Tony Hawk’s Underground (Xbox)

The fifth game in the series, Tony Hawk’s Underground is the first game to have a true career mode.

You begin the game as a local skater whom nobody knows. Your board is wearing thin, and your tired of being a nobody. As your out skating, you see a flyer for a pro who’s coming to your city to demo. You go to the skate demo and watch. Afterwards, you try to impress the pro, and he gives you advice on how to go about becoming a star. With your friend, Eric, you’re now on your way to becoming a legend.

THUG takes you to various cities to perform different goals. You begin in New Jersey, which acts as a sort of training stage, where goals are simple. Eventually, you’ll visit Manhattan, Vancouver, Moscow, Tampa, San Diego and Hawaii. Most cities are split into different chapters, with each chapter opening new goals.

THUG introduces a new system; walking. You can get off your skateboard to run or walk around the level. If there’s a high tower you want to jump off of, get off your board, climb to the tower (by climbing a ladder or shuffling across a wire), get back on your board, and jump down. One of the new tricks associated with this is the Acid Drop, which can launch you off an opposing pipe, allowing you to pull off 1080’s and up.

Also new to THUG is the ability to drive certain vehicles, like a gardener’s truck, a sports car, or a leaf blower. These are used for goals, but can be unlocked to drive whenever and wherever.

Next to the standard Create-a-Park and Create-a-Skater, you can now create your own decks and your own tricks. The biggest feature is Create-a-Goal. You can create custom goals for one of the levels (or your own), and choose what pedestrian will give it to you, his/her dialogue, and what they’ll say when you win.