Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 Demo

Skateboards are definitely not the safest or the quickest way to travel around town, but they are fun and exciting. While casual skating around the neighborhood or abandoned pools may not be particularly dangerous, other than the occasional sprained ankle, the sport is also played at a more professional level, which features very high jumps and highly dangerous stunts.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is the second installment in the iconic franchise that portrays the fun and excitement world of skating, as seen through the eyes of an ambitious young skater. Just like in the first title, the main purpose of the game is to give you the opportunity to try out insane skateboard tricks without putting yourself in harm's way, as well as have some fun along the way.

Since the original release was so well received by the fans, there weren't a lot of things that needed to be changed, which is why this sequel does not really emphasize on that. Naturally, some of the mechanics have been improved and everything runs a bit smoother now, but the basics have remained largely the same. In essence, the purpose of the game was to provide the players with new content, as well as new tricks and possibilities to extend the fun.

Another aspect that needed a bit of refining was the control scheme, since the stunts are rather tricky to execute if the controls are not responsive. This time around, the developers made sure that the skater responds to your input as accurately as possible, thus making the entire experience more satisfying. The large collection of new courts also allows for far crazier tricks, which may cause some pretty painful falls as well.

Although the graphics are not exactly essential in a title like this, good level design and decent texturing is always a welcomed sight. However, the character animation is of utmost importance, because the stunts need to look as real as possible in order to make the experience worthwhile. Naturally, whenever a tricks goes sour, the falling animations are incredibly fun as well, although rather painful to watch at first.

In the end, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is definitely a refined product and a worthy sequel, thanks to the variety of improvements and the massive additions when it comes to content. There are always more things to do and the replayability is through the roof.