Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure

Its great!

Awesome

The Tony Hawk skateboarding franchise single-handedly rewrote the skateboarding genre when it was created a half decade ago. But its complex control structure, with its button combinations and extensive combo system, may have alienated the casual and younger gamer. Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure seems to be Activision's attempt at giving more inexperienced gamers a chance to experience the Tony Hawk gameplay in a more simplistic form, with mainstream characters in the place of professional boarders. The Game Boy Advance game is essentially training wheels for kids to wean onto the "extreme" skateboarding genre; it's easy to get into, and there's plenty of challenges in store for the younger crowd. But for folks already learned in the ways of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, it's a challenge just unlearning all the gameplay skills acquired from games in the series. Just like how the console versions of Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure build off the most recent version of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater engine, the Game Boy Advance version, too, utilizes Vicarious Vision's engine as a foundation for its gameplay. Actually, it's more than a foundation; Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure is essentially based upon nearly everything established in the Tony Hawk series up to this point. It's just reduced to a game design that's more kid-friendly. Players will still be challenged with specific tasks to accomplish in several different skate parks, whether it's collecting icons scattered across the areas, or pulling off a series of tricks, or grinding or jumping over a specific location on the map. Many times when a task is complete, a hidden portion of the map is unlocked and skateable, which is a good visual cue on just how well the players performing in the game. These tasks are given to players from various characters specifically based upon the theme they're in; if they've assumed the role of Buzz Lightyear, Woody, or Jessie, the skate arena's theme is either Andy's room or Pizza Planet, and taking orders from the Army Men sergeant, Hamm the piggy bank, or the squeaky aliens. If they want to scoot around as Simba or Nala from The Lion King, Pride Rock and the Elephant Graveyard are their playgrounds, with folks like Timon and Pumbaa calling out the tricks. Tarzan and Terk will board around the jungle pulling off tricks in either the Jungle Treehouse or the Human Camp, with Tantor the elephant or a young Jane telling them what to do. Since the game's based upon the Tony Hawk gameplay, the same techniques and tricks still apply in completing these tasks; most of them are timed, so running out of seconds on the clock without pulling off the appropriate action will fail it. But...if the player's still in the middle of a combo chain when the time runs out, the game waits for that chain to end before ending the mission. So skilled players can complete a lengthy task in much more time than what's given. But the gameplay has been "dumbed down" from Tony Hawk, most likely to give younger gamers a feeling of accomplishment and the sense that they're pulling off the same tricks as their older siblings simply by pushing the A button. Most of the moves in the game, from kickflips to grinds to liptricks to manuals are all mapped to the A button. For folks not already skilled in the ways of Tony Hawk will thrill to this control scheme since it will make them look like a pro without much effort. But gamers who can already handle themselves in extreme sports titles may end up confused by Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure's simplicity. Everything learned has to be forgotten. Granted, they'll still have to press the B button to jump, and transfers are still mapped to the shoulder button, so the controls aren't entirely simplistic. The one-button gameplay is a little limiting, and it does cause some problems trying to pull off, say, a grind on a lip instead of a grab. And while falling off the board still happens in Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure during a particularly harsh stumble, the developers try to limit these so the player doesn't get frustrated. However, this works against the gameplay since the combo counter awkwardly resets itself when players don't complete a move's animation before landing it. Hitting an airborne kickflip too late, for example, will cancel out the points combo and erase the points earned; in Tony Hawk, this would cause a visual cue to show that the move failed (the player falls flat on his face). But in Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure, the indication isn't made nearly as clear since the boarder doesn't stumble...the trick text simply turns red and disappears. But using the Tony Hawk engine does offer a lot of graphical and gameplay benefits. The polygonal engine handles the wide variety of Disney characters extremely well; Buzz Lightyear in particular looks fantastic with stickers plastered all over his body, and it's just difficult not to swoon in cuteness over the animations given to Simba and Nala as they skate over their locales. The levels have been simplified so as not to give this isometric view that familiar M.C. Escher effect, but it'll still take a few times around the part to orient your perspective. Disney Extreme Skate Adventure even features a few multiplayer modes, like HORSE (but using either specific text from the location, or customized by the player)...but they're only hot seat, one system modes. No link cable support. It is a shame that the game doesn't feature any sounds from the movies that they're based on; the music is extremely generic, and while the jungle and African themes are followed in the Tarzan and Lion King levels, the tunes made for Toy Story levels just don't seem to match the film's style. Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure does have its gameplay challenges no matter what your skill level, and with dozens of tasks to perform in each of the game's skate parks, it's not a quick romp. But when all is said and done, I'd just rather play the true Tony Hawk instead of this watered-down experience. But for the kids not introduced to the ways of the Hawk, this one's for you

If you like skateboarding, and you like Disney (like me), then you must play Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure!It's built out of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4's engine, but has better graphics. You say that's crazy talk? Well, why would I make up a lie like that?Just wait until you try out Buzz Lightyear!Everything in this game is perfect. Well, the only area with room for improvement is the soundtrack.The music is really good. My only wish was that the movie's soundtracks would be in the game, but they aren't. I was hoping to blast Hakuna Matata or You Got A Friend In Me (which, I think, won an Academy Award.)This game is better than most Game Boy Advance games as well. So, there's another incentive to buy it now!Let me repeat that. BUY IT NOW!It's really fun, and everyone has his or her own goals spanning lots of cool levels.The animations and levels are so awesome, I still can't believe it. Really! And, it's a treat to play on the Game Boy Player.I'm currently convincing my friends to buy this game, so you better hurry before they buy your copy.