Gameplay
Thrasher is the first skateboard simulator. The gameplay enables several different areas to skate in, a solid amount of space and time to practice in, and provides players with six two-player mini-games that are packed with replay value. Characters are all hand-drawn, unlicensed rogue types, but the areas you skate in are the real thing.
Players entering into the single-player Skate mode start their career here. After beating each level, players receive a few things, one being an extra move. The idea is to get familiar with the area, and when ready, hit the Select button to start the timed run. In a time limit of two minutes, you pull off as many moves as possible, each one earning a certain amount of points. By beating a level with the correct amount of points, you earn a sponsor. These real sponsors, Adidas, Converse, etc., affect the way you look. Players can change T-shirts, shoes, pants, hats, and skateboards as they improve and move on to new cities. When you beat the game, you get to be on the cover of Thrasher magazine.
The Skate mode also provides a good, solid amount of environments. After you beat about three to five different areas in a particular town, you move on to a new one. Players start Hometown, then move to NY, play through several local spots, moving on to travel to LA (Venice Beach, LA River, The Courhouse), San Francisco (China Banks, The Hills, etc.), and then to the UK (South Bank) and Germany (Der Kolosseum). In each instance, players skate in a different setting under a time limit and increasingly higher point total.
The challenge is definitely here. With skate-able, shred-able real-life environments that you would see in every day life, the game does a great job of simulating the real life sport. Z-Axis took the most publicly skated places and added little touches here and there, not fantasy re-creations, but minute details skaters always wished were there. The NY subway for instance, has slightly curved walls to use as ramps. And you can trick out over the subway train if you're skilled enough. You also have to watch out for the subway train itself. San Francisco has the China Banks, and the UK has South Bank. Each is totally unique unto itself requiring strategy and practice. The Brooklyn Banks, for instance, provide a taxi car that randomly appears on the street, and is very capable of hitting you when you're not looking. In Venice, beware of muggers, who may steal your money and even your board, and everywhere else, watch out for the cops, who'll taser your @ss.
The double-edge sword of Thrasher is that it's primarily a street-skating sim, one that rewards you for handling your board in a street environment best. All of the air tricks you see in Tony Hawk are here, too, but when it comes down to it, the more street techniques you know in Thrasher, the higher you'll score. They simply don't come to you. In Tony Hawk, you can essentially jump right in, knowing nothing, and come out a winner. In Thrasher, you won't go far if you haven't practiced, and even then, you need to hit the levels for hours to get the feel of it before you can really shred. Technically, this is where Thrasher comes out on top of Tony Hawk. It requires more practice, but it also simulates real life skating much more realistically, while still being fun. It's down to pure skill.
It's rare that I'll admit a game is too difficult. But Thrasher is actually too hard, to be honest. I played for hours and hours trying to simply beat the initial levels, learning the tricks, learning the physics, practicing grinds and flips into grinds, and then trying to perform these in the two-minute time spans. The initial amount of tricks and basic moves come naturally, but the rest are far more difficult to achieve. The Wall Ride, for instance, is admittedly difficult. And many of the environments not only require imagination, but also a phenomenal amount of practice. Don't get me wrong, I love the imagination required for Thrasher, in that way it's ingenious. You have to spend time with the game, and learn it, like Street Fighter, or any game based on pure skill. But it's too difficult for my likes.
Control
That leads us to control. Each button is mapped for a kind of move, such as grinds, spins, and flip tricks. Hit triangle and pull off a kick flip. Hit Circle and grab your board. Hit Circle and press a direction on the Dpad and pull off a grab plus a 180, 360, or 540. The shoulder buttons come into play, too, adding a new twist to old tricks. This system works beautifully, until you need to pull off the bigger, more complex moves. And, after each level you beat, a new trick appears in your repertoire.
The more complicated moves require a phenomenal amount of contorting to achieve the requested move, not to mention many hours or practice. I put those hours in over the last week and I can tell you they're still hard to pull off consistently. Hitting the big moves is crucial too, since the bigger variety of moves you pull off, the more points you're likely to earn. Learning the links is another way of rewarding yourself. Learning this is crucial, and leads to more powerful ways of beating your buddies in two-player.
The game's control is its big advantage over Tony Hawk. Thrasher provides you with amazing amount of precision, whether it's pulling off air stunts or tricking out on the streets. Players can control speed by pumping, whereas in Tony Hawk you simply start moving on your own, all controlled by the computer. Slowing down is crucial to pulling off grind links and using the areas to your benefit. Players pump by pressing X, and speed reaches a maximum limit that's about 10 miles an hour (approximately). The only down side to this is timing. Pump while hitting a ramp and then try pulling off a move. It's deadly fun. Or rather, just deadly. Pumping (pushing with your leg off the ground) is also really slow, and it feels regulated to one long slow push. It's great to a point, and then you feel like you need more control over your speed. You should be able to speed up quicker or attain faster speed, especially with the amount of air required to pull off more than one air trick.
The Multiplayer mode is also packed with goodness. Players pick their characters and then have a choice of several competitions. Nickel Bag enables you to pull off five tricks in the attempt at gaining the highest amount of points. Horse is just like the basketball game -- you pull off a trick and so does your opponent. The first to blow it earns a letter. The first to spell horse loses. Top Dog is like Nickel Bag, except you get the chance to pull off five tricks, not just one. Sick Fix is actually one of the best of the bunch. Whoever can perform the biggest wipeout wins. Long Grind is exactly what it sounds like, and Big Wallride rewards the player who pulls off the biggest wallride. Each of these is god fun, though none pit players in a two-player split screen contest. All are turn-based contests.
The last aspect of the game that's worth mentioning is the character physics system. Players need an amazing amount of balance and skill to complete the medium- to super-big moves. In some cases, the air tricks are performed on narrow walls, and in other cases they simply require perfect timing. You fall a hell of a lot, too. And each time you do, your chosen character performs a unique bail that seems to slow down time so each and every grinding, scraping, bone-crushing fall washes over you with the full effect. The characters look like rag-dolls falling down 50-foot cliffs, taking each and every hit and reacting perfectly. The only problem? When you're in a competition or a time-based situation -- which is often -- the falls take a lot of time, and not only appear to hurt physically, but also but hurt your timing, too. Obviously, you're not supposed to fall, but why does it take extra time to crash?
Graphics
Visually, Thrasher is a simple looking game. The characters are plain and Gourard shaded, and comic in design. None of them are real life skaters, though each has a specialty. But the minimalism of the game is actually deceiving. While the environments appear simplistic, they're slimmed down visually to enable the physics engine maximum leverage. Also, take note of the way in which the levels are designed. They're amazing, especially the Venice Beach and Brooklyn Banks areas. They're brimming with possibilities and opportunities for tricks and stunts. My biggest complaint is that there aren't enough wide, forgiving ramps. Most of them are so narrow you're bound to eat it sooner than later.
Still, the environments are damn fine. Each area looks like the dumpy, low-life place you'd find most skaters grinding and smoking bowls. Backyard parking lots, empty lots, street corners, bus benches, commercial stores, and parks are all the kinds of places that seem to be perfect, accidental skate parks. I grew up in Santa Monica, CA., and recognize the Venice area almost perfectly represented here. It's been a little modified, but that's what it generally looks and feels like, and that's where the skating happens. The environments also feel real. Sand, grass, and dirt slow you down, or cause you to fall. Rockstar picked the most well-treaded places purposefully, a gift to newbies who want to learn where to skate in the future.
The game isn't perfect graphically, though, and in fact, that's its weakest area. There are texture seams everywhere, in every level. Flickering corners and occasional stuttering occurs here and there, and while it doesn't affect gameplay directly, it sure is ugly. Basically, this game is not about good looks.
Sound
The clever choice of old school rap and hip-hop is smart and well applauded. While Tony Hawk went for the hard-core surf- and punk rock, Thrasher is polished with exquisite pop-culture tunes from rappers, such as Run DMC, Public Enemy, GrandMaster Flash, Sugarhill Gang, Tribe Called Quest, and more. The list?
- SUGAR HILL GANG ¿ Rappers' Delight
- GRANDMASTER FLASH ¿ White Lines (Don't Do It)
- AFRIKA BAMBAATAA ¿ Planet Rock
- RUN DMC ¿ King Of Rock
- STETSASONIC ¿ Talkin' All That Jazz
- ULTRAMAGNETIC MC's ¿ Kool Keith Housin' Things
- ERIC B & RAKIM ¿ I Know You Got Soul
- EPMD ¿ I'm Housin'
- PUBLIC ENEMY ¿ Rebel Without A Pause
- A TRIBE CALLED QUEST- Award Tour
- GANG STARR- Just To Get A Rep
The mood is urban and unusually cool. It's classic Rockstar, actually. Every game the company makes is always solid in the sound department. I couldn't find it anywhere in the game, but it sure would be cool if you could listen to this soundtrack on a stereo on its own. That would really rock.