Neversoft - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (2000)

TONY HAWK'S PRO SKATER 2
Release Date: October 31, 2000
Developer: Neversoft
Language: English

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, often abbreviated as THPS2, is the second game in the Tony Hawk series of sports games. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2000. It was first released for the PlayStation, with subsequent ports to the Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, Xbox (as THPS2X) and iOS. The game received generally positive reviews.

The player, playing as a professional skateboarder (either real-life or created) completes a number of tasks which result in cash rewards. With money gained, the player can then purchase skill improvements and better tricks and skateboards. THPS2 was also the first game in the series to introduce the manual, a skateboarding trick where the performer balances on two wheels. This improved players' ability to string together high-scoring trick combos. Many new tricks were introduced for the first time, as was the option to edit the combinations for tricks. It was also the first of the Pro Skater games to feature Create-a-Skater and Park Editor features, now staples in the series. Three new professional skaters were introduced to the series on this game: Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen, and Eric Koston.
Most of the levels in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 are designed for the player to complete 10 tasks in a two-minute time limit. Such tasks include finding the five letters of the word SKATE, finding 5 of an object specific to the level (hall passes in the school level for example), three tasks related to the score (as opposed to two on the first game), a particular grind, and finding a hidden tape somewhere in the level. Cash is also scattered around the levels in order for players to find, with a bonus once the level is fully cleared. Once a player has enough cash, they can continue on to a new level. The maximum amount of money that can be obtained in a single skater career is $150,000.
The other type of levels are competition levels, from which the player can only advance once they have won a medal, which also comes with a cash prize depending on which medal was won. The rating by the judges that a player receives in a competition is based on how much they score, variation of tricks, bails, and how much of the level they have used. The judges give scores based on these criteria, the highest and lowest are taken away, leaving the average. There are three minute-long runs in total, the best two count. Competition levels also contain hidden cash like the regular levels.