PSX GAME RECOMMENDATIONS |

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Games are recommended on a four-point scale like those "strongly agree/disagree" questions you get on surveys. This scale goes "Strongly", "If you like this kinda game", "Watch it online", and "Avoid at all costs" from best to worst. It's one part how likely I am to replay the game and one part how likely I am to recommend it to fans of that game's genre. I'm not in the business of objectivity, just what's fun to me. No reason to play a game if you're not having fun, yeah?

[#] Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (Activision, 2000)

If the intro video, with its crazy rooftop jumps set to "Guerrilla Radio", didn't clue you in, you're not paying enough attention. The pinnacle of this series on PS1, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is that perfect sequel that keeps all the good stuff and polishes everything else to a sheen. This time around, the scores and the jumps get higher, and manuals (where you press up or down and then the opposite and try to balance) help you glue it together. It gets downright absurd at times—and I love it.

The first game suffered from some stiffness, and I wouldn't pick most of its levels as personal favorites, but 2 gets everything right. The levels are much more intricate, more fun to explore, and visually, I think they're more inviting. It's hard to forget the summer heat of Venice Beach, the creepy, seedy subways of New York, or the, er, Bullring (featuring a loop! Must be a Tony Hawk game). I even think the soundtrack is better—less ska and more Fu Manchu and Styles of Beyond, yes please.

There's tons to unlock in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, from cheats to secret characters to entirely new secret stages, and believe me, you'll wanna play to unlock them all. Add in a create-a-skater mode and a fucking park editor, and you simply will not get bored. You can play through ten times and find new things every time. You even have the ability to remap tricks and specials this time around! Sublime. Possibly the best game on the entire system.

Reviewed	Supports analog controls?	My favorite part	Recommended?
February 4, 2021	Yes	Pulling off absurd gaps	Strongly

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