Tony Hawk’s
Pro Skater 3 was the first game I bought for my
Nintendo GameCube. Some say that the series is getting
redundant, and should not go any further. Well, I say
NO! First off. THPS3 is the 4th installment (1,
2, 3, 2x) And there are already plans and screen shots
for THPS4 I enjoy each game, because each one
gets better and better. Why stop when you have a hit?
STORY
n/a
The story is about skateboarders going from one place to
another showcasing their talents wherever, and whenever
they can. The game features real life pros.....only
smaller, and they aren’t alive. Just pixels. But
anyway, they do look realistic. And here they are....
Tony Hawk
Karrem Campbell
Rune Glifberg
Bucky Lasek
Chad Muska
Jamie Thomas
Rodney Mullen
Geoff Rowley
Elissa Steamer
Bam Margera
Steve Caballero
Eric Koston
...............and you can even unlock all of the
developers and even Tony Hawk’s sons as well
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GAMEPLAY
5 out of 5
100%
The Gameplay has improved since the last installments.
All of the game’s levels are huge, and much more
interactive. They feature crowds of people doing there
daily thing. And sometimes you may get in their way (or
are they in the way of you?...) You can interact with
them. Some levels require you to find plane tickets for
a particular person, impress the on lookers with some
cool tricks, or find an ax for some guy who looks like
the mortician on the movie The Phantasm.
As you play through the Career Mode, you gain points for
tricks your perform, and tasks you complete. The levels
are larger, meaning that there are more tasks. As you do
these things, you unlock new levels. The levels are also
filled with items to medallions to collect. Some unlock
new boards and some allow you to increase your stats
(speed, balance, etc) Each time you complete the game
with a different skater, the more stuff you will open
up. Completing all the levels with a particular skater
unlocks videos of them in real life doing their stuff.
And like all of the other games in the series, you must
perform tricks to gain points, which in turn gives you a
score that is used to unlock more levels, etc. Also
there are all kinds of new tricks to perform. The fun
thing about the game is trying out everything you can.
Exploring the controls and finding new tricks is what
the game is all about.
Speaking of exploring. The levels are massive, and
multi-level. The airport level is fun. You can explore
the whole level down to the basement area, which is
filled with workers and vehicles transporting luggage
all around the complex. And it’s fun to head straight
into a security guard and jump over him right before you
hit him. Many of the levels have hidden areas containing
objects to complete the objectives. So another part of
the game is searching out for areas almost impossible to
get to. You might just get there is you try.
The cool thing about this game, is the fact that you can
use the SkatePark Editor to design your own levels. And
you can even design your own skater, from the clothes
they wear to their physique.
1-PLAYER MODES
Career Mode
Free Skate
Single Session
Tutorial Mode
Options Mode
2-PLAYER MODES
Graffiti
Trick Attack
Horse
Slap
King of the Hill
Free Skate
The two player modes are fun as well. The screen during
two player switches to split screen. There is sometimes
some slowdown. But for the most part it’s smoother
than the first two games in the installment for the
Playstation, which were not as good as the Dreamcast
versions. Multi-player games are fun, and very
addictive. King of the Hill is one of my favorites. You
can play it with more than two people, using only two
controllers. If you have a bunch of friends over you can
play. The idea of the game is to grab the King’s Crown
and keep it as long as you can. If you still have it
when the time ends you win. And then the player who lost
has to give up his controller to the next person in
line. Until there is Internet play available for the
GameCube, this is as close as you are going to get.
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GRAPHICS
4.5 out of 5
90%
The graphics are crisp. The environments are detailed
better than I have seen in any of the previous
installments. The courses in the game resemble their
true life locales (mostly resemble) The Canadian level
is one of my favorites. The pine trees look great all
covered in snow. Of course the snow doesn’t look as
good as it did in the game, D2, but it’s still
great.
The Tokyo level is bright, colorful, and looks like a
store selling Neon lights. There is some slow down and
glitches as your play the level. So I knocked the score
down half a point.
The characters are all rendered wonderfully. They look
how they should be. You can even customize what type of
clothes they wear, and the scars on their bodies, as
well as tattoos.
Sponsors names and logos are everywhere in the game as
well. Companies like, Volcom, 411, Quicksilver, Nokia,
Jeep, Birdhouse, and lots more. One of the things that
makes the game cool, is the fact that they use
advertising in the levels, like they really do. When you
go to skate parks, you see company stickers and logos
put on everything, from the half-pipes, to the pools,
And kids spray paint pools they skate in, so of course
your going to see graffiti all around.
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SOUND & MUSIC
4 out of 5
80%
The sound is great. Everything sound like it should.
People talked, dogs bark, etc. Each environment that you
play in is brought to life by its sounds. Very
realistic. The music, though is okay. I like most of the
punk rock tunes, but I don’t care for some of the rap
ones. Punk rock is traditional skate music. So I had to
drop the rating down. The game features rock music from
Red Hot Chili Peppers and Alien Ant Farm. Punk music
from The Ramones, AFI. And some rap from Redman and
Xzibit. I hope that the X-Box version allows you to use
your own music. But at least in this one, you can turn
on or off the songs that you want.
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CONTROLS
5 out of 5
100%
Controls are the best out of any of the installments.
The GameCube Standard Controller fits perfectly in the
hand almost better than the Playstation Dual Shock
Controller. The button layout is just right. And of
course the GC Controller vibrates when you fall, jump
off a building, or get hit by a car. And in this game,
you can even rotate the camera around you while you are
doing tricks, or just standing around. by using the
C-Stick. The default setup is just right. But jeremy1456
told me about switching the control scheme for Resident
Evil for the GameCube, so I may have to try it as
well with this game.
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OVERALL
18.5 out of 20
92.5%
One of the best GameCube games out there right now. The
GC version has shorter loading times when compared to
the Playstation 2 version. But the graphics may be
better. I have only played one level on the PS2 version.
Anyway, lots of new features make this game well worth
it. But I hear that the X-Box version will have some
cool enhancements, lots of secrets, and more levels. So
I might have to pick that one up as well.
9.7
