Finally....A Positive Review!!!!!!!!!

Gameplay
For those of you who have not played Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, where have you been? Tony Hawk's Pro Skater has been the one of the best game series released on the PlayStation. You choose a skateboarder and proceed to perform various tricks, score points and collect hidden items throughout the wide variety of skateparks in the game.

In all fairness I should compare this game to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. The graphics are pretty much the same. Executing tricks? Same. "So, if I own T. Hawk 2 why should I buy #3?" you ask. Well, my friend, besides the new character line up, there are many improvements in this game.

The tricks in T. Hawk 3 are all executed the same. Tricks are performed by pressing a button and a direction on the D-pad. The biggest change in the game is the addition of the "Revert," which is the newest trick in the arsenal of the T. Hawk 3 skaters. When coming down from a ramp, pressing R2 activates the revert, basically pulling off a switch with your board. This move will open the door for half pipe skaters, because before you were limited to ending your trick as you came down a ramp. Now you can hit the revert to execute a manual, go up the other side of the half pipe, come down, and repeat.

T. Hawk 3 has completely eliminated money. Levels are unlocked by completing level goals. Buying stat points and new boards are also no longer available. Instead "stat points" and the "hidden deck" are scattered throughout the levels.

Characters
Like in all the other games, there are plenty of skateboarders from which to choose. Here's the rundown of selectable characters:

* Tony Hawk
* Steve Caballero
* Kareem Campbell
* Rune Glifberg
* Eric Koston
* Buck Lasek
* Rodney Mullen
* Chad Muska
* Andrew Reynolds
* Geoff Rowley
* Elissa Steamer
* Jamie Thomas
* Bam Margera

There also are hidden characters to unlock by beating the game with a 100% score with any character.

Levels
T. Hawk 3 features a wide variety of new level designs. All are unique to the area from which they come. For example, Los Angeles has a freeway, the airport takes place in an airport, and Japan has lots of neon lights (Japan has lots of neon lights?). Here's a list of selectable levels I could choose from.

* The Foundry
* Los Angeles
* Rio
* Suburbia
* Airport
* Skater Island
* Canada
* Tokyo

Customizable
There is also a "Park Editor" where you can create your own skate park. There are various bowls, halfpipes, rails, and ramps to choose from. Each bowl, halfpipe, and rail has a submenu where you can select from many different versions of each item. Naming gaps is back in T. Hawk 3, which was always a cool feature in T. Hawk 2. I remember, back when my friends and I played T. Hawk 2, we named this one gap, and would always grind it the opposite way. To this day "backwards up the poop shoot" has to be the funniest trick in T. Hawk 2. Well in our park, anyways.

While we're on the topic of "editing" I think it would be appropriate to mention the "create-a-skater" mode. Like the mode suggests, players have the ability to customize their own skater. There are no changes from the second T. Hawk. All the options are basically the same. There are many new heads and clothes to choose from, but the ability to select sunglasses, with different hairstyles and colors is not available. Too bad, I really wanted to make a disco stu character. Guess I have to do it on PS2.