Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3: Different than PS2! A pleasent surprise!
Lamrock
90% score
Well, I have the Xbox version of THPS 3 and getting the Playstation 1 version. You may look at this game and laugh. It is much cheaper and for the very few with a PS1 only, it is all they have. However, this difference between the next-gen versions of 3 and this par the difference between this and the PS1 Tony Hawk 2. Not to say, this isn't a different game than 2, it is but it strongly resembles the game engine and graphics in 2. The levels are totally different than on PS2 {and next-gen systems, I use PS2 for short} and they are surprisingly the same size if not BIGGER on the PS1! This is where the game soars. The levels were actually better done than on it's PS2 Big brother! I liked the layout better and the areas {Preferably the 20 time better Skater Island, the various buildings and rails in L.A. and of course, you cant beat the satisfaction of crushing the Ice cream truck with a crane} were much more, uh, basically just better. Shaba definately did better there and kicked ass in the goal factor. I enjoyed the Career mode more in TH3 PS1 than on the PS2. Also, the downhill level was much funner than Cruise Ship! Now, PS1 wasnt all better than the next-gen versions. The create-a-skater lacked depth and was basically the same in 2 and since you could customize the pros and there was only 3 faces to choose from, the feature was useless. You couldn't even make female skaters! How lame and sexist is that?! The graphics were pretty nice but they cant touch PS2 and gang. The pop-up was terrible in wide surfaces so you cant tell distance sometimes. A bonus though is that the gap checklist returns! It makes the game much longer than PS2 version if you commit to it! The gameplay sorta lacks without the ability to tweak your tricks, do special flatlands and such. I would recommend it but it is unfair to compare with PS2 even though it comes much closer than expected. i hate it when people dont go into detail while reviewing!
