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14 of 14 found the following review helpful:
 expanding, expanding...Nov 24, 2002
By Scott Hanrahan
Speaking as an owner of all of the previous Tony Hawk games for N64 and Gamecube, Tony Hawk 4 makes some drastic changes for the better. I can't say that the graphics are stunning, because they seem the same or just a tad better than THPS 3, but I can say that taking out that rediculous time limit that was old after the first game was a great idea. Other new ideas are the long awaited spine transfer, the idea of Pro Challenges which is one challenge that is unique to each individual skater (which is how you unlock the movies in this one)and the way that you have to talk to people to unlock goals, almost exactly like in the game Aggressive Inline. Although some goals are rediculously hard and frustrating, you can buy cheats for not much cash that will help you out greatly. Speaking of the cash, it is skattered all over the level like in THPS 2. To get more special trick slots, you must complete certain goals on each level that have to do with doing special tricks in insane places like doing a special trick over a huge gap or something along those lines. You have to buy the special characters, the cheats, and the movies that do not feature a skater. A change in the gameplay is the addition of new flatground moves. If you have seen Rodney Mullen's video from THPS 3, you were amazed. Now, you can do all those moves and more without moving in the game, such as pogos, casper flips, handstands, or handstand flips to name a few. You can use these to get your special meter up also, which is very handy in tight places. The multiplayer mode in the Tony Hawk series has never been great, but it keeps up the good work with new modes you can play in. Overall, with huge, great levels, new ideas, fun goals, and long movies, Tony Hawk 4 is still a must have for anyone who owns a system that supports it.
20 of 22 found the following review helpful:
 pure ownage!Nov 03, 2002
By James Whitney
this game is a major improvement over thps 3. not to say thps 3 wasnt fun and all, but it was getting repetetive. thps 4's reworked career mode takes the old career mode and throws it out the window, replacing it with a much more realistic and overall much more fun career mode(another plus is that you dont have to beat career mode 25 times to unlock everything!). there are now 16 goals in each level, plus 5 pro goals, for over twice as many goals per level as before! also, in the previous incarnations of thps, every level had high, pro, and sick scores, S-K-A-T-E, the secret tape, and a couple of other goals that were very similar from level to level. this meant that each level had only about 3 or 4 unique, interesting goals. not so with thps 4. there is still a high and pro score, as well as S-K-A-T-E and now C-O-M-B-O in each level, but the other goals are all unique to the particular level in which they take place. this makes for a lot of more interesting goals, which keeps career mode more fun overall. there are also miscellaneous mini-games such as tennis and a baseball home run contest to entertain yourself with... and earn some spare cash, if youre good enough. plus, with the overall time limit removed, you can skate around in career mode as much as you want. also, as thps 2 and 3 did before it, thps 4 expands the series' trick roster. in addition to adding more mundane tricks, thps 4 adds skitchin', which is latching on to the back of moving vehicles, and the spine transfer, which allows you to launch off of one side of a spine and come down on the other side. thps 4 also makes freestyle tricks--my favorite kind of trick--much easier to do and greatly expands the freestyle trick repertoire the game has to offer. no longer do you have to combo out of a special manual trick to do freestyle tricks--now you can do them out of any manual or nose manual by hitting any combination of two trick buttons. you dont even have to have a full special meter anymore! this doesnt make freestyle tricks any harder to balance, but it does make them more accessible and more like a normal part of the game.
overall, thps 4 id say is by far the best in the series, taking what was good out of the previous games and expanding on it, and taking what was bad with them and fixing it. its not absolutely perfect yet, but its as close as any skating game has come yet, and probably will retain that position until thps 5 comes out. :-)
enjoi!
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
The Ultimate Skating SimDec 25, 2002
I am a real-life skater, so I have fairly high expectations in skating sims. I have played THPS 1, 2, and 3 and all of them were original and fun. However, this one left them all behind. The new career mode format, which allows you to skate for an unlimited amount of time until a goal is activated, is convenient and makes career mode ten times more fun. Also, the fact that each level contains more goals than in 1, 2, or 3 makes the game more challenging and gives it more replay value. This is a must-buy for all skaters/gamers, and most everyone else, too.
13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
THIS IS GONNA BE SWEET!(caps)Oct 12, 2002
Neversoft has really outdone themselves this time. In THPS4, the career mode will have no time limit and the money system (THPS2) will return, along with pro skater Bob Burnquist, who was absent in #3.
The levels will be signifacantly bigger. You thought the Canada skatepark was big? Wait until you see the size of the new University level. Just by looking at a screenshot, I can tell that it's HUGE! You thought Skate Heaven was Neversoft's most creative thing ever? The new objectives will have you wondering where the %#(@ they came up with this stuff. More details as they come =)
11 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Absolutely Enormous!Dec 10, 2002
By Gerald J. Mahoney
"robotmonsterman"
Let me say up front that I was never the slightest bit interested in skating or sports games before the Tony Hawk series came along, but I am totally addicted to this game! It's fun, easy to learn, difficult to master, challenging, frustrating, rewarding and extremely inventive -- everything you could want in a video game. Plus, it's full of so many tasks, ranging from fairly easy to EXTREMELY challenging, that even if you only have a few minutes to play, you can sit down and accomplish something, then move on to the harder tasks when you have time. The most amazing thing about this game is how totally huge it is. There are more levels and more goals than ever before. And the replay value is incredible. Even when you've finished the game (and good luck with that!), you can play again with one of the other skaters and have new goals to accomplish. Plus you can go back and try to get all the gaps and cash you missed along the way. The menus even include screens where you can monitor your progress in getting the gaps. Be warned, if you're a perfectionist, you could spend the rest of your life trying to complete everything in this game. The rest of us will have to be content knowing we've played MOST of it. If you've enjoyed the other Tony Hawk games, this is a no brainer. Buy THPS4 NOW! If you've never played one, you're missing out on what's probably the greatest gaming experience on the market today. You should also buy THPS4 NOW! Kudos to the team at Neversoft for continuing to find ways to improve the greatest series around!
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based on 34 reviews
