A game with what I feel is like, a 2010s version of one of those screenplays every single film student in the 90s wrote after seeing Pulp Fiction, between the laughable attempts at tough-guy dialogue in the opening segment and the equally laughable attempts at profundity throughout. Its depictions of poverty, crime, and drug use all feel blaringly inauthentic ("a baggie of heroin" is an all-timer in the annals of bad video game dialogue). I have absolutely no clue why Devolver liked this enough to publish it.

Despite me not owning any of the tony hawk franchise as a kid, I cant stress enough how not being an already established fan of skating games didnt mean jack shit. Everything about this game hits the sweet itch of the early to mid 00s while also having gameplay thats aged like fine wine. The collision feels almost jank on more than one occasion but its true mastery of the mechanics and physics in this game that separates those from feeling like theyre clunking and lucking out in a mission to mission based experience

And those who become fuckin' Awesome at it, consistently being rewarded for soaking up each grind- each halfpipe each anything you come across that you can get points out of or put your skateboard on
You are rewarded for it ALL in full, stat gains and the like
But also just the meandering about that seems like youre doing run-of-the-mill random jackass chores
STILL teaches u and helps u get better at the game, its so fucking cool.

I could probably not tell you a single track off this game's OST by name except for maybe 3 but that shit was such a vibe....

ALSO I DONT THINK IT WAS INTENTIONAL BUT SOME OF THE DIALOGUE MAKES ME FEEL LIKE THE AVATAR SKATER'S DIALOGUE WASNT ADJUSTED FOR GIRL SKATERS (sometimes like when Eric is talking about you and 'The Tank' he'll refer to u as she/her still thats not my point) like the ones talking about hot girls the NPCs just kind of assume youre a lesbian and i think thats pretty groovy

Also Eric Sparrow is one of the most incredibly well done foils in a video game ever
AND THIS GAME ALSO FEELS LIKE A CELEBRATION OF THE PRO SKATER SERIES IN GENERAL WITH ITS CALLBACKS AND THE ONE MISSION WHERE IT COMES EASY AS HELL TO U IF U PLAYED THE PREVIOUS GAMESSSS AND JUST

Damn.

I picked up this shit on a whim to play and yet i got a rewarding, addictive storymode with a great payoff and a shitload of unlockables and cheats and new game plus and GOD DAMN THIS GAME HAD A P A S S I ON BEHIND IT BITCH.

Also you can play as Gene Simmons and Iron Man and I accidentally got an easter egg from being mauled to death by chihuahuas, you Need to atleast try this shit once in your life. Also the character creator is good

okay okay im done, this is probably the longest review ive ever typed on this site
(also i wish i played the PS2 version instead of the Gamecube version FUCK DOING SPINES ON A GAMECUBE CONTROLLER, FUCK THEM! i was stuck on the hawaii drop for so long bc you have to mash those triggers so Hard babe)

first finished replay in probably 3 years? this was my first dark-side run! it kinda wasn't that great. i do like that the game implements the canon star wars lore that the more evil you are the worse your chronic skin condition gets. it makes for an extremely funny scene when juhani is telling me she worries that i'm falling to the dark side and the camera cuts back to my player character and i'm just this gaunt corpse of a woman with like gray skin.

definitely still nowhere near the level of kotor2's writing as it's really just typical bioware storytelling copy/pasted back onto a unique setting with a few interesting characters (read: canderous and jolee) but if anything it's very well-executed bioware storytelling. combat is terrible. the last two 'dungeons' are horrible. but few things in star wars as a multimedia story come close to the elation you get from john cygan absolutely crushing his delivery when he's telling you a war story wherein he is absolutely, 10000% the bad guy

my ONLY nitpiks with this amazing little game is that the co-op feels like a massive after-thought unless they have more stuff theyre gonna roll out post-launch, i enjoyed playing as bandana dee but the camera sometimes was like "aw man, really? why cant i just walk a foot apart from kirby.." AND i think im just never gonna get over how much i like the Void Termina boss fight in Kirby Star Allies compared to the one in this game as a final boss. Its not bad by any means though, im also walking away from this kirby entry with some new fave songs and i REALLY like how much there is to see and explore and how the Objectives are laid out. Definitely a contender for one of my top 5 games this year

IT'S A WEST COAST THING
YOU BETTA CHECK YA
EXO
SKELLOTEEN
AND IF IT AIN'T THE SAME AS OURS WE'LL WRECK YOUR TEAM

Might write a serious review on this game and it's development on a later date because it's quite the ride. A 5/5 in my heart.