BLUE MAG

 Originally presented in The Davis Enterprise

Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (X360, PS3, Xbox, PS2; $59.99 (X360/PS3), $39.99 (Xbox/PS2); Rated T for Alcohol Reference/Blood/Crude Humor/Language/Mild Violence; thp8.com)

Yes. I know I rated the “Tony Hawk” franchise as being one of the most needing to be retired.

And no. I don’t mind eating crow from time to time. Actually, I’ve developed a taste for it over the years.

Kudos to Neversoft who are able to take the 8^th game in as many years and still turn out something that’s enjoyable for fans, accessible to newcomers, and (thankfully) reinvented itself after two attempts with the “Tony Hawk Underground” departure.

This is still the same type of Tony you’ve come to know and love over the past 8 years. The tricks are still physics defying, the environments rich with parody, and the bails still spine-splitting.

Though the detailed skater customization from “THUG” is gone, and the “Create-A-Park/Create-A-Trick” options have also been removed. Curiously, the online multiplayer for the PS3 and PS2 versions is gone (a staple for the system), but added for the first time on Xbox 360. In a neat gimmick, however, players can use the PS3’s SIXAXIS controller to balance their skaters by tilting the controller left or right.

New this year is a seamless world with which to get your grind on. In the 360/PS3 versions, there are no loading screens besides the first load into the game. After that, the entire game can be shredded, with particular areas being unlocked after the player gains enough of a reputation or completes certain goals. The lesser-gen versions of the Xbox and PS2 still need each environment to load separately.

The other stand-out feature for “P8” is the “Nail the Trick” mode. At any point in the air, the player can click in on the thumbsticks, entering the mode. Time slows and the camera zooms to the players feet and board. The thumbsticks control the movements of each foot (left thumbstick/left foot), and allows the player to kickflip or spin the board in whichever direction the foot-action would in reality. This minigame takes a great amount of timing and patience, as physics still dictate that you fall to the ground- so if you don’t finish your sick combo in time, you’ll eat pavement.

Eight years has served the series well as game types from the history of the franchise can be seen. In certain areas, you’ll still get the “Classic” complete goals within two-minutes gameplay, while still keeping the same “skate anywhere, go anywhere” exploring of more recent titles. This makes for a whole lot of challenges to complete, and always plenty of side distractions- like my favorite where players are awarded for taking the biggest spills- the more bones broken, the better!

Though Tony may be a little long in the tooth, his first appearance on the new-gen systems is a good one. For those away from the series, now’s as good a time as ever to return.

But beware…

Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam (Wii; $49.99; Rated E10+ for Comic Mischief/Mild Language/Mild Violence; downhill-jam.com)

The Birdman’s entry to Nintendo’s new console leaves much to be desired when comparing it to its 360/PS3 cousin. A far cry from anything that can be considered “Next Gen,” “Downhill Jam” takes a feature not seen since early “Tony Hawk Pro Skater” titles- the Downhill Race- and adds the Wii-motion controls.

Simply a racing game, “Downhill Jam” has none of the goal-based challenges of other “Hawk” games and is a far cry from the progress made by Neversoft in the past eight years. Maybe that’s because Neversoft didn’t develop this game. Maybe Neversoft had the good sense to stay away.

A bare-bones character creator allows players to make a custom skater, or pick from eleven pre-made caricatures. From there, players are only given the option to participate in downhill racing with slight variations for getting to the bottom quickest. There are no side-diversions, once you hit the end of the run you’re done and time to move on.

I suppose the quickness of each round can be seen as a plus if you’re pressed for time and need to get a quick game in. But if you’re so hardcore that you need to squeeze game-time into small minute-sized sessions, you probably shouldn’t be playing “Downhill Jam” to begin with.

Movement of the Wii remote controls your skater, with trick buttons being stripped down to the “1” and “2” buttons. Grinding requires players to rock the controller back and forth for balance, and bails require shaking the controller vigorously in order to get up and start skating again.

Shaking also is required to trigger a speed boost, but carving into the asphalt for just the right amount of time can also trigger boosts. The problem is that most courses are too narrow to effectively slalom down and maintain any real speed. The awkwardness of the controller likely means that you’ll slam head-first into a wall before really picking up any speed.

The Wii’s controller has serious limitations which can’t be overcome without the nunchuck attachment- effectively turning it into a semi-traditional controller. Alone, games like “Downhill Jam” illustrate how limiting the Wii remote actually is.

Skate right by this one.