October 28, 1999 Web posted at: 2:02 p.m. EDT (1802 GMT) by Scary Larry, GamePro

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(IDG) -- Skateboarding is not a crime - but trying to top Tony Hawks Pro Skater in the Fun Factor ratings will be. This fast paced thrill-a-minute skateboarding game will be the standard on the PlayStation for a while. It's one of the best games this year, and it's full slate of tricks, bails, and twists that will keep you satisfied for a while.

The daily grind

Don't think that just because it's a skater game that you have to be a skater to play it. Tony Hawk lets the novice and the skate junkie alike enjoy the action. There's no complicated story line or rendered cut scenes in-between skating -- you simply grind, gleam, and glide through ten different skate areas including classics like Burnside in Portland or the streets of San Francisco.

You'll tear it up in abandoned warehouses, schools, and even in a river gorge in Phoenix. Pick from one of ten skaters, all with different moves and special tricks as you try to grab high scores, find hidden video tapes, and collect other items to help you reach your objectives.

The game is a slick piece of work for the PlayStation. Although you will find the occasional seam split or blank polygonal dead-end, you'll be amazed by the detail in the game, including the full-on face bashing and asphalt blood-letting that hardcore skaters are used to.

But what really seals this skate's fate is the game's incredible speed, which blazes past games like Trickstyle for the Dreamcast. The complement of special moves is also spectacular, with a level of variation that makes almost any gravity-defying trick possible.

Wheels of fortune

A good skater would readily admit that the music attached to skate culture is a big part of the experience. Activision never slouched by giving lame, generic studio music to Tony Hawk fans -- expect the thrash stylings of the Dead Kennedys, Primus, Goldfinger, and Suicidal Tendencies to round the soundtrack out.

Don't like skate music? Turn it off and skate to Frank Sinatra to see what a difference a song makes.

Although the game is styled so novices can easily figure out the controls, finger pimps will rule the roost in Tony Hawk. Some of the better combinations (and the higher scores) are achieved by the most intense finger aerobics since Track and Field. Mashing won't help either - you have to know the combos to score.

Hawk your other games

All in all, Tony Hawk is an impressive tour-de-force in the skating arena. Competition like MTV Sports: Snowboarding, Trickstyle, and Thrasher: Skate and Destroy already have the bar set pretty high with this game. Who will bring the Hawk down? It's going to take a fairly high-flying predator to do the job.

Graphics: 4.5
Tony has some fogging problems (yeah, it's San Francisco, but there ain't that much fog here), and some seam-splitting, but the game readily makes up for it with lightning fast speed.

Sound: 5.0
The best of skate punk's best. Dead Kennedys, Vandals, Unsane, and The Ernies round out an impressive list of music.

Control: 4.5
Finger twisting fun, if you have the patience. Most will rise to the challenge, but you'd better work on your varial combos before you step up to the challenge.

Fun Factor: 5.0
Fun, addictive, and exciting -- you couldn't ask for more in a game. Tony Hawk may not have the graphic flair of the Dreamcast, but it goes to prove that looks aren't everything.

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