more positive towards the camera perspective, feeling it forced players to explore the levels before they focused on the tasks in each, which he believed was a core aspect of the Tony Hawk series. GameSpy writer Andrew S. Bub considered the isometric perspective a good compromise, believing that it allowed players to play more confidently. He also found the controls accurate, appreciating the existence of a tutorial and button mapping to make the controls easier to get used to.
Reception for the lack of features compared to the console versions was mixed. Gamekult writer Usul was disappointed by the lack of a multiplayer mode, feeling that this—compounded with the lack of levels and limitations compared to the console versions—made it an inferior experience despite still enjoying it. Jonathan Metts, writing for Nintendo World Report, commented that players who could do without the multiplayer and level editor found in the console game may find this an adequate alternative to the console versions. He believed that someone already familiar with the console game will not find a new gameplay experience. It was described as an adequate alternative to the console version by Nintendojo writer Matt Thompson. He enjoyed that he could play it wherever he wants, which prevented it from getting old like the console versions did for him. In the Japanese video game magazine Weekly Famitsu, the reviewers found the overt amount of English-language menus made it difficult to understand the conditions in career mode, though one saying Japanese players should not pass on the game because of this.
Legacy
Vicarious Visions' implementation of C++ for the GBA prompted Nintendo to disseminate the process on its internal website for other developers. Vicarious Visions went on to work on other Tony Hawk games for the GBA, excluding Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, instead developing the Nintendo DS version. The 3D engine created for this game was used for future Vicarious Visions projects on the GBA, including Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, Jet Grind Radio, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, the latter which had an internal 3D level editor they used to make level design more intuitive.