Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (GBA Video Game)

''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' is a 2001 extreme sports skateboarding video game developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision for the Game Boy Advance 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 a behind-the-back camera perspective, this version instead 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 span of time by doing skateboarding tricks, and can play on multiple levels in different game modes.

Vicarious Visions proposed the creation of a Game Boy Advance version, getting approval from Activision and Tony Hawk. To be able to include the tricks from the PlayStation, they created a 3D engine for the game, featuring polygonal characters and using math to design the levels. The music was composed by Manfred Linzer as a pastiche of the music featured in the series, as well as songs from "skate punk-like artists." Quality assurance testers criticized the level design. These testers were brought on to help address these issues. Development began in August 2000 and finished in less than one year, releasing as a launch title for the Game Boy Advance in North America and Europe in June 2001.

''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' has been generally well received, identified as one of the best Game Boy Advance games by multiple critics. Vicarious Visions received particular praise, identified as having pushed the Game Boy Advance beyond what people expected it to be capable of by presenting an authentic adaptation of the original game. The isometric perspective received some criticism due to difficulty discerning angles, and its controls were considered less preferable to the original. It has been identified as an exemplar of how to do a handheld conversion of a console game, and the 3D engine created for the game was used in future games by Vicarious Visions on the Game Boy Advance, including its sequel, ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3''.

Gameplay

''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' is a single-player extreme sports skateboarding video game. While controlling the character, the player can perform multiple skateboarding tricks, including ollies, grinds, aerials, kickflips, and more. Other actions include jumping, crouching, and switching stances. The player acquires more points through combining multiple tricks. ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' features six levels, including five from the console versions of the game, as well as one from the first game, ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'', and a secret stage. The levels are viewed from an isometric perspective, largely resembling the maps found in the console versions, which are viewed from a behind-the-back camera perspective. Multiple levels are based on real-world locations, such as New York and Marseille. The game features 13 playable characters, including Tony Hawk, each of whom has their own special technique. It also features built-in cheats that allow the player to unlock multiple features, including disabling blood, selecting any level to play, and Spider-Man as a playable character.

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 ''Spider-Man'', developer Vicarious Visions wanted to work on a Game Boy Advance game, wanting to avoid Super Nintendo ports and Mode 7 racing games. It was suggested that they work on a ''Tony Hawk'' game, believing it to be high risk due in part to being such an important brand for 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. Early development was difficult due to multiple factors, including a shortage of game development kits and hardware revisions. The team intended to use the source code Neversoft used, only for it to turn out that it was programmed in C++, while the development kit's documentation said they could only use C. Lead programmer Matt Conte created a proof of concept to show that C++ could be done on Game Boy Advance, 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. Mock-ups were created to demonstrate how it might look, which were presented to Tony Hawk, who gave his approval alongside Activision.

It began as a sprite-based game, but this was changed after staff determined that this would require more than 100 megs of storage if they wanted to include every trick from the PlayStation version. Because the Game Boy Advance 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 who is rendered using more than 300 polygons. The isometric perspective was chosen due to them believing that the level geometry found in the console versions, if viewed from above, would largely be visible. 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 Game Boy Advance, they needed to use math to design the levels. They had to set point values for tiles to give the levels depth. A Gouraud shader was used for the game's real-time renderer, which took a month and a half to program by programmer Alex Rybakov. They experienced struggles with depicting the character behind objects, realizing that they had to use their software to accomplish this. They chose to have the character become semi-transparent when behind objects. The team was unable to add a multiplayer mode, a feature of the console versions, due to time restrictions.

Unlike other versions of ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'', this game features an original soundtrack due to the licensed music being too much for a Game Boy Advance cartridge. The soundtrack was composed by Manfred Linzer, who was who was asked to create a pastiche of songs featured in the ''Tony Hawk'' games. Linzer was given a selection of songs from the games, as well as other songs selected from "skate punk-like artists" as reference. The final soundtrack consisted of 10 songs. Shin'en Multimedia was responsible for implementing the music, using their GAX sound engine. The cartridge uses a more advanced sound chip than the Game Boy Color's, as the team wanted to have audio more advanced than chiptune audio.

When they sent the game to Activision's quality assurance department, it was given harsh feedback by a team devoted exclusively to the ''Tony Hawk'' series. While they felt it looked appropriate and was "technically impressive," the level design was criticized, with one QA member saying that the development team " oesn'tunderstand how to build levels at all." Conte stated that they were brought on as consultants, going through each level to add elements that reward skillful play. Development was concluded in April 2001 when the game was approved, a large majority of the cartridge space utilized and development taking less than a year.

''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' was demonstrated at multiple events, including E3 2001 and by the group Advance Team in Minnesota, alongside other Game Boy Advance games. It was one of six games scheduled to be released for the Game Boy Advance by Activision at the time. ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' was published as a launch title for the Game Boy Advance on June 11, 2001 and in Europe on June 22.

Reception

''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' was the subject of positive reception from critics and gamers, particularly for Vicarious Visions defying expectations of what the Game Boy Advance could do. ''Metacritic'' identified it as having received universal acclaim, 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 Game Boy Advance games, ranked among the top games on the platform by ''GameSpot'', ''IGN'', ''Pocket Tactics'', ''Den of Geek'', ''GamesRadar+'', and ''TechRadar''. When considering which Game Boy Advance launch title to recommend, ''GameSpot'' writer Shane Satterfield stated that the game made him excited to see what the Game Boy Advance could do down the line. Despite this, he recommended ''Fire Pro Wrestling'', stating that the console ''Tony Hawk'' games were superior. ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' was one of the top-selling Game Boy Advance launch games in North America, placing second behind ''Super Mario Advance'' and third across all platforms for the month of June. It ranked seventh overall in the following month and 14th in August, losing its second place Game Boy Advance ranking to '' Mario Kart: Super Circuit''. ''IGN'' writer Craig Harris considered it among the best games at the handheld's launch, finding the gameplay loop of the game entertaining and varied. It was awarded the best mobile game of 2001 at the British Academy Film Awards, and received a nomination for Hand-Held Game of the Year at the 5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.

The 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 confusing due to the perspective. Boyer also found the controls limiting, attributing it to the Game Boy Advance'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 a lot of people may become frustrated. ''Eurogamer'' writer Martin Taylor was more positive towards the perspective, feeling that the camera perspective 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.

The lack of features compared to the console versions as met with mixed reception. ''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. ''Nintendo World Report'' writer Jonathan Metts commented that players who could do without the multiplayer and level editor found in the console game could find this an adequate alternative to the console versions, but believed that someone already familiar with the console game will not find a new gameplay experience. ''Nintendojo'' writer Matt Thompson considered it an adequate alternative, preferring it due to being able to play it wherever he wants, which he stated prevented it from getting old like the console versions did for him.

Visuals and technology

The game's visuals and technical aspects were the subject of praise, with ''Time Extension'' writer Jack Yarwood believing that it inspired the creation of future games with a similar approach and technology. It was also called "the most amazing piece of technology we've ever seen on a handheld" by ''Next Generation'' staff. Martin Taylor was initially skeptical of how good the game could perform when he heard about its reveal, being surprised by how similar it felt to its console counterparts. Crispin Boyer was similarly positive, calling it visually stunning and noting that it had smooth movement and a superior framerate to the PlayStation version. ''GamePro'' writer Dan Elektro believed that a person would find it difficult to not be impressed by the level of technical quality in the game, particularly it running at 60 frames per second and its use of animations from the PlayStation version. He considered it a "major leap forward" in handheld gaming. ''Game Informer'' writer Andrew Reiner praised the visuals for managing to feel three-dimensional, as well as for its use of transparency to see the character when they move behind objects, stating that the visuals left him in awe over how impressive they were.

''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' was considered an exemplar of handheld conversions of console titles by multiple critics. Jonathan Metts felt that the issues of handheld conversions of console games came from a combination of hardware limitations and developers not wanting to make console-type games on handhelds. He praised Vicarious Visions for both the execution of the game on a technical level, as well as their courage for having attempted to do something like it in the first place. ''GameSpot'' writer Jeff Gerstmann was similarly critical of trends regarding handheld ports, claiming that developers tended to " uplicateone or two key aspects of the original game and freestyle the rest" with mixed results. He considered it a benchmark for such games, as well as the best handheld skateboarding game ever made. In his retrospective, ''Kotaku'' writer Luke Plunkett felt that the game had aged better visually than the console versions, remarking that games like this had to be more inventive in how it scaled down a console game compared to newer games.

Legacy

Vicarious Visions went on to work on other ''Tony Hawk'' games for the Game Boy Advance, 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 Game Boy Advance, 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.

References

External links

* (archived)

{{Tony Hawk games

2001 video games
Activision games
Game Boy Advance games
Skateboarding video games
Tony Hawk's (series)
Vicarious Visions games
Video game remakes
Video game sequels
Game Boy Advance-only games
Single-player video games