Activision Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (Game Boy Advance)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 8.8 (4.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Ryan Davis
• Reviewed on: 11/14/2002
• Updated on: 05/01/2003
• Released on: 10/28/2002
• Originally published on GameSpot: Activision Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (Game Boy Advance) Review

One of the biggest surprises of the Game Boy Advance launch lineup was Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, which featured simple polygonal riders in an isometric environment and proved to be surprisingly playable. Though, perhaps even more surprising has been the proliferation of action sports titles on the GBA. Almost all the big console action sports series--Tony Hawk, Mat Hoffman, Dave Mirra, Aggressive Inline--have been given a similar treatment, and to good effect. Now, Vicarious Visions brings Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 to the GBA. It doesn't quite make Tony Hawk 3 obsolete, but rather gives the handheld crowd yet another excellent action sports game to choose from.

The handheld series' controls haven't changed dramatically since Tony Hawk 2 first hit the GBA. In Tony Hawk 4, lip tricks, grab tricks, grinds, and ollies are performed using the L, R, B, and A buttons, respectively. Reverts and manuals still work as they did in Tony Hawk 3, making it easier to chain together long strings of tricks for bigger combo points. Like in its full-sized console siblings, the big gameplay addition in Tony Hawk 4 for the GBA is the spine transfer. If you're skating a half-pipe that is back-to-back with another half-pipe, you can seamlessly transfer from one to the other by pressing both shoulder buttons while you're in the air. You can also use the spine transfer to save yourself from a bail if you misalign a vert trick and are in danger of hitting the pavement instead of the ramp. The spine transfer isn't as radical a gameplay enhancement as the revert and manual were when they were first introduced, but every level is designed to take advantage of it in some way, and it certainly takes some of the edge off the game's isometric perspective. Tony Hawk 4 also introduces flatland tricks to the Game Boy Advance, which can be executed by performing a manual while your special meter is full and then pressing different buttons in tandem with directions on the D pad.

Aside from the addition of the spine transfer, the other big change found in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 is the layout of the career mode. The pervasive two-minute time limit has been done away with, and you now have an infinite amount of time to skate around and explore the levels. You activate objectives by approaching certain pedestrians on the street and tapping the L button, at which point they'll present you with a challenge and the clock will start ticking. As in past Tony Hawk games, the challenges include the standards, like collecting letters to spell "skate," finding hidden tapes, and completing point-based challenges. There are also plenty of level-specific challenges, such as finding five frat boys in the college level or causing the elephant at the zoo to stampede. The sheer number of goals included here simply dwarfs what we saw in Tony Hawk 3, and since you don't have to complete the same goals over and over again with each different skater, the game stays fun for longer. The multiplayer modes found in Tony Hawk 3 return in Tony Hawk 4, including trick attack, HORSE, tag, and king of the hill, though this time the game has multiplayer support for up to four players.

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