A worthy entry into the Tony Hawk Franchise, but not without its problems.
Graphics: Good, for the time. However, looking at it through the eyes of a modern gamer, there would be quite a few flaws, such as the clothes looking as if they were grafted to the characters bodies during cutscenes. However, during actual gameplay, they're pretty good. The boards' graphics look good, and the main character looks pretty good as well, depending on how they're customized.
Sound: The music in this game is great. This gets points just for being the game that introduced me to Bloc Party, with Like Eating Glass. Love that song. Overall, the soundtrack is composed of a ton of punk covers & master recordings, and it really fits the skating game genre, with bands like Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, and others lending their talents, and it sounds and works very well. However, while you're skating around the various environments, you can only hear two things: your skating, and your music. The cities don't sound like cities at all, aside from the occasional screech of tires & honking of horns when you grind on cars. The cars themselves have no engine sounds, there's barely any people (and those that are present do nothing), and it overall makes for a flat listening experience, which might have been explained had the main character been wearing headphones, but isn't. In addition, during cutscenes, the same problem remains. Little details that should be present, such as the smacking of the tail of a board against the ground/the sound of wheels touching down, aren't, and this becomes pretty noticeable when a npc is demonstrating something, since all that can be heard is the sound of a board rolling across the ground, stopping, then starting again, occasionally broken by the sound of a grind. Lastly, one voice actor for all the possible main characters. Really?
Gameplay: classic tony hawk series skating, which in itself is a good thing, but when coupled with little or no variation, begins to get a little boring. If you get tired of skating, you can try the new BMX bikes that have been added to the game, but they feel much more shallow compared to the board, as they have barely any tricks that can be performed (compared to the innumerable flips & grabs possible on a board). Overall, the bikes feel like a last-minute addition that could have been so much more, had it been given more time. One aspect that the game does very well with is customization. You can choose from 5 or 6 main characters at the beginning, and then buy clothes from stores in each main area, accessories (such as backpacks, gloves, hats, etc.), and even pick from a wide variety of tattoos to decorate your character with. The possibilities are nigh-endless. In addition, the decks of the boards are well-done too, with a very wide range of brands/styles, and the ability to change the color of the wheels contributing to turn an already customizable game into something akin to a skating rpg, sans stats given by outfits.
Overall: This game is a fun addition, with some problems that may detract from the experience. It's worth a try, and if you can overlook the problems, a purchase.