Antwan is here for your gaming Reviews. Today, I will be reviewing the GameCube version of Tony Hawk's Underground. This is a little different than the other Tony Hawk games. This time, YOU are the star of the game and YOU have to make it to top of the skating career. During that time, you'll do extreme stunts, achieve challenging goals, and have some bad luck thrown in as well.

This is rated on a 0-4 star scale where zero is wannabe and four is "the next Tony Hawk". A * means one and a ` means half. Hey, if Crazy Packers Fan and TV Guide can do it, why can't I?

System: GameCube, PlayStation2, X-Box, PC, Gameboy Advance, Nokia, and Mobile
Rated: T for Teen for Blood, Mild Violence, Strong Language, and Suggestive Themes
Type: Sport

Graphics: **

Well, Tony Hawk games haven't always made people look like... people. At least this time, these "people" can move their mouth for real when they talk, they have some texture, and they blink. Still, these guys are not the prettiest people on the block. Moreover, when it comes to the other things, eh, pretty average. The buildings show some more detail. The lighting is pretty okay. The weather, not bad for a first time. Well, I've got nothing to say here about the graphics. They're just too average for a good explanation.

However, those are the lamest cars I have ever seen. Cylinder wheels, squared paneling, and no shadowing. They look like Russian cars and drive like them, too. And I should know; there is a Moscow level in here.

Sound: ****

This has the best music I have ever heard. There are tons of rock, rap, even a little country, and I could've sworn I heard a Reggae beat. Seriously, there is a lot of variable tunes in this game and I love listening to them all. If you don't like the game, you can always use it as a soundtrack. But, seriously, don't put your game in a CD player. Damage will occur.

The sounds are more realistic as well. The wheels respond to the terrain and make the right sounds. The voice acting, I can't actually tell, since the guys are doing the same lip movement over and over again. But, seriously, it's really good.

Characters: ***`

Well, there is your created person, which acts sort of like a punk, and there's Eric Sparrow, who acts completely like a punk. There is also the variable "goal people", but who cares about them? In fact, these guys are complete losers. They don't move around a lot and have some horrible lip-synching with the voices. My favorite skaters are in the game with even more pros and they interest me, but you won't be seeing them a lot or at all. Except for Vallely.

Here are the skaters. The secret ones are marked with a star:

Tony Hawk
Bob Burnquist
Steve Caballero
Kareem Campbell
Rune Glifberg
Eric Koston
Bucky Lasek
Bam Margera
Rodney Mullen
Chad Muska
Andrew Reynolds
Paul Rodriguez
Geoff Rowley
Arto Saari
Elissa Steamer
Jamie Thomas
Mike Vallely
Iron Man*
Gene Simmons*
THUD*
The List of Pedestrians*

Levels: ****

The levels impress me. As in all Tony Hawk games, the levels are unique, themed, and have some secrets. However, they are a little smaller than usual, but that doesn't affect anything. Plus, they added past courses from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. These courses look nicely revived and seem the same.

Here are the courses. The secret ones are marked with a star:

New Jersey
Manhattan
Tampa
San Diego
Hawaii
Vancouver
Slam City Jam
Moscow
School II*
Venice*
Hangar*
The KISS Level*
The List of Pre-Made Parks

Controls: **

Okay. B is to do flip tricks and X is to do grab tricks. Ollie with A and turn with the control stick. Manual with the control stick and Y to grind. Wait, is it X and B to do a Casper while manualing or B and Y? If you tap the B button three times while in up? No, left! Then it does a triple kickflip or was it a heelflip? Okay, Z is to get off, but how do you spine transfer again? Okay, Y and up is nosegrind, but how do you do a salad and do the special moves happen in the air when it's X or Y? And what's the nose manual supposed to do anyway and... and...

That is what my friend said when he played the game for the first time. The controls are endless in this game, but if you're a Tony Hawk vet like me, you can master this easily. If you're not, well there's plenty of time to practice.

Now about the cars; they stink. They don't accelerate that fast, they turn horribly, the handbrake is too sensitive, they don't leave marks or damage, they can't smell good, they must look tacky inside, they have to have horrible insurance... Okay, I'm going too far. But, you see my point? The controls stink with these cars. Nice try Neversoft, but Henry Ford you're not.

Camera: ****

Well, the camera really isn't much to complain about here. In fact, it mostly doesn't matter to me. Nothing blocks the camera's way and it just looks at my back the whole time. You can pick from four different kinds of camera views, but the first one is recommended.

Gameplay: ****

Well, I always have been a fan of Tony Hawk games and this is quite a complex way of skating. You got flips, grabs, grinds, lips, reverts, flatland tricks, pressure tricks, special moves, lip branching, rail branching, wallrides, and transfers. That's a lot of stuff in there for skating. You don't know how big my combos are with all of those convenient moves in there. Plus, you can *gasp* walk! You heard me, you can now walk on terrain that is too hard to skate on. Joy! The balancing is pretty good as well. Plus, the modes interest me every now and then.

Unlockables: ***

You got boards, skaters, movies, and modes to unlock in the Story Mode. Of course, I can picture way more boards and skaters, but still this is a pretty good concept, unlocking the modes and all. However, I wish they had put way more movies than this.

Story Mode: ***

You start out as some wannabe hanging out in Jersey until Chad Muska arrives to do a show and notices you. He motivates you to join a local skate shop to go big. And so it begins. You go through a lot to the top and do the most impossible things in skating with the village idiot, Eric Sparrow. The story is a little short and that's bad. This story has potential, I just wish it would last a little longer.

Free Skate: ***`

You just go and skate, that simple. You can start your single session here and get a high score and break records as well. Of course, you will get bored every now and then. But, loners would like this mode if your friend can't make it today to play with you.

Multiplayer: ***`

2-Player is loads of fun. You can play nine modes in this game, such as Trick Attack, Horse, and my favorite, Graffiti. These modes are really fun to play and the PS2 version lets you go online and play, which is way more fun. However, I wish I could play with three or four players, but who's complaining?

Here are the list of games. The new ones are marked with a star:

Trick Attack: The person with the highest score wins.
Score Challenge: Like Trick Attack, except you have to reach the target score.
Combo Mambo: The person with the highest combo score wins.
Slap!: Whoever can slap the other guy the most wins.
King of the Hill: Find the crown and try to keep it on until time runs out.
Graffiti: Whoever skates on the most objects wins.
Firefight*: Knock out the other player with fireballs from your skateboard to get points.
Horse: Try to beat the other player's preset score or get a letter; spell the word and you lose.
Free Skate: Skate freely with another player (duh).

Create-A-Goal: **`

Come on! Who wouldn't want to make their own story? You create objectives and play them. But, why can't you pick a person instead of some random guy popping in? And where's the sound? And can't the goal text be a little longer? Plus, they take a chunk of space. Well, it's still fun to do and with organization and tactical playing, you can make your own Tony Hawk story.

Create-A-Skater: ***`

Create-A-Skater is the greatest mode thus far. It has a variety of pants, shirts, faces, hair styles, hats, pads, shoes, socks, etc. It can take measurements for your person so he or she can be big or small. Plus, in the PS2 version, you can take a picture of your face on your cellphone and put in Tony Hawk's Underground as the skater's face! However, the faces can look pretty nasty and they take up a lot of space for when you need to use it for story mode. Still, this is pretty good.

Create-A-Deck: **`

Create your own deck with this little mode right here. It isn't really that interesting to me, but I can unleash my creativity in this mode and that's a good thing. I like the decals and the graphic sets.

Create-A-Park: ***

One of the major factors of Tony Hawk games, this oh-so-sweet mode lets you create your very own skate park. Now it has five settings, new stuff such as buildings, bleachers, and park essentials, a more detailed resize system, goal creator, and create-a-railm where you create a rail from scratch. It can get kind of frustrating making rails by yourself, but you can go crazy with this thing. Oh, and did I mention the clipboard mode and the day settings? One problem in this mode: the memory. It totally goes nuts after a half-hour of focusing on your park. It can rise if you delete stuff and it lowers whenever I create a goal. And, it goes nuts immediately when I test it, because the game thinks the skater is still there! I have to quit the park and enter in free mode to test it, which takes a long time. The PS2 version lets you set how many players are allowed in your park in online mode and that's pretty cool. In conclusion, this mode would've been perfect if the glitches didn't affect my playtime.

Create-A-Trick: **`

This can let you create your own trick with tricks, rotations, sounds, and spin options. This is pretty great, but the moves I create here look pretty unnatural and make my skater look stupid. Plus it's air tricks only. That's a pain, but then again, I don't have to make my skater look stupid on the ground, on a rail, or at the tip of a quarter pipe.

Replayability: **`

That rating shows it will last for a few months and then it's off to the rainy day bin. The variety of things you can do can let you play this for a while, but it gets pretty old.

Fun Factor!: ***

Pretty fun at times. It could give you a boost of fun when you need it. The game can get boring at times, but still, it's pretty fun.

Final Score: ***

Well, I got nothing to say here. It isn't the greatest Tony Hawk videogame, but it is pretty entertaining. Plus, you can do a lot of things to customize this game. After all, "it's your game" (Tony Hawk's Underground). The PS2 Version is the best. A Tony Hawk fan should buy it and the others, eh, a rental is fine. Let's hope I can try Tony Hawk's Underground 2 soon, I heard it rocks out loud!

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