Tony Hawk the Chicken Hawk will catch himself a chicken!

Ha, long time Hawk fans, eat your hearts out! Dreamcast (DC) owners are in for a new treat, as one of the best games ever made for the Playstation (PSX) now hits the competitor console. The game comes virtually unchanged from its former self, but it takes some advandage of the strengths of the newer system. Indeed, if this is your #1 game for the PSX, you are going to cry in sorrow when you see the Dreamcast version.

Graphics and Sound 8/10
The PSX version obviously gets a major facelift. The textures look well detailed and smooth, but there is no comparison with other Dreamcast specific games. When a game is rendered specifically for a weaker system, porting it to a better machine pretty much means that it won't use the better system to its limit. However, compare the DC version to the PSX version and you've got a complete winner. The frame rates are unstoppably smooth. I have not whitnessed a single slow down in any of the levels I managed to unlock.

Your average rapper isn't usually interested in skate boarding. Certainly there are exceptions, but mostly boarders are fond of rock. The soundtrack of Hawk consists of some popular alternative bands. I like rock, so this is something that I completely enjoyed. But if you don't like the sound of loud guitar and drums, then you may not like this game's sound track. Just turn down the music and turn on the radio. Doi!

Game Play 10/10
This game is easy to learn. The control scheme can be mastered by any dummy. There is a single button for jumping, and pretty much everything else is used for tricks. A lot of simple tricks are baby talk, but there are combos and advanced tricks that require hard work and much play time.

The game consists of 10 playable skaters, including the skating legend Tony Hawk. Although there are a few different modes that spice things up, the main mode of play in this game is the career mode. A new game starts with a single area being available. Your job is to acquire video tapes, some easily and some requiring you to do interesting tricks. Doing tricks and jumps increase your overall points, while no-skating areas and cops make your life a bit more challenging. Moreover, your staker also has stats that you can increase as you go up levels. Overall, this game offers incredible game play.

Innovation 10/10
The stat system adds some sort of an RPG element, while different modes of play will keep you coming back to this game every now and then. That, by far, is the most innovative and addictive quality of this game. You would think that only shooters can be played even months after beating the game. Countless trick combos and wide areas will have you coming back to this game every time you get bored and have no other games to fool around with.

Overall 9.75/10
I wish this game had been built for the DC in the first place. In that case, it would be using DC hardware at its full capacity, and we would have ground breaking graphics. Nevertheless, Hawk is definitely a successfull port from PSX. Even if you own the PSX version of it, you will be missing out on a lot if you don't buy it for the DC. And if you don't have the PSX version, what on earth are you waiting for?