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37 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tony Hawk Skates The Cube, November 27, 2001
Typically, I'm not a big fan of sports, or sports video games for that matter, and prefer my games to have some kind of story plot going on (I am a writer of fiction after all), but there's just something about Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. I never played the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, but did attempt to play Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 for Playstation and subsequently got my butt creamed by my sister and her boyfriend (we played to see who could score the most points in Single Session play). I didn't really care for Tony Hawk 2, but with a lack of launch games available during the Nintendo Gamecube's release, I was willing to give Tony Hawk another try. Strangely enough, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is now one of my favorite games.The one thing that made Tony Hawk 3 more enjoyable for me was without a doubt the Gamecube controller's setup. Shortly after I purchased my Gamecube and Tony Hawk 3, my sister's boyfriend purchased the same game, but for Playstation. On the Gamecube version, I was kicking some serious butt and had almost unlocked all the regular levels. I believed I could beat my sister in getting a high score in single session play. I lost! What made the difference? The controller friends, the controller. It wasn't so much that I was unfamiliar with the Playstation controller set-up, it's pretty standard in button layout, but the odd placement and design of the Gamecube controller's buttons made playing Tony Hawk ten times easier. The Gamecube's controller may look a little weird, but it works quite effectively. In fact, it's so much better I refuse to play Tony Hawk on the original Playstation. Really, that's how much difference controller setup can mean to games, but this review isn't about the controller, its about Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. As for the game itself, Tony Hawk 3 features twelve different pro skaters including, you guessed it, Tony Hawk, and a create-a-skate option to craft a skater of your own design to take you through the vast and complex skate arenas which await you. The create-a-skater option allows you to make your own skater from their sex, weight, height, clothes, tattoos, hair color, skin tone, and skate board. Unfortunately, people in the game don't look quite as realistic as the arenas the gamer has them skate in, but the create-a-skater option is a nice feature. Graphically, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 for Gamecube, which is identical on the Playstation 2, makes the first three Tony Hawk games on the original Playstation look ridiculously old fashioned and outdated. A lot of hard work must have went into this game to give it the level of realism it is able to pull off. The skate areas in Tony Hawk 3 are superb and achieve detail close to that of Star Wars: Rogue Leader -Rogue Squadron 2. As I said before though, the people in the game could have looked a little better. Speaking of the skate areas, they are huge. Each level is a massive skate arena with plenty of rails to grind and ramps to hurtle you in the air to perform various tricks. Tony Hawk 3 isn't all about tricks though, there are multiple goals to be performed in these massive skate areas. Attaining certain (and sometimes ridiculously high) scores, collecting the letters of the word skate, and, the hardest task of all for each level, obtaining the secret tape, as well as level specific goals, gives Tony Hawk 3 a lot of replay value. Of course, there are some levels where tricks are everything with no specific goals to meet. Three levels in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 are skate contests, in which you have to wow virtual judges with your awesome tricks, wicked grinds, and ability to avoid slamming your face into a wall. There are a variety of tricks to be performed in Tony Hawk 3, and knowledge of specific button combinations isn't actually required. All you really need to know is the basic function of each button, head toward a ramp, and launch your skater into the air. From there you just move your control stick a specific direction at the same time you press the B or X-button and see what happens. Just be sure to hold the A-button and straighten your skater out before you hit bottom or you'll beef it big time. The sounds in the game are pretty admirable, but nothing to get too excited about. Other skaters will taunt you, bystanders will yell at you, and an announcer at the Airline level may give you a chuckle with his quips. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 also features a variety of music from different artists so things don't get too repetitive during your skate sessions. Nothing's worse than listening to the same exact sound track over and over again while playing a game. The verdict: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is without a doubt an excellent game that's tons of fun for all and challenging enough to keep gamers coming back for more. If pure fun or a hearty challenge (or both for that matter) is what your all about when it comes to games, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is definitely for you (and I personally recommend the Gamecube version, for which I'm writing this review, because the Cube's controller will deliver a much more enjoyable experience). On the other hand, if you prefer your games to contain some sort of overall story, look elsewhere because, like most sports game, you ain't going to find that here.
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