''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' is a
skateboarding video game developed by
Neversoft
Neversoft Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Woodland Hills, California. The studio was founded by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward in July 1994 and was acquired by Activision in October 1999. Initially, the st ...
and published by
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...
. It is the second installment in the ''
Tony Hawk's'' series of sports games and was released for the
PlayStation in 2000, with subsequent
ports
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...
to
Microsoft Windows,
Game Boy Color, and
Dreamcast
The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nint ...
the same year. In 2001, the game was ported to the
Mac OS
Two major famlies of Mac operating systems were developed by Apple Inc.
In 1984, Apple debuted the operating system that is now known as the "Classic" Mac OS with its release of the original Macintosh System Software. The system, rebranded "M ...
,
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...
,
Nintendo 64
The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...
, and
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...
(as part of ''
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x''). The game was later ported to
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones and personal digital assistants.
Its origin dated back to Windows CE in 1996, though Windows Mobile itself first appeared in 2000 as Pock ...
and
Windows Phone
Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design l ...
devices in 2006 and to
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
devices in 2010.
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' uses the same game engine as
its predecessor while improving the graphics and gameplay, most notably with the introduction of
manuals and cash rewards. The game takes place in a three-dimensional urban environment permeated by an ambience of
punk rock and
hip hop music. The player takes control of a variety of skateboarders and either performs skateboarding tricks or collects certain objects. The game offers several modes of gameplay, including a career mode in which the player must complete objectives and evolve their character's attributes with earned profits, a free-play mode in which the player may skate without any given objective, a multiplayer mode that features a number of competitive games, and a
level editor
In video games, a level (also referred to as a map, stage, or round in some older games) is any space available to the player during the course of completion of an objective. Video game levels generally have progressively-increasing difficulty t ...
that allows the player to create customized levels.
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' was critically acclaimed upon release and is considered
one of the greatest video games of all time, as well as the highest-rated sports video game. All versions of the game were praised, with critics lauding its addictive gameplay, large environments, detailed graphics, fluid and precise controls, customization features and soundtrack, with some minor criticisms directed at the lack of a first-person camera and the truncated soundtrack of the Nintendo 64 version.
Gameplay
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' puts the player in control of a professional or fictional skater and takes place in a third-person view with a fixed camera. The player must perform tricks and complete level objectives in return for cash rewards, which can be used to unlock other levels, improve the player character's statistics and obtain better equipment.
The game's universe maintains a loose grip on physics for the sake of gameplay quality; while the player character can jump reasonable heights and perform short grinds early on in their career, they may eventually come to grind for much longer distances and reach such a disproportionate height in their jumps as to be capable of stringing an unrealistic chain of maneuvers together midair.
The player can move freely throughout the levels without constraint and fulfill the different objectives in any order desired.
In ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'', the player character is self-propelling and can have their course altered via the
arrow keys
Arrow keys or cursor movement keys are buttons on a computer keyboard that are either programmed or designated to move the cursor in a specified direction.
The term "cursor movement key" is distinct from "arrow key" in that the former term may ...
or
d-pad
A D-pad (short for directional pad or digital pad; officially referred to by Nintendo as a +Control Pad) is a flat, usually thumb-operated, often digital, four-way directional control with one button on each point, found on nearly all modern vid ...
. The player character is capable of jumping and change direction midair. The game features a vast number of
skateboarding tricks.
One button can be used to switch
footedness
Footedness is the natural preference of one's left or right foot for various purposes. It is the foot equivalent of handedness. While purposes vary, such as applying the greatest force in a certain foot to complete the action of kick as opposed to ...
between "regular" or "goofy", while another can initiate a
nollie or a fakie. Passing from a nollie to a fakie (or vice versa) in a chain of tricks increases the multiplier factor of the score collected for that chain. Other button inputs can be used to perform slides, grabs, and flips. A series of inputs can be used to perform
lip tricks. It is possible to perform
wall rides and transfers (changing
ramps
An inclined plane, also known as a ramp, is a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle from the vertical direction, with one end higher than the other, used as an aid for raising or lowering a load. The inclined plane is one of the six clas ...
) as well as
manuals that allow several tricks to be chained together.
The player must use directional input to maintain balance during a manual; in the ''2X'' port, balance is visually represented by a vertical scale that appears next to the player character.
The game features ten professional skateboarders, along with four unlockable original characters, depending on the version. Furthermore, the game features
Spider-Man via a licensing deal with
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
.
Additionally, the South Korean and other Asian versions featured the
girl group Fin.K.L.
Modes of play
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' features five modes of gameplay: Career Mode, Free Skate, Single Session, Multiplayer and the Level Editor. The Career Mode is played as a series of levels of increasing difficulty. Each level has ten objectives to perform within a period of two minutes. Some objectives are found in all levels, such as accumulating a particular score, collecting letters of the word "SKATE" scattered throughout the level or seeking and obtaining a hidden videotape. Other objectives are more varied, such as making figures at specific locations, jumping to difficult places or collecting particular objects. Each completed objective is rewarded with cash, which can be used to improve skater statistics and obtain new equipment and playable characters. A select few levels take place in a competition in which the player must perform for judges and accumulate the highest score within three one-minute rounds. The jury bases its score on the variety, difficulty and quality of the performed tricks. To fully complete these levels, the player must both accumulate a score high enough to win a gold medal and collect all the cash scattered within the level. The mode includes a series of small bonuses given for transfers, jumps and slides made across particular environmental elements. A list of these bonuses, referred to as "gaps", are compiled in a checklist that is viewable from the game's option menu. Other single-player modes include the Single Session, in which the player can freely accumulate a high score within two minutes using any previously obtained levels and characters, and the Free Skate, in which there is no time limit imposed.
The multiplayer mode consists of five types of games: "Graffiti", "Trick Attack", "Tag", "HORSE" and "Free Skate".
In "Graffiti", players must accumulate the highest score by changing level elements into their own color via the use of tricks. If a player performs a higher-scoring trick on an element that has already been marked, the element will change to that player's color. "Trick Attack" is a mode in which players must accumulate the highest score by chaining tricks together. "Tag" is an interpretation of the traditional game of
tag that gives each player a timer, which only counts down when they've been touched by the other player and are therefore "it". The player who is "it" can decrease the speed of the other player and increase the ease in tagging them by performing tricks. The player who causes the other player's timer to run out is the winner. "HORSE" is a game that is
played intermittently between two players, who must compete in rounds lasting either eight seconds or until a trick has been made. The player with the lower score on any given turn receives a letter in the word "HORSE" or whatever word the players had generated prior to the game's start. The first player to accumulate the entire word loses.
"Free Skate" allows the players to skate freely on the same level without any given goal.
The game's Level Editor incorporates over 100 pieces and a variety of pre-built park bases.
The construction of a level is initiated on a flat and empty canvas that can be rotated at any angle. The setting can be altered between themes such as a warehouse or park, and elemental pieces are rotatable and flexible in size.
Featured pro skaters and characters
The game featured a total of thirteen real-life professional skateboarders, along with four unlockable original characters, depending on the version. Furthermore, the game features
Spider-Man via a licensing deal with
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
.
Additionally, the South Korean and other Asian versions featured the
girl group Fin.K.L. Skaters in bold are new to the series.
Notes
unlockable
South Korean and certain Asian versions only
Development
On September 24, 1999, Neversoft released a hiring notice for new programmers and designers, through which it revealed plans to develop a sequel to its then-latest release ''
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'', released as ''Tony Hawk's Skateboarding'' in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe, is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It was released for the PlayStation o ...
''. The following week on October 4, Activision confirmed its acquisition of Neversoft. In April 2000, Activision began development of ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' for the Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, PlayStation, Dreamcast and PC platforms. The game made its first public appearance at the 2000
Electronic Entertainment Expo as a non-playable demonstration. A playable demonstration was subsequently integrated into the ''Jampack Summer 2K'' compilation CD released by ''
PlayStation Underground''. The game's soundtrack lineup was unveiled on July 28, 2000.
The game engine of ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' is an enhanced version of that of its predecessor, which in turn used a modified version of the engine used in Neversoft's earlier title ''
Apocalypse''.
''Pro Skater 2'' is the first installment in the series to feature a level editor, character customization and manuals; the latter was intended to be included in the previous game, but was not implemented due to time constraints.
On September 19, 2000, ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' made its premiere the day before its wide release at the
Best Buy in
West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped differently by di ...
. The event was attended by the game's namesake
Tony Hawk
Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...
, who personally autographed copies of the game, and
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock").
The stat ...
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
Jed the Fish
Edwin Jed Fish Gould III (born July 15, 1955), known to radio listeners as "Jed the Fish", is a disc jockey who hosted afternoon drive on KROQ-FM in Los Angeles, from 1978 to 2012. Known for his maniacal laugh and biting humor, he interviewed se ...
, who played with guests competing for a variety of prizes. In order to give the Nintendo 64 version of the original ''Pro Skater'' more time to sell, Activision delayed the release of ''Pro Skater 2''s Nintendo 64 port to late-2001.
In October 2001, Activision acquired Treyarch preceding the release of ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x''.
Versions
The original version of ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' was developed for the PlayStation by Neversoft and was released in North America and Europe in September 2000. The game was re-released for the
Greatest Hits
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
lineup in North America and for the
Platinum Range
Essentials is the Sony PlayStation budget range in the PAL region, which covers Europe, the Middle East and Africa as well as Australia and South Asia. It was launched in January 1997 as the Platinum range but was later renamed for PlayStation ...
in Europe. The PlayStation version includes a demo of ''
Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX
''Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX'' is a BMX video game endorsed by Mat Hoffman and the first game to be published by Activision under the Activision O2 label. It is similar to the ''Tony Hawk's'' series and competed directly with Acclaim Entertainment's ...
'' that is available from the options menu. The Dreamcast version was developed by Treyarch and was released in the United States in November 2000 and in Europe the following month. The Dreamcast version features smoother textures and higher-quality animation than the PlayStation version.
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2''s Nintendo 64 version was developed by Edge of Reality, who developed the Nintendo 64 port of the original ''Pro Skater'', and was released in the United States on August and in Europe in October 2001. The Nintendo 64 version includes all of the features from the PlayStation version plus an additional level. While the game's textures and frame rate are smoother than that of the PlayStation version, the soundtrack had been shortened to six tracks consisting of instrumental chorus loops due to
limited storage capacity.
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' was ported to the PC by LTI Gray Matter and was released in North America in October 2000 and in Europe the following month. The PC version features improved textures and resolution over the PlayStation version.
The South Korean release features
Fin.K.L
Fin.K.L ( ko, 핑클) is a South Korean girl group formed by DSP Media in 1998 consisting of members Lee Hyori, Ock Joo-hyun, Lee Jin, and Sung Yu-ri. Fin.K.L was one of the most popular K-pop groups of the late 1990s and early 2000s, alongs ...
members
Lee Hyori
Lee Hyo-ri (; born May 10, 1979) is a South Korean singer, record producer, activist, actress and television presenter. Dubbed as the "Nation's Fairy" during her ''Family Outing'' days, she debuted as a member of South Korean girl group Fin.K.L ...
,
Ock Joo-hyun
Ock Joo-hyun (; sometimes spelled Ock Ju-hyun; born March 20, 1980) is a South Korean singer and musical theatre actress, known mostly for her role as the lead singer of the South Korean girl group Fin.K.L. After their unofficial breakup in 2 ...
,
Lee Jin
Lee Jin (born March 21, 1980) is a South Korean singer and actress. She made her entertainment debut as a member of the K-pop girl group Fin.K.L, along with Lee Hyori, Ock Joo-hyun, and Sung Yu-ri. After Fin.K.L came to an unofficial end in 2002 ...
and
Sung Yu-ri as playable characters and adds seven Fin.K.L songs to the game's soundtrack. The Mac OS version was produced by Westlake Interactive and developed by
Aspyr Media
Aspyr Media, Inc. (pronounced " aspire") is an American video game developer and publisher founded by Michael Rogers and Ted Staloch in Austin, Texas. Originally founded to bring top gaming titles to macOS, the company, since 2005, has become a ...
. It was released in the United States in May 2001. The Mac OS version is ported from and nearly identical to the PC version and features online multiplayer support via
GameRanger
GameRanger is a software for Macintosh and Windows created by Australian developer Scott Kevill, which allows multiplayer games to be played online and provides social features such as chat rooms and voice chat. It was first released for Macintosh ...
.
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' was developed for the
Game Boy Color by
Natsume and was released in the United States and Europe in November 2000. The game features two modes of play ("Career Mode" and "Free Skate"), thirteen skaters, seven stages and a password system to aid in tracking the player's progress. The Game Boy Color's limited capacity necessitated a change in perspective to side-scrolling and isometric overhead levels and a completely synthesized soundtrack.
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' was developed for the Game Boy Advance by Vicarious Visions and released in the United States and Europe in June 2001. The game takes place in an isometric overhead perspective and features all levels and game modes excluding the level editor, multiplayer and skater-customization modes. Due to the console's limited capacity, the game's control scheme was simplified and the soundtrack was altered to feature shortened instrumental versions of the game's licensed tracks.
An enhanced port of ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' was released as a part of the
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...
title ''
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x''. It was developed by Treyarch and released in North America in November 2001. The compilation includes five new levels, redesigned menus, the ability to create female customized skaters and a customized soundtrack, a "balance meter" feature and a four-player and LAN compatibility in the multiplayer mode. The game's graphics had been improved from those of the PC and Dreamcast versions; the textures were reworked to display more detail, most notably in the patches of grass.
A version for
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones and personal digital assistants.
Its origin dated back to Windows CE in 1996, though Windows Mobile itself first appeared in 2000 as Pock ...
devices was developed by Aspyr Media and released in April 2006. The port is optimized for the
Intel 2700G
Intel 2700G (code-named Marathon) is a low power (50 watt, mW max) graphics co-processor for the XScale PXA27x processor, announced on April 12, 2004. It is built on both the PowerVR#Series4_(STMicro), PowerVR MBX Lite chip design (which is a desce ...
processor found in
Dell Axim Dell Axim.
The Dell Axim family of personal digital assistants was Dell's line of Windows Mobile-powered Pocket PC Devices. The first model, the Axim X5, was introduced in 2002, while the final model, the Axim X51, was discontinued on April 9, ...
devices. A port of ''Pro Skater 2'' for
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
devices was released by Activision on April 1, 2010. The version's only playable modes are the Career, Single Session and Free Skate modes, and the soundtrack had been remade. The game's controls are visually displayed on the screen as four virtual buttons and a directional cross.
The game was removed from the
App Store
An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...
in 2014.
A remaster of both ''
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'', released as ''Tony Hawk's Skateboarding'' in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe, is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It was released for the PlayStation o ...
'' and the second game, titled ''
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
'', was developed by
Vicarious Visions
Blizzard Albany (formerly Vicarious Visions, Inc.) is an American video game developer based in Albany, New York. The studio was acquired by Activision in January 2005. After releasing its last game as part of that company, ''Tony Hawk's Pro Ska ...
and released on September 4, 2020, for
Microsoft Windows,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
, and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
systems. The remaster includes all of the original levels and skaters from the original games, but also includes improved skater creation and park creation modes, online multiplayer, and other new features, and featuring most of the original soundtracks due to licensing issues.
Reception
Critical reaction
Console and computer versions
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' was met with universal critical acclaim upon release and remains the best-reviewed PlayStation video game of all time, as well as being the second highest rated game of all time with an aggregate score of 98/100 on
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
.
Martin Taylor of Eurogamer declared the game to be "the supreme champion of extreme sports gaming".
Ben Silverman of Game Revolution considered the game's "excellent" control to be "what pushes
tfrom great to fantastic" and that on a visual level, the game "looks better than about 90% of the Playstation games that have come before it".
David Smith of IGN praised the tightness of the game's control as being "in a rarefied category with games like ''
Quake III
''Quake III Arena'' is a 1999 multiplayer-focused first-person shooter developed by id Software. The third installment of the ''Quake'' series, ''Arena'' differs from previous games by excluding a story-based single-player mode and focusing prima ...
'' and ''
Soulcalibur
is a weapon-based fighting video game franchise by Bandai Namco Entertainment.
There are seven main installments of video games and various media spin-offs, including music albums and a series of manga books. The first game in the series, '' ...
'', games that do exactly what you want them to, exactly when you want them to". He also elaborated on the game's graphical improvements over its predecessor, though noted the slightly unsatisfactory
draw distance
In computer graphics, draw distance (render distance or view distance) is the maximum distance of objects in a three-dimensional scene that are drawn by the rendering engine. Polygons that lie beyond the draw distance will not be drawn to the ...
in the larger levels as a minor flaw.
Jeff Gerstmann
Jeff Gerstmann (born August 1, 1975) is an American video game journalist. Former editorial director of the gaming website ''GameSpot'' and the co-founder/editor of the gaming website ''Giant Bomb'', Gerstmann began working at ''GameSpot'' in th ...
of
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
commended the large levels and the game's ability to maintain a solid framerate while handling them.
The lack of a first-person camera view was lamented by Game Revolution's Silverman and GameSpot's Gerstmann.
The Nintendo 64 version was also positively reviewed, though less so than its PlayStation and Dreamcast counterparts. Fran Mirabella of IGN stated that Edge of Reality gave the best version of the game that the Nintendo 64 was capable of having.
Justin Leeper of ''Game Informer'' noted that along with the original version's strengths being successfully transposed, the reduced load times are an advantage of the Nintendo 64 port.
Both Mirabella and Leeper judged the Nintendo 64 version's graphics to be inferior to the PlayStation version due to the reduced draw distance and the blurred, seamed textures. In regards to the soundtrack, while both reviewers commended the effort to incorporate the licensed tracks onto a cartridge format, they concluded that the result came across as "butchered".
Greg Orlando reviewed the PlayStation version of the game for ''
Next Generation'', rating it five stars out of five: "Stop reading. Go buy. Hurry – and consider stoplights to be a suggestion".
Handheld versions
Martin Taylor of Eurogamer considered the Game Boy Advance version to be "an impressive accomplishment" and "almost like a new game - ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2b'' if you like".
Craig Harris of IGN noted that while the Game Boy Color version had "serious" gameplay problems, it was an improvement over its predecessor's equivalent on the same platform.
Frank Provo of GameSpot referred to the Game Boy Color version's gameplay as "exquisite" and praised the "colorful and detailed" environments and "fluidly animating" character sprites.
Hillary Goldstein of IGN stated that the iOS version "maintains the fun and challenge of the original" in spite of its imperfect controls.
Kristan Reed of Eurogamer considered the iOS port to be "a surprisingly enjoyable conversion", though he noted the overly-faithful graphics, the struggling framerate on older iOS devices, the lack of a multiplayer mode and some soundtrack changes to be flaws.
''
Next Generation'' reviewed the Game Boy Advance version of the game, rating it five stars out of five, and stated that "Buy this and you'll be a believer too. The Hawk has been done justice on a portable."
Sales
Following its release, ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' was the top-selling PlayStation title for two consecutive weeks. In the United Kingdom, the game's PlayStation version received a "Platinum" sales award from the
Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association
The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie) is a non-profit trade association for the video game industry in the United Kingdom (UK). Ukie was originally founded as the European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), and the ...
(ELSPA),
indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies.
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2''s computer version sold 320,000 copies and earned $8 million by August 2006. It was the 58th best-selling computer game in the United States between January 2000 and August 2006. Combined sales of all ''Pro Skater'' computer games released between January 2000 and August 2006 had reached 440,000 units in the United States by the latter date.
In the United States, the game's
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...
version sold 680,000 copies and earned $24 million by August 2006. During the period between January 2000 and August 2006, it was the 38th highest-selling game launched for the Game Boy Advance,
Nintendo DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
or
PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
in that country.
In September 2007,
The San Diego Union-Tribune
''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868.
Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...
published sales information provided by
The NPD Group
The NPD Group, Inc. (NPD; formerly National Purchase Diary Panel Inc. and NPD Research Inc.) is an American market research company founded on September 28, 1966, and based in Port Washington, New York. In 2017, NPD ranked as the 8th largest mar ...
that put the worldwide sales of ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' across all platforms at 5.3 million units.
Awards and accolades
''
Electronic Gaming Monthly
''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews.
History
The m ...
'' named ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' "Video Game of the Year 2000" in its April 2001 issue. It won GameSpot's 2000 "Best Sports Game (Alternative)" award among
console game
A console game is a type of video game consisting of images and often sounds generated by a video game console, which are displayed on a television or similar audio-video system, and that can be manipulated by a player. This manipulation usually ...
s, and was a runner-up in the "Game of the Year", "Best Dreamcast Game" and "Best PlayStation Game" categories.
Likewise, its 2001 Nintendo 64 version was nominated for the publication's "Best Nintendo 64 Game" award.
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' was ranked #4 in ''
Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
''s "Top 100 Games of All Time" in its 100th issue in August 2001. The game was nominated for "Best Console Sports Game" and "Best Game Design" in the 2001
D.I.C.E. Awards, but lost to ''
SSX'' and ''
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask'' respectively. In 2003, the staff of IGN ranked ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' #20 in its "Top 100 Games of All Time" list. In the final issue of the ''
Official UK PlayStation Magazine
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...
'' in 2004, the game was ranked as the 7th best game of all time. In 2009, the staff of IGN considered the console version's gameplay to be the "most important" of the fifth-generation video game era in their feature "The Greatest Gameplay of All Time". In 2014, Luke Reilly of IGN named the console version's demo as the fourth in "6 of the Greatest Game Demos Ever". ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' is listed in the
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
as the best-selling action sports video game for selling over 2 million units in the United States.
Following the Game Boy Advance version's appearance at the 2001 Electronic Entertainment Expo, IGNpocket named ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' "Best of Show: Handhelds", "Best Handheld: Sports" and "Best of Show: Handheld Technological Excellence". IGNpocket later named the released title "Editor's Choice: Extreme Sports Game", "Editor's Choice: Best Sound" and runner-up for "Editor's Choice: Best Graphics" in its "Best of 2001". The Game Boy Advance version was awarded "Best Mobile Interactive Game" at the 2001
BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards The British Academy of Film and Television Arts ( BAFTA) annually hosted the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards for multimedia entertainment between 1998 and 2003.
In 2003, BAFTA announced the award would be split into two separate ceremonies ...
. It was a runner-up in ''GameSpot''s annual award category for the best alternative sports
console game
A console game is a type of video game consisting of images and often sounds generated by a video game console, which are displayed on a television or similar audio-video system, and that can be manipulated by a player. This manipulation usually ...
, and in the "Biggest Surprise" and "Best Game Boy Advance Game" categories.
[ In 2007, IGN editor-in-chief Craig Harris ranked the Game Boy Advance version #5 in his list of the "Top 25 Game Boy Advance Games of All Time".]
Sequel
The series was followed up by a second sequel, titled ''Pro Skater 3'', released the following year in October 2001.
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