American Sk8land - one of the best - 8/10

I got given this game by a mate who knows that I am a huge Tony hawk fan. That being said I have only ever owned one game that being Pro Skater 4 on the cube. I had not been impressed enough to spend good money on the previous versions. I was a little apprehensive with this game wondering how it had been altered to run on the DS.
My mind was set at ease very quickly. The developers have given players loads of options that have made this one of those games that will not sit in a collection and gather dust it will be played again & again.
Story
The main storyline involves you trying to rebuild one of the original skate parks built in a warehouse that has been let fall into a state of disrepair. This is done by skating through various areas performing tricks and tasks to gain money. You also enlist the help of various pro skaters in rebuilding the skate park.
Gameplay
Even though the story is fundamentally the same as other Tony Hawk games it seems to hold more interest. I also found that the tricks were easier to perform. I think this has a lot to do with the controls on the DS being more forgiving than the ones on the cube controller.
If you choose not to play story mode you do have a couple of other options
Classic where you can play as yourself or one of twelve pro skaters unlocking different areas by performing different tricks or obtaining a certain score for finding various items
Free Skate This is the same as for any other Tony Hawk game a great place to practice tricks before you embark on Story mode

This game also had a wireless option that I can’t comment on as I do not have a wifi connector.
Another feature of this game is the Legacy camera option this means that if you preferred the GBA style of locked camera you can chance this setting to provide it.
There is also a Kid Mode that apparently makes the game easier for younger kids. I tried this and found very little difference in having it on or off. I found balancing to be about the only significant difference.
The game also provides you with the ability to design your own graphics for your board via the graphics editor and board editor features. These two features would be a lot more enjoyable if you have a little bit of artistic talent. I did though spend a lot of time trying to bring out the inner artist (to only discover there wasn’t one).

Story 8/10
Graphics 8/10
Gameplay 9/10
Overall 8/10

This game has renewed my faith in the Tony Hawk series. I am now looking forward to getting a copy of Downhill Jam.

Submitted by pbear 25/07/2007 11 5

Join MyDS to vote for your favourite story!

More Info:

Tony Hawks American Sk8land

Other Reviews:

• pbear Review 8/10 by pbear
• Wii-Fan Review 9/10 by Wii-Fan

Related Videos:

• 
  Looney Tunes: Cartoon Concerto
• 
  MegaMan ZX Advent
• 
  Real Football 2008
• 
  Pokemon FireRed

• 
  Deep Labyrinth Nintendo DS Trailer TV
• 
  Theories on Pokemon Duskgold and Dawnsilver
• 
  Jump Ultimate Stars Championship (Final Match)
• 
  Star Fox Command X-Play Review

• 
  85 59
• 
  17 50
• 
  41 48
• 
  33 43
• 
  44 37
• 
  47 34