T.H.P.S. 2.

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T.H.P.S. 2.

Prepare for the thrill of Pro Skating in the concrete jungle. If you're a new skater, strap on your kneepads, put on your cup and prepare to eat plenty of pavement. Even the most skilled cyber-skaters will be challenged in this professional circuit of stunts, jumps, flips, spills and adrenaline pulsing action.

The graphics in THPS 2 were a real treat. Textures and mapping were well done, as was the ambient lighting in the skate parks. While this game doesn't require a super-fast engine to power the graphics, the creators of THPS 2 managed the difficult task of having superior graphic environments without compromising the game play, creating lag or any other noticeable side effects. This was an impressive accomplishment considering the low system requirements needed to play the game. Trees, benches, lights and objects in general were all done with remarkable attention to detail. In some of the better constructed parks, you really get the feeling of being out on a summer night at a nearby skate park, brushing up on your chops, or having an all out trick-fest with the local competition.

The first thing I noticed about the game play was the ease of playability. The keyboard's arrow keys control the basic character movements. The trick hot keys are controlled by the number pad, and are used in conjunction with the movement keys to produce some pretty spectacular stunts. Players who are familiar with these types of games will have no difficulty in learning the movement/trick key combinations. Even for the novice, it won't be long before you will be doing ollies and nosegrinds like the pros. Some of the basic maneuvers include: ollie, nollie, wallride, manuals, boneless, and no comply. Each skater has a different trick setup. You can configure your tricks any way you like using the Edit Tricks section. There are also multiple grind and lip tricks including: 50-50, nosegrind, 5-0, boardslide/lipslide, smith/feeble, crooked/overcrook, nosebluntslide, and bluntslide for you to wow the crowds with.

If you have even a remote interest in skateboarding, get this game. If you don't, you will after going a few rounds on this all-out skating frenzy. The producers of THPS 2 (Activision and Neversoft) obviously went through a lot of time and effort to make this game a realistic skating extravaganza…it has definitely paid off for them. Activision has created a rock-solid gaming experience with superior graphics, music and playability. This is not a game that will be turned into a coaster, used for skeet shooting, or gathering dust motes in a remote corner of my office. It will be played and enjoyed -isn't that the mark of a truly successful game? You be the judge.