Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 (THUG2) furthers the series in many ways, while keeping the lovable parts intact. One of the original Underground’s biggest changes was the moving of the series away from timed, two-minute runs and introducing platform-like objectives to each level. After four installments of the series, the gameplay needed a shot in the arm. Branching off of that, THUG2 sets the game up with two teams, Team Hawk and Team Bam, each vying for World Destruction Tour champion; you take your place as a low-level skater chosen to go along with Mr. 900 and further the destruction.

The levels, which are spread across the globe, provide you with a new experience and new objectives to complete. Starting at a throwback to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, you begin in the Warehouse for some training. After your skills are brushed up, you enter the game in one of America’s oldest cities, Boston. Objectives here range from easy (decapitating three statues) to a little harder, performing a relatively easy trick on a moving vehicle. For each objective completed you earn points. When you have enough points you move on to the next level.

To change things up a bit, you will find three other characters to play in each of the game’s levels. Before beginning, you choose a pro skater from a given few to be your wingman. After you find him in the level, you can control the pro and are tasked with new objectives to complete. Not stopping there, developer Neversoft also included hidden characters in each level, each with their own whacked-out vehicle to drive. You’ll find Jessie James, Steve-O, Matadors and many others throughout the game’s levels. Just like the pros, each of these secret characters has new objectives for you to complete in order to progress in the game.

The beauty of the Tony Hawk series has always been in the level design, and I’m happy to report that Neversoft has managed to, once again, create engaging, fun levels that can hold your attention for a long period of time with their variety and layout. Also, environmental variables come into play as well. When thrashing around in Spain you will eventually release a bull that will charge you and end up bringing down a huge building for you to skate on. The destruction aspect of the game isn’t just in the name; it actually plays well into how you progress, and it plays well.

Like any game, gameplay is the most important aspect, and this is where the Tony Hawk series has never faltered. With each revision something new has been added to further allow for the once-elusive 100,000 point combo. This time, to aid in our quest, your character is allowed to “freak out” after bailing. After you fall you will be given a meter on screen that you can fill by tapping a button repeatedly on your controller. Depending on how high you fill it, you will get a certain number of points to start with on your next combo. While it won’t turn heads like the Manual did, it does change things up a bit. Taking a cue from Max Payne, Neversoft included a “focus” feature that allows your character to pull off tricks in slow motion, allowing you to launch, link and land tricks with greater ease. Returning as well is your character’s ability to get off the board and run around, but like THUG, control is a bit loose and you may find yourself running into more than a few walls while trying to get from here to there. Still, the ability to walk on foot opens up a great many new ideas for the developer to play with when it comes to laying out levels and developing objectives. Also, your character has the ability to slap stickers (and gain a subsequent push-off) on walls and tag others with graffiti. Both of these abilities play into objectives in the game.

THUG2 also features some throwbacks to previous games in the series, most notably the inclusion of classic levels like the aforementioned Warehouse from THPS2. Also the two-minute drills are back with classic Pro Skater objectives like spelling S-K-A-T-E and achieving a certain point total to earn rewards.

As with all the previous games in the series, THUG2 sports a licensed soundtrack, this time boasting more than 50 tracks. But with six revisions floating around, it seems as though Activision is getting to the bottom of the barrel when it comes to tracks to include in the game. Maybe it’s the lack of more mainstream cuts, but I was a bit disappointed with the soundtrack after playing the game over the past couple of weeks. During my sessions I never had a song repeat, but I miss the days of Pro Skater 1 and 2 when I could name every band lending a track to the game. Still, hardcore fans will find more than enough to clamor about. The voice acting this time around is still just as good as ever. There are some laugh-out-loud funny lines during the game’s numerous cutscenes, and I enjoyed myself even when I wasn’t controlling the action. The actual athletes and personalities, ranging from Phil Margera to the Birdman himself, do voice work.

There are still some problems in the mix, however. As mentioned before, control is a bit loose when on foot, but you get used to it after a while. The game is also relatively short, to the point where you can blast through a level in under an hour with all the characters available. Also, the lack of Xbox Live support will have more than a few gamers disappointed, especially after EA finally jumped on the bandwagon. Still, none of this should be enough to detour a casual fan, or long-time franchise devotee from picking up the latest in the series.

Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 offers the best of both worlds. For those of you who were disappointed to see the series take on the new approach in the original THUG you now have your classic Hawk back. Those of us who liked where the series started to go in THUG, and wanted to see the franchise continue to evolve have THUG2. While it won’t be the revolutionary move like THPS to THPS2, THUG2 is easily the most fun of the six games released in the last six years and the smile brought to your face while playing will prove that.