Tony Hawk’s Underground 2

Join Tony and Bam for the sickest road trip ever.

NA release: 4th October 2004
EU release: 8th October 2004
JP release: N/A
Developer: Neversoft
Publisher: Activision
NGC Magazine Score: 82%
Mods Used: None

With this specifically being called Underground 2, I was expecting this to follow on from the first game, either a direct follow on from the game’s surprisingly decent story, or you being a new player following in their footsteps or something like that. Instead, we just have Jackass. Bam and Tony are having a Jackass competition tour and you join in for the ride.

In each level, you play as four different characters. First is your custom skater, then one of the professional skaters. Then hidden in each level is a character loosely themed to the level and finally a character with some sort of motorised scooter-like vehicle. These control horribly and don’t have many moves. Although they at least suit the gameplay more than cars.

The way the goals work has also been changed. You get a vague description of them and you pretty much have to figure out what they mean. Sometimes you need to talk to a specific person (and you have to be the right character, or else you get some pointless text) but for others you just have to do the challenge as per its requirements. The first level has one where you have to decapitate statues, which means performing tricks on them. Except one of them I couldn’t reach, despite following the exact instructions in a guide. A lot about the game seemed less precise and reliable than previous ones.

For fans of older Tony Hawk’s games, the classic 2-minute timer mode returns. All the levels in the game are available in this mode (although I didn’t like a single one of them, they’re oddly designed and just too large and empty), alongside a bunch of classic levels. So if you preferred THPS1-3, this game probably suits you more than the previous two. For me, I just didn’t get on with it that well.

Fine

Like the previous Underground, there are some bits that really don’t belong in a skateboarding game -driving vehicles, spray-painting walls and running around on foot. These bits are still crap, and should have been left out. Everything else is great.
Martin Kitts, NGC Magazine #100

Remake or remaster?

It would still be good in a remaster compilation.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to get Tony Hawk’s Underground 2.