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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (THPS2; for Apple Macintosh, PC, Sony PlayStation, and others),
released in 2000, was very similar to the original version, but offered some
notable innovations, such as the "Create-a-Skater" and "Park
Editor" features. These have become staples in the Tony Hawk franchise.
It also offered new moves, including the "manual"[4] and a slew of other skate
boarding tricks. This game was very well-received and met with considerable
success, selling 5.3 million copies by 2007.[5]
It is considered by some as the best Tony Hawk game off the increasingly
crowded quarter-pipe released to date.
In his review of the ninth game in the
series, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, IGN's
Chris Roper states: "THPS2 was so
robust and encompassing, there wasn't a whole lot missing that Neversoft could
add to the formula."[6]
Indeed, every year new innovations were added, some deemed better than others.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (THPS3; for Nintendo
64, PC, Sony Playstation 2, and others), released in 2001, introduced the "revert."
This trick allows for considerably longer combos than were possible in the
previous games.
Variations to standard tricks can also be performed and there
are hidden combos to be discovered. This was the first game to include
nonskating advertisements in the form of in-game billboards; mobile phone maker
Nokia, whom we'll discuss shortly, was one of these advertisers.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (THPS4; for Apple
Macintosh, Mobile Phone, Sony PlayStation 2, and others), first released in 2002,
was the last in the Pro Skater series, with some fearing it would be the last true
Hawk game. This version eliminated
the two-minute time limit in "Career Mode," and players were free to
explore levels as desired.
Many players felt this game was truly fresh and had
the greatest replay potential, because instead of having to complete a goal in
a set period of time, they were now free to explore many new locations,
including Alcatraz and London,
while accomplishing goals according to their own schedules. Once a goal was
accomplished, it did not need to be repeated unless desired.
In his review of
the game on Website Mania, James
Stevenson says, "The first thing gamers will notice is that the levels are
huge, the goals are plentiful, and basically its everything you know and love
about Tony Hawk, except bigger."[7]
Furthermore, because the game uses a completely different engine, there are
certain enhancements that become obvious as gameplay continues. For instance,
boards become worn, clothes or knees become scuffed, and there are other subtle
touches that add a new level of realism to the game.
Box back for the Tapwave
Zodiac version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
4 (2003).
In 2003, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was released for Nokia's N-Gage
handheld. Much of the game was faithful to the original console versions, with
a few innovations and several levels from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
tossed in. Although this conversion followed the three-dimensional model of the
console versions, it was criticized for its lack of innovation.
Players had
already "been there and done that" three or four years earlier, a
common problem for games that receive regular conversions and new releases, and
something that the Tony Hawk series
of games would suffer and become synonymous with. Nevertheless, the game was
considered by some as among the best titles on Nokia's controversial platform.[8]
Box back for the Microsoft
Xbox version of Tony Hawk's Underground.
[4] "Manual"
refers to a trick in which the skater balances on two wheels.
[5]
Figure from sidebar at
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20070925-9999-1n25halo.html.
[6] See http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/828/828249p1.html.
[7]
See http://www.mania.com/tony-hawks-pro-skater-4_article_36918.html.
[8] A final
version of the original Tony Hawk's Pro
Skater would be released for many standard mobile phones in 2005, but of
course suffered from whatever control limitations or quirks the particular
model of phone in question exhibited.
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"It wasn't until later in the development process that Tony Hawk was signed on and the game took on the name we all know."
I read an interview with Tony Hawk by a skateboarding magazine some 5 years ago where he said that the idea for doing a skateboarding game was his, and that he went around to the various video game companies pitching the idea and they laughed him off. He remembers one big brand-name company (was it Atari?) whose president laughed him out of the meeting and said, quote, "There is no market for a skateboarding video game." That's a famous quote and I'm disappointed to not see it and that piece of history here, in what is a history of the series. It's possible they had started THPS1 before he got on board, but it's important to note that he wasn't simply tacking his name onto an existing game, he had the idea and was trying to pitch the game on his own. This is also the reason why he's had such creative control and input over the series. I'd love if you could find the reference and update/post it here.
Joshua is correct that despite a mo-cap session attended by the videogame press (and it being a bullet point on the back of the box), all of the animations actually used in THPS1 were done by hand.
Motion capture used as a reference? Maybe... I think by the time we had that motion-capture session, the work on animations were well under way. But really, my memory is too fuzzy and I'm probably the wrong person to ask about how much influence the mo-cap ultimately had on the finished work.
The problems with actually using the mo-cap was that it was going to take way too much work to turn the raw data into something useful and, more importantly, it just plain didn't look as good as the hand made stuff (not as dramatic, etc...).
Work began in full in October 1998, by which time Tony Hawk was pretty much the name of the game. Tony's initial involvement was not major though. The mo-cap was done in April 1999, but there was never any expectation that the data would be very useful. Good publicity though. The actual animation was done by hand by Noel using video reference of various skaters - mostly from commercial skate videos. The game was finished in August 1999.