Tony Hawk Ride has completely redefined the way we play sports games. Before there was a complex series of buttons that had to be hit in the correct sequence in order to pull off any tricks. Now just a few quick movements of your body and you can dive into almost any trick, simply stand on the board and go. Pop up the nose (front) of the board to Ollie (jump), tilt the board a bit while you're in the air to pull off a trick, grab one of the sensors on the board controller at the same time and you can master grab tricks and many more.
Activision sent us a copy of this really awesome game for the PS3 and we quickly got it up and running and just as quickly it stopped working. The first board we received did not work but we contacted Activision and they quickly replaced it with a new copy which works like a charm. We simply plug in the wireless dongle click the connect button on it and then press the PS button on the skateboard, when you first take it out you do need to calibrate it but once calibrated it is just plug n play every time.
The new motion sensitive board controller is great fun and exercise, once you get into the game you don't even think of or realize that you are exercising. With Game modes like Training to build your skills and learn the basics to Challenge in which you perform specific tricks as you skate through each area and Party mode that allows up to 8 people to play in multiplayer and online. The game includes 3 different Difficulty levels Casual that gives you a guided path to follow, Confident which does away with the guided path and allows you to roam where you please but gives you the odd nudge to help with your tricks, and Hard core, no assistance at all just you and the board and a high likelihood of bailing.
All of us have had a great deal of fun learning and playing Tony Hawk Ride, none of us have mastered anything but jumping (ollie) but it doesn't stop us from trying haha. Even if you didn't enjoy any other Tony Hawk games or sports games, this one is definitely worth the addition to any family game collection and is sure to bring hours upon hours of fun to your living room. Even Maddisyn likes to stand on the board and pretend she is skating along, it is rather cute.
One of the big downfalls I felt with this game is that while it is awesome to be able to use the skateboard as the controller I was rather disappointed that we could not use a normal controller with the game. If you are disabled you won't be able to get to try this awesome game because you cannot stand on the board, I definitely think that is something Activision needs to consider. All in all though in this house we give it two thumbs up.
BUY IT:
Wii Tony Hawk: Ride Skateboard Bundle
Xbox 360 Tony Hawk: Ride Skateboard Bundle
PS3 Tony Hawk: Ride Skateboard Bundle - $99.99
