The GameCube version of THPS3 isn't as good as the rest, but is still one of the best games out there.
User Rating: 8.3 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 GC
For the last few years, Neversoft’s highly popular, critically acclaimed Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series has been paving the way for the extreme sports genre almost single-handedly. Debuting on the Playstation in 1999, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was widely received as not only the best skateboarding game on the market, but also the best game of its nature, period. The next installment, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 perfected basically everything the first game set out to do and made itself perhaps the most complete sports game on the market at that time. With the addition of many great gameplay features and great technical improvement, it was basically a flawless game upon release. The thing about the Tony Hawk series is that it has made an appearance on just about every platform known to man. The Playstation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, PC, etc. have all seen their entries to the series. Generally speaking, they have all been worthwhile, to say the least. Most recently, Neversoft has finally made the leap to the next generation with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, commonly referred to as THPS3. Debuting on the Playstation 2, and later seeing a release on the Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Xbox, and PC, THPS3 once again ups the ante and brings forth more skating goodness like never seen before. One thing that notably changes THPS3 from the previous additions is online play. Though it isn’t available on any platform other than the Playstation 2, it takes the next step in adding value to the franchise. Like most sports games it can get cumbersome to see a release that really isn’t necessary every year. Though they often will come complete with updated rosters, prettier graphics, and some new tunes, they often don’t offer too much outside of what you’d regularly expect from a sports game. THPS3, on the other hand, offers the next step in skateboarding games by going online and to top it off, some great new gameplay additions that will really help the series grow and flourish as more entries come along. Gameplay wise, it’s very reminiscent of past entries in the series. You’ll still be bombarded with tons of objectives to go for like grinding on various platforms, getting a certain amount of points, etc. but most importantly, they fixed the string-of-combos mechanic. In THPS2 they added the manual system, which allowed you to go from trick to trick without stopping by popping a wheelie on your skateboard. The one problem with this, though, was that you couldn’t do it off of a vert ramp. With the re-vert, the newly added gameplay mechanic in THPS3, you will be able to continue that off of a ramp and directly go in to a manual from that. It flows seamlessly and makes the gameplay better than ever. If you’ve been playing THPS for a while, you probably know that the game has a lot of value in it. If you like the game, you probably will be spending a good chunk of time with it. Whether it’s going for the career mode, trick attack, multiplayer, or online play you can spend hundreds of hours on this game easily. It’s a great party game and it’s really fun to boot. Graphically, Tony Hawk has never looked better. Naturally, coming off of hardware from last generation this is to be expected, but the game looks absolutely fantastic on every system, from the PS2 to the GBA. The character models look great and the level design is genius. Granted, they maybe could use a little work in terms of textures, but outside of that it’s one of the better looking games on the market. Also, it sounds fantastic as well. The sound effects alone make this game quite possibly the best in the series, but the soundtrack also helps a lot as well. Like other entries in the series there is a mix of genres going on. Whether it’s rap, metal, or punk, you’ll have a good mix of everything going on. This time around, thankfully, you have the option of turning off some of the tracks you don’t like. That’s a nice addition, really, it is. Overall, THPS3 takes the series to the next level. What was already basically perfect from last generation’s standards, this gets better. From the new re-vert stuff to the great graphics and level design, THPS3 is a must-own. Whether you’re getting the Playstation 2 version or one of the others, it’s highly recommendable on all accounts. It’s simply one of the best games on store shelves at the moment.
