Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam [DS]

Tony Hawk games have always taken place on flat land -- turning the world into a giant skate park full of ramps to vert off of and rails to grind. The one exception was way back in the series' first title, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, in a level known as Phoenix Downhill. Here, players had gravity to deal with, as the entire level was steeped at a decline. Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam takes some inspiration from that long-ago level, but fashions itself as more a racing game than an extreme sport.

The goal of a typical event in Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam is simple: Make it to the bottom before your opponents do. How you pull this off is a little more complicated. You see, there is just as much tricking going on as a normal Tony Hawk title; pull off some air tricks and grind railings as you work your way down. Combos are more time-based than strictly keeping tricks together. Instead of using the manual to link things, Downhill Jam goes for the bert slide -- as seen in Tony Hawk's American Wasteland -- which also doubles as a power-slide to navigate tight turns.

In Downhill Jam, the main purpose for doing tricks isn't points, but rather building up your boost meter to gain speed. Fill your meter, and you can either hit an icon on the touch screen to pull off an unbelievable trick, or get a super burst of speed. Just like the level-land Tony Hawks, holding down the crouch button is essential for maximizing speed.

Downhill Jam features six different locations, including Hong Kong, San Francisco, and Rio de Janeiro. These are, of course, inspired by levels in the upcoming Wii title of the same name. Courses are extremely diverse, full of winding paths and interactive objects. They also feature between five and eight challenges to give you a long list of things to do -- which also serve to keep this from being a straight-up racer.

The graphics retain the cel-shaded look of Tony Hawk's American Sk8land, the first DS Hawk title, and even up the stylistic factor. All the skaters look like they've come out of a comic book. You can even craft your own character, selecting various visual options to match your own personal style.

American Sk8land was one of the first DS games to embrace wifi multiplayer, and Downhill Jam plans on utilizing it as well. Details are scant right now, but we do know that voice chat will be enabled -- so you'd better brush up on your skate lingo. Dude.

Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam definitely represents a new direction for the series. As it's a little more straightforward than the trick-centric titles in the past, it's ideal for younger and less experienced gamers, and Activision goes that route in terms of visuals as well. We all remember being kids, taking our skateboards and riding down the biggest hill in the neighborhood. There is a chance this shift may alienate some die-hard Pro Skater veterans, but Activision and Tony Hawk deserve the benefit of the doubt. After all, they've been winning this race for a long time now.