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MTV Skateboarding featuring Andy McDonald

Score: 80%
ESRB: Unknown
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Darkblack
Media: CD/1
Players: 1 - 2
Genre: Sports

Graphics & Sound:

MTV Skateboarding (featuring Andy MacDonald) has awesome graphics, especially with a 3D card. Textures are ripe with color and very seamless and smooth looking. Ramps or rails, all look great! The sound is equally impressive. With bands like Cypress Hill, Pennywise, and Goldfinger, MTV Skateboarding's soundtrack will pump you up and knock your socks off!

Gameplay:

Slapping on the names of Andy MacDonald and other pro boarders puts a few faces to the names we tend to hear about. MTV Skateboarding features 14 pros in all, along with over 35 levels and 1000's of trick combos, making this an incredibly large skateboarding game. The game also sports 10 game modes as well as the option to have computer skaters actively skating while you cruise the levels in search of your goals (gaining points, finding objects, etc).

MTV Skateboarding played very smooth at first, although after a while there seemed to be a bit of framerate slowdown in certain spots. Whether this is my configuration or not, I don't know. But what I do know is this: If you buy MTV Skateboarding, also buy a controller! Before finding my gameport controller, I tried the keyboard out and it is H-A-R-D to control. I'm sure it's a learned thing, but if you are at all used to console gaming, you will need a standard controller (I recommend at least 6 buttons).

Inevitably, it has come time to compare MTV Skateboarding with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Simply put, if you like one, you'll like the other. Controlling your skater seems a bit more clumpy in MTV, but overall it is a good game. The many modes of play (like Stunt mode) make up for this.


Difficulty:

Overall, MTV Skateboarding seems to be easy-to-average, but not overly hard. I imagine that reaching the higher levels will yield more difficulty, but it seems that all goals are pretty reasonable. The biggest difficulty I had with this game was the response time of my controller.

Game Mechanics:

Although not terrible, controlling your skaters is a bit awkward when trying to jump. There's nothing like console gaming, and to get the closest feel, you will want to pick up a controller for MTV Skateboarding (Microsoft Sidewinder / Gravis Gamepad Pro recommended (non-USB)). The design of the levels is rather stimulating. There is just enough to keep you busy without completely overwhelming you with too much. MTV Skateboarding may be worth picking up if you enjoyed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Remember that you don't have to be a skateboarder to enjoy skateboarding!

-Woody, GameVortex Communications
AKA Shane Wodele

Minimum System Requirements:



Pentium II 233MHz, 32MB RAM, Direct3D compatible Video Card with 4MB RAM, Direct Sound Compatible Sound Card, Recommended for use with the Microsoft Sidewinder and the Gravis Gamepad Pro (Non-USB)
 

Test System:



Pentium II 400MHz CPU; Windows 98 (upgrade version); 256MB 100MHz SDRAM; Quantum's Raven 16MB 3D-Accelerator AGP Video Card; Ensoniq AudioPCI sound card; DirectX 7.0a; using Hewlett Packard CD-Writer Plus 9100 (reads 32x, writes 8x, rewrites 4x) as main CD-ROM; 1 gameport; 2 USB ports; Gravis Xterminator (gameport connection); 56K Modem

Windows Microsoft Golf 2001 Windows Arena Wars

 
Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated