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| By Brad Cook “So yesterday I hit the streets of Rio, where I showed off my new skateboarding moves in a park.” |
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 Skateboarding Is Not a Crime. You’re free to flip your board on a busy city street. |
Defy Physics. Taking a stroll through the air requires practice and experience.
In addition to online competition, there are three main modes of play in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3: Career, in which you take a skater through nine of the levels in the game and try to complete certain goals in each one; Single Session, where you skate for two minutes in any park; and Free Skate, which allows you to explore a park without worrying about time limits or goals.
For Skaters and Non-Skaters Alike
“Non-skateboarders will not get lost in this game,” says Kevin Mulhall, Tony Hawk co-producer at developer Neversoft Entertainment. He points out that his team added a tutorial to the game specifically so that non-skateboarders could learn the basic tricks as well as the sport’s terminology.
“Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 shows how much fun the skateboarding sport can be,” he adds. So even if you’ve never ridden a skateboard in your life, you can still experience the thrills of pulling off 360-degree ollies with a few kick-flips and melons — and a one-foot japan — thrown in for good measure. Best of all, you won’t have to experience any real pain if you push a trick too far and fall flat on your face.
Getting Some Fresh Air. The star of the game goes airborne.
If you’re already a Tony Hawk pro, head straight to the skate shop, pick a character and a level, and get busy discovering what this installment has in store for you. To learn more about the characters and skate parks available in the game, see “A Tony Hawk Primer,” which also includes cheat codes to help if you get stuck.
Interact With the World Around You
Like previous entries in the Tony Hawk series, this game features interactive environments, but this time there’s even more to do. Besides the rails you can grind, the windows you can smash through, and the ramps you can jump off, there are vehicles and pedestrians to watch out for. If the cars are moving, they’ll run you down, but most of them stop when they see you, which is a perfect opportunity to pull off a trick or two on their hoods before moving along. The same holds true for the luggage carriers in the airport level.
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Likewise, the pedestrians get out of the way as you whiz by, but some, such as the bikini-clad women in the cruise ship level, knock you down if you get too close. Others, however, might become impressed by your stunts and earn you bonus points. You can also use some bystanders to accomplish tasks that are required to complete a level; for example, jump into the snow-covered tree in the Canadian skate park and knock a pile of powder on the bully who taunts you.
“Being able to add interactive elements really brought new life into the game,” says Mulhall. “They added a lot to the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater experience.”
Seasons’s Greetings. Show off your moves in a variety of climates.
Tony Loves Macs and Games
And what about the guy who lent his name to these games? As we mentioned when we covered Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, Tony is not only a Mac owner — his latest purchase was a PowerBook with a SuperDrive — he’s also an avid gamer. Tony takes interest in the progress of the Mac versions of his games and checks out the beta revisions.
“In addition to being the best personal computer,” he says, “the Mac is an untapped gaming console.”
Leap of Faith. Try not to crack your melon while
pulling off a melon.
When you skate as Tony in the game, you have access to some of his signature moves, including the famous 900, which is a mid-air 360-degree somersault completed two-and-a-half times. Mulhall notes that “the move itself looks amazing, and there is a real sense of accomplishment in being able to pull one off and skate away from it.”
If you liked this game, check out:
Slope Rider Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
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Hang out with the pros and learn about the best locations to shred.
   
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