oy, I hated the first half-hour I spent with this game. After playing Tony Hawk on a consistent basis for the last five years, I was suddenly forced to spend time "unlocking" such basic moves as kickflips and Indys. I guess it’s supposed to be a tutorial, but give me a break. Why should I have to jump through hoops and complete goals just to get back to the basic move set I’ve been using since the inception of the series?
Once I got past the grunt-work, I did warm up to Underground – a little. It’s cool that Vicarious Visions tried to incorporate the huge scope of the console versions into a portable package – even if some elements (like the character-create mode) are a little wasted on such a small screen. Also, it’s still impressive how well the classic control is implemented with fewer buttons, and that the new off-board comboing is included. However, as I said when I reviewed Tony 4 on GBA, I’m very tired of the isometric view and Resident Evil-style turning, and this didn’t do much to bring me back into the fold.