While many franchises sequel and splinter off into new games, few can compare to the amount of games Activision has made with the Tony Hawk franchise. The latest is Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground, for the DS. Notice the numerical value has been conveniently left off the title.

Of course, it is easy to criticize the Tony Hawk franchise as having run out of fresh ideas, and that is pretty much true. However, Vicarious Visions has really made a great game for the DS. There are enough different ways to play this game that really warrant a purchase. The story mode centers around your trying to make enough money to populate a desolate building with all the ramps and rails of a professional skate park. As you proceed through the story, guided by the omniscient Tony Hawk, you will encounter many different characters that are willing to pay you to do tricks (don’t worry … there isn’t any Hot Coffee). While there is always plenty to do, most of the challenges become identical. For instance, one guy will tell you to pick up the flyer he has dropped. It just so happens that those flyers are all lying on top of a rail or at the top of a ramp. Other goals will require you to execute a combo or a sequence of moves; and while that is fun the first few go-arounds, it becomes incredibly predictable.

The graphics in Tony Hawk are actually pretty amazing for a DS game. The developers left the cartoony look from Downhill Jam by the wayside and went with a fairly realistic design.  And it works. I generally criticize DS games for going with realistic graphics, precisely because the system cannot execute them properly. And while that argument could still be made here, the graphics don’t look bad. Buildings and character models are still stylized to a small extent and that helps hide the flaws. All of the character animations run very smoothly and the framerate rarely drops.

While I haven’t kept up with the franchise enough to know all the details that are changed here, there are a few new additions that make the gameplay a little different. First is the new “freak-out” mechanic. After you crash, three little bars appear like a slot machine on the touchscreen, and you have to hit them as they near the top. If you score, you get a bonus “rush” effect; however, it’s really just a novel addition. You can initiate a special when your meter gets filled up by pressing a little bouncing skull in the touchscreen; these are context sensitive to what tricks you’re doing and add a new element of gameplay. There are some new gesture tricks, but they are rarely used and offer little to the overall gameplay. The gestures are extremely easy, and in the end they just feel tacked on so they could say “it uses gestures!” on the back of the box. The overall gameplay is essentially unchanged, and it controls just like the first Tony Hawk.

I remember when I first played Tony Hawk on the original PlayStation and how much fun I had with the simple controls, yet complicated combo system. Now, more than 10 years later, I am playing the exact same game on the DS. While there are changes here and there, and the overall product is incredibly refined, the game is the same. Other popular franchises like Super Mario have changed progressively as the sequels have continued, like the jump to 3-D, or the use of a water pack to change gameplay, or the launch of our plumber into space. But the Tony Hawk franchise has only had minor changes that, in the end, only become novelty.

Gameplay: 7.0
The gameplay is extremely solid, but is nearly unchanged since the original. The touch-screen gestures are pure novelty and feel tacked on.

Graphics: 10
All of the environments are lush and expertly created for big combos. Few DS games can boast graphics like this.

Sound: 9.0
There is a really great soundtrack here, and it complements the pop-punk image.

Difficulty: Medium
Accessible for those who are casual gamers and are unfamiliar with the series, yet challenging for the big combo scorers out there.

Concept: 6.0
We have seen this idea multiple times every year for over 10 years; it’s getting old.

Multiplayer: 8.0
A very fleshed out multiplayer mode with voice chat and total statistics tracking exponentially increases this game’s replay value.

Overall: 8.7
The developers didn’t kiddify this Tony Hawk at all, and that is itself refreshing on the DS. This game is total fan service for those who have loved the franchise and feel it needs no change. However, many will feel deja vu when they start playing, because this game is exactly what you would expect. This is the best translation of the Tony Hawk franchise to the portable console yet, but just don’t expect anything new.