Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Developer(s)	Neversoft (PS1 & PC) Natsume (GBC) Treyarch (DC & Xbox) Vicarious Visions (GBA) Edge of Reality (N64) Activision (iOS)
Publisher(s)	Activision
Series	Tony Hawk
Engine	Rewrite of proprietary Apocalypse engine
Platform(s)	PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, Mac OS, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, Xbox, iOS
Release date(s)	PlayStation NA 20000920September 20, 2000 EU 20000929September 29, 2000 JP 20010308March 8, 2001 Microsoft Windows NA October 31, 2000 EU November 17, 2000 Game Boy Color NA November, 2000 EU November 17, 2000 Dreamcast NA November 6, 2000 EU December 15, 2000 Mac OS NA 2001 Game Boy Advance NA 20010530May 30, 2001 EU 20010622June 22, 2001 JP 20011214December 14, 2001 Nintendo 64 NA August 21, 2001 EU October 12, 2001 Xbox NA November 15, 2001 iOS NA April 1, 2010
Genre(s)	Extreme sports
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, often abbreviated as THPS2, is the second game in the Tony Hawk series of sports games. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2000. It was first released for the PlayStation, with subsequent ports to the Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, Xbox (as THPS2X) and iOS. The game received generally positive reviews.

Gameplay

The player, playing as a professional skateboarder (either real-life or created) completes a number of tasks which result in cash rewards. With money gained, the player can then purchase skill improvements and better tricks and skateboards. THPS2 was also the first game in the series to introduce the manual, a skateboarding trick where the performer balances on two wheels. This improved players' ability to string together high-scoring trick combos. Many new tricks were introduced for the first time, as was the option to edit the combinations for tricks. It was also the first of the Pro Skater games to feature Create-a-Skater and Park Editor features, now staples in the series. Three new professional skaters were introduced to the series on this game: Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen, and Eric Koston.

Most of the levels in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 are designed for the player to complete 10 tasks in a two-minute time limit. Such tasks include finding the five letters of the word SKATE, finding 5 of an object specific to the level (hall passes in the school level for example), three tasks related to the score (as opposed to two on the first game), a particular grind, and finding a hidden tape somewhere in the level. Cash is also scattered around the levels in order for players to find, with a bonus once the level is fully cleared. Once a player has enough cash, they can continue on to a new level. The maximum amount of money that can be obtained in a single skater career is $150,000.

The other type of levels are competition levels, from which the player can only advance once they have won a medal, which also comes with a cash prize depending on which medal was won. The rating by the judges that a player receives in a competition is based on how much they score, variation of tricks, bails, and how much of the level they have used. The judges give scores based on these criteria, the highest and lowest are taken away, leaving the average. There are three minute-long runs in total, the best two count. Competition levels also contain hidden cash like the regular levels.

Ports

Nintendo 64

The game was originally to be released along with the PlayStation version, but delayed to allow further sales of the first THPS for the console. Almost a year later, the game was released by the same company that brought the first Tony Hawk game to Nintendo 64, Edge of Reality. This version includes all of the features from the PlayStation version, including the Create-a-Skater and Park Editor. In addition to visual improvements (less jagged, smooth) like the Nintendo 64 version of the first game, a new level called Bike Headquarters (from Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX) was added. Also added were a few new cheats, such as the 10x Point Multiplier and Max Turbo Mode codes. The number of songs was reduced to six and portions of each one were cut.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2X

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2X was released on November 15, 2001 (only in the U.S. and Canada) as a launch title for Microsoft's Xbox. The game contained remade versions of all the levels from the first two games in the Tony Hawk series, five new levels, a 4-player split screen and LAN multiplayer feature and the ability to create females in Create-a-skater mode. Other new features include a redesigned main page and grind balance meter. The redesigned Philadelphia level from this version would later be reused in Tony Hawk's Underground 2.

Windows Mobile

Austin-based Aspyr Media ported the game to Windows Mobile Professional devices in 2006. The game offered hardware acceleration for some Dell Axim devices.

iOS

An in-game screenshot of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 on the iPod Touch.

Through his Twitter account, Tony Hawk announced a port of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 for iOS. It would be developed by Activision and would launch before the end of March 2010.

The iOS version of the game was released by Activision in the U.S. App Store on April 1, 2010 and subsequently into other regions.

Unlike other ports, this game's only playable modes are Career Mode, Single Session, and Free Skate Mode along with options. Create a Skater, Create a Park, and levels Chopper Drop and Skate Heaven were removed in this version of THPS2. The original soundtrack was also removed and replaced with new music. Slight changes were made to the appearances of some of the pro skaters to account for changes of their sponsors since the original game's release. The game is playable on the iPhone, iPod Touch and also the iPad.

Game Boy Color/Advance

The Game Boy Color version (developed by Natsume) was better received than the first installment on the handheld. In spite of that, it still bore little resemblance to the other versions of the game. The Game Boy Advance version (by Vicarious Visions) received particular acclaim for being an accurate translation of the series, translating the 3D gameplay into isometric format.

PC

A version of the game for Windows was also released on October 31, 2000.

Soundtrack

The following songs are from the original North American PlayStation release. Other versions may vary.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Rage Against the Machine - "Guerrilla Radio"
2.	"Bad Religion - "You"
3.	"Anthrax featuring Chuck D. of Public Enemy - "Bring The Noise"
4.	"Powerman 5000 - "When Worlds Collide"
5.	"Naughty by Nature - "Pin the Tail on the Donkey"
6.	"Papa Roach - "Blood Brothers"
7.	"The High and Mighty featuring Mos Def & Mad Skillz - "B-Boy Document 99"
8.	"Consumed - "Heavy Metal Winner"
9.	"Dub Pistols - "Cyclone"
10.	"Swingin' Utters - "Five Lessons Learned"
11.	"Styles of Beyond - "Subculture"
12.	"Millencolin - "No Cigar"
13.	"Alley Life featuring Black Planet - "Out With the Old"
14.	"Lagwagon - "May 16"
15.	"Fu Manchu - "Evil Eye"

Reception

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 met with critical and commercial success. According to GameRankings, as of December 2012 it is the 25th highest rated game of all time.

The PlayStation version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 has earned Platinum awards from gaming magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly. Because of this, it is the only game in the magazine's history to ever have earned a Platinum award twice (but is only acknowledged as a single game in EGM's records due to the game receiving a 10 from only one reviewer as opposed to the PlayStation game receiving 10s from all 3 of its reviewers).^{[citation needed]} The PlayStation version of the game received a 10 out of 10 from the magazine Game Informer, while the versions for other consoles received lower scores. In Japan, Famitsu magazine scored the Game Boy Advance version of the game a 33 out of 40. In the final issue of the Official UK PlayStation Magazine, the game was chosen as the 7th best game of all time.