''Tony Hawk's American Sk8land'' is a

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...

video game in the ''

Tony Hawk's ''Tony Hawk's'' is a series of skateboarding video games published by Activision and endorsed by the Tony Hawk, American professional skateboarder of the same name. From 1999 to 2007, the series was primarily developed for Home video game conso ...

'' series. The game, a companion title to ''

Tony Hawk's American Wasteland ''Tony Hawk's American Wasteland'' is a 2005 skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the seventh entry in the '' Tony Hawk's'' series and was released initially for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox i ...

'', was 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 o ...

in 2005 as the first

handheld A mobile device or handheld device is a computer small enough to hold and operate in hand. Mobile devices are typically battery-powered and possess a flat-panel display and one or more built-in input devices, such as a touchscreen or keypad. Mod ...

release in the series for the

Nintendo DS The is a foldable 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 worki ...

, and the fifth to appear on

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

. It was the first third-party game released for the Nintendo DS supporting online play.

Plot

The game focuses on a young up-and-coming skateboarder from the Midwest. After dominating a local competition, they are approached by

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 docume ...

, who offers to take them to L.A. so they can immerse themselves in the 'West Coast style' of skateboarding. Upon arriving, they run into Mindy, a local skate enthusiast and aspiring comic artist who dreams of publishing her own comic called American Sk8teland, named after a famous skatepark Tony used to frequent. Upon seeing how dilapidated the place has become, the group decide to renovate the place and restore it to its former glory. As the renovations progress and other pro skaters lend their support, Mindy informs the group that a publishing office in East L.A. wants to distribute her work, provided she supply them with a comic detailing American Sk8teland's return to prominence. However, Tony reveals that the park's owner has accepted an offer to sell the place, and they have two weeks to match the offer before it's torn down. After helping Rodney Mullen pull off a successful flatland demo, Mindy, upon noticing people were filming the demo, realizes they can make a similar video with the pros who helped make the park famous. Once the repairs are finished, the group films the pros doing various tricks and stunts around the park, culminating in Tony convincing the new skateboarder to pull off a Japan 900 to close out the demo. The video is a huge success when released, giving Tony the money needed to purchase American Sk8teland and Mindy the material needed to start her comic.

Description

''American Sk8land'' uses

cel-shaded Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a Color gradient, shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often us ...

visuals and it was developed by

Vicarious Visions Blizzard Albany (formerly Vicarious Visions, Inc.) is an American video game development division of Blizzard Entertainment based in Albany, New York. Founded in 1991, the company was acquired by Activision in January 2005. In January 2021, Vica ...

, the developer of the Game Boy Advance ''Tony Hawk'' games. The game is based on its console counterpart, '' American Wasteland'', featuring the same soundtrack, and many of the same environments and characters. The top screen is used to display the main gameplay, while the touch screen displays an overhead map of the area the player is currently skating, as well as icons for easily performing tricks. The touch screen is also used to create

skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. It is usually made of a specially designed 7–8-ply maple plywood deck and has polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboard ...

art. Furthering the use of the DS's functions is the ability to record, with the DS microphone, sound clips for use in the game. ''American Sk8land'' was the first Nintendo DS game released by a third party to support the

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (sometimes shortened to Nintendo WFC) was an online multiplayer gaming service run by Nintendo that formerly provided free online play in compatible Nintendo DS and Wii games. The service included the company's W ...

, the online service for the Nintendo DS. Players are able to play Trick Attack, Score Challenge, Combo Mambo and The Price is Wrong. Players are also able to upload or download graffiti, board art, high scores, and replays to one of the servers, and can periodically download new goals to complete. In the DS version, the ability to get off the skateboard and walk around was removed; however, this was somewhat balanced by the ability to come to a complete stop and rotate the camera. The name is shared by the

version, also created by Vicarious Visions. The GBA version does not share the same graphics, however, having an isometric point of view, polygonal skaters and pre-rendered levels creating a 3D sensation.

Reception

''Tony Hawk's American Sk8land'' received "generally positive" reviews according to review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

Awards

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

: Editors' Choice Award

References

External links

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''Tony Hawk's American Sk8land''
at

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 ...

''Tony Hawk's American Sk8land''
at

{{Tony Hawk games 2005 video games Activision games Game Boy Advance games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer online games Nintendo DS games Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection games Skateboarding video games American Sk8land Vicarious Visions games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in California Video games set in Los Angeles Video games set in San Francisco Video games with cel-shaded animation