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Tony Hawk's Underground is a skateboarding video game and the fifth entry in the Tony Hawk's series after Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2003 for the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance. In 2004, it was published for Microsoft Windows in Australia and New Zealand as a budget release.

Gameplay[]

Like its predecessors in the Tony Hawk's series, Underground is centered on skateboarding in a series of levels. The player performs tricks via combinations of analog stick and button inputs. For example, the player initiates an ollie (a jump trick) by holding and releasing the jump button. During an ollie, the player may change the position of the analog stick and press one of two buttons to perform either a flip trick (such as an impossible or kickflip) or a grab trick (such as a benihana or nosegrab). The player can grind on certain edges and rails; different tricks may be performed during a grind based on the position of the analog stick. On quarter pipes, the player may execute lip tricks. While skating on flat surfaces, the player may manual in multiple ways via button combinations. Miscellaneous tricks include acid drops and wall-rides.

Plot[]

The protagonist and their friend, Eric Sparrow, live in suburban New Jersey and dream of becoming famous skateboarders. The protagonist manages to impress professional skater Chad Muska, visiting town for a demo, who gives them a new skateboard and informs them that a good way to start a skating career is to gain a sponsorship from a local skate shop. The protagonist seeks out Stacy Peralta, who agrees until he sees something to set them apart from the other local skaters, so the protagonist travels to Manhattan, New York with Eric, who is on the run from drug dealers after setting their car on fire as vengeance for stealing from the skate shop.

There, the pair shoot a skating video that impresses Stacy, who loans them a van and suggests they enter the Tampa AM, an amateur division skate contest held annually at the Skate Park of Tampa in Florida. Upon arrival, Eric is arrested for insulting a police officer, and the protagonist does favors for the local police department to secure his bail. However, when they arrive for the contest, it is revealed that Eric had only completed his own application form and not the protagonist's, forcing a dejected protagonist to try and impress competitors in the pro contest in order to gain admission. After impressing Tony Hawk, the protagonist wins the Best Trick event at Tampa AM and is offered deals by major skateboard sponsors, much to Eric's dismay. The protagonist then heads to San Diego, California to meet Todd, the manager of the team, and completes several photo shoots for a magazine. Following a wild celebration party, it is revealed that Eric has been picked up by the same sponsor.

The team then flies out to Hawaii to film a video, with the protagonist aiming for local spots that skaters have not filmed at before. Finding a tall hotel, the protagonist climbs to the roof and recruits Eric to film a trick video atop it. The police arrive to arrest them for trespassing, but the protagonist uses the opportunity to perform a McTwist over the helicopter and onto the awning of the adjacent Royal Hawaiian Hotel, allowing them and an awestruck Eric to evade the police. The team then travels to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. After doing errands for locals and finishing their part of the team video, the protagonist attends the video premiere at the Slam City Jam. Eric steals the idea and edits the protagonist's part out of the video, allowing only Eric to become a professional. After angrily confronting Eric, the protagonist enters Eric's pro contest and wins, becoming a pro as well.

After designing their own pro skateboard, the protagonist and Eric embark on a team trip to Moscow, Russia, where they reconcile. Eric gets drunk and joyrides in a Russian military tank. The protagonist hops in and attempts to stop the tank, but being unfamiliar with the controls, fails to stop it from crashing. Eric jumps out and runs away, leaving the protagonist, trapped inside, to be arrested by the Russian military. Eric then lies and claims the protagonist stole the tank, stating that he in fact tried to stop them. Unwilling to pay the $700,000 worth of damages, Todd kicks the protagonist off the team, much to Eric's delight. The American Embassy bails out the protagonist, leaving them to do favors for locals in order to return home to New Jersey.

Eric, who now owns his own skate company, reveals that he had been planning to betray the protagonist after having long abandoned the idea of "soul skating" (skating for enjoyment rather than riches); after unsuccessfully trying to exempt them from the Tampa AM, Eric stole the helicopter footage in jealousy before finally getting the protagonist kicked off the skate team by lying back in Moscow. Determined to fight back, the protagonist teams up with Peralta and several professionals to create a soul skating video, creating a new trick in the process. Due to the success of the video, Eric challenges the protagonist to one last skate-off, with the unedited helicopter tape at stake. The protagonist wins the skate-off.

Development[]

Underground were developed by Neversoft, while the Game Boy Advance version was developed by Vicarious Visions the mobile version by Jamdat, and the Windows version was created by Beenox. Activision, which had acquired Neversoft in 1999, published all versions of the game.

Reception[]

Tony Hawk's Underground received "universal acclaim", according to review aggregator Metacritic. GameZone's Michael Knutson wrote that Underground is "one of the best skating games around" and that players of every skill level would enjoy it. Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell concurred: "As a 'pick-up-and-play' sort of game, THUG is endlessly rewarding once you get your head round the basics, and it's the best entry point for the series to date".

External links[]

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