Evolution Skateboarding [PS2]

Graphics
This looks a little better than ESPN X-Games, but it still suffers from the same basic problems. Its animation is stiff and limited, with a relatively small selection of tricks. The character models are out of proportion to their boards and the levels around them -- they occupy too much space on the screen, and dwarf the decks underneath them. Though the framerate is consistent, everything on the screen, characters and environments alike, is heavily aliased.

The amount of texture detail varies from level to level. Some are relatively complex and colorful, but others feature such drab, repetitive architecture that it actually affects navigation -- if one direction looks exactly the same as another, it's pretty hard to find your way around. Philadelphia is a prime offender in this regard, particularly since it's already afflicted by nonsensical path designs.

Sound
There's an interesting comment on this game's level of hipness to be found when listening to the running announcer commentary. Hop into a rail and press the triangle button in conjunction with down on the D-pad. You should hear the announcer praise you for performing a "Five-Zero Grind!"

Aside from the fact that he exposes exactly how much the developers really know about skateboarding, the announcer should have been canned simply because he's a pain in the neck to listen to. He does not ever have anything interesting or useful to say -- he merely repeats the names of the tricks you perform, with a little generic color commentary in between. Was he included for the benefit of players who can't read, perhaps?

The soundtrack, meanwhile, consists of a uniformly bland mix of rock and hip-hop beats, none of which stand out to any significant degree. Considering that I'll be able to skate to Iron Maiden once Tony Hawk ships in a week, this doesn't amount to much of a selling point.

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