A game that lets you pull off tricks and stunts like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, but uses scooters instead of skateboards, seems like a logical extension of the concept--after all, scooters have become extremely popular. Just as scooters have appeared on the scene to steal some of the attention from skateboards, Whirl Tour has been designed to steal some of the spotlight from the Tony Hawk games. Whirl Tour's scooter tricks and gameplay are very similar to those of its skateboarding cousin, but Whirl Tour has a few new tricks up its sleeve, and it makes some unique additions to the traditional Tony Hawk formula while remaining similar enough to be instantly familiar to Tony Hawk veterans.

Tricks aren't just for skateboards.

In Whirl Tour, players traverse levels performing fancy tricks on the ground, on rails, and in the air to earn points. In all, Whirl Tour features 66 unique tricks that are all executed with button combos that can be tweaked to personal preference. Most of the gameplay mechanics will be familiar, like the equilibrium balancer on grinds--where you compensate left or right to keep an indicator as close to the center as possible--which has seemingly been imported straight from Tony Hawk. Additionally, upon successful completion of a trick or combination, a certain amount of energy will be added to a meter on the side of the screen. Once the energy bar is filled, you'll be able to perform one of 22 different "sick tricks," which add even more variety in the gameplay.

Performing various tricks is a fairly common gameplay mechanic, but Whirl Tour sets itself apart with the way its level design is worked into the gameplay. For example, bosses are one major addition. Bosses threaten you by breathing fire, creating shockwaves, and even hurling various items at you. Taking out a level's two bosses is a fairly common objective in Whirl Tour, and launching yourself at them and then performing a trick just before you make contact is the only way to harm the bosses. Most bosses take a few hits to kill.

Once you kill a boss, it'll drop a key, which is just one of the many unique collectables and power-ups found in Whirl Tour. Once keys are collected from both bosses, a new section of the map will be unlocked. Some power-ups are fairly mundane, like the self-explanatory health spheres. Other items are more unique and boost various attributes like jumping, speed, spinning, and balance. Furthermore, grabbing 20 scooter coins unlocks a new scooter, though the final scooter can only be unlocked once the entire game is beaten. There are 10 scooters total, and each has its own mix of strengths and weaknesses in attributes that mirror, with the addition of turning speed, the ones affected by the aforementioned power-ups. Since levels also include a time limit, the final power-up, "timer" coins, add to the amount of time remaining.

Don't lose your balance!

The time limit propels the action and creates a sense of urgency in the levels, much like in the previous Tony Hawk games. Each level has seven mission objectives. One type of objective is to reach a specific score by successfully performing tricks and trick combos. Another objective is to perform a trick into or on a specific object, thereby causing it to collapse, activate, fall over, or otherwise affect whatever locale the map is set in. Other objectives include completing specific tricks in specific places, finding the three music CDs distributed throughout the map, killing the aforementioned bosses to unlock a new section of the map, and destroying the transmitter found in the newly unlocked section.

But don't worry, because the transmitters aren't nearly as out of place as they may sound, and they actually tie into the story. In the game's opening cinematic, the members of the band Flipside are abducted in the middle of a successful concert by mad Dr. Skeezicks. Only Wasa B., the band's roadie and helper, is left behind, and he must travel the world over, destroying the transmitters that keep the band members imprisoned. Not coincidentally, Wasa B. (which, if you don't get the joke, is pronounced "wasabi," like the Japanese condiment) is the first playable character available in the story mode, in which you complete objectives to unlock further levels. To rescue the band members, you also need to beat the special race levels unlocked after each transmitter is destroyed. The race levels play much like you might expect--you must race a computer-controlled enemy through the level. If you win, you'll rescue a band member, who will then be available as a playable character.