Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

About Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (2000) is Neversoft's skateboarding sequel that added manuals, cash rewards and a level editor, and remains the best-reviewed PlayStation game of all time.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 in Depth

The player controls a professional or fictional skater in a third-person view with a fixed camera, performing tricks and completing level objectives in three-dimensional urban environments set to punk rock and hip-hop. Using the same engine as its predecessor with improved graphics and play, it introduced manuals, which let players link tricks along the ground, and cash rewards, which unlock new levels, raise the skater's statistics and buy better equipment. Its physics are loose for the sake of play, letting skaters jump to unrealistic heights.

Modes include a career mode, in which objectives earn money to develop the character, free skating with no objectives, multiplayer with a number of competitive games, and a level editor for building custom parks. Critics praised its addictive play, large environments, detailed graphics, fluid and precise controls, customisation and soundtrack, with only minor complaints, such as the lack of a first-person camera and the shortened soundtrack of the Nintendo 64 version. It is considered one of the greatest video games ever made and the highest-rated sports game.

Making Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

Neversoft began hiring for a sequel by September 1999 and developed it for the PlayStation, published by Activision in 2000, with ports to Windows, Dreamcast and Game Boy Color the same year and to Mac, Nintendo 64, Xbox and Game Boy Advance in 2001. It was met with universal acclaim and remains the best-reviewed PlayStation game, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 followed in 2001.