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Tony Hawk's American Sk8land

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9.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 31 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 46 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Vicarious Visions

Genre(s): Extreme Sports

Players: 2

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Release Date: November 15, 2005

Summary

No levels. No load times. Just never-ending action that doesn't stop until you leave the game. Tony Hawk's American Wasteland gives you - for the first time ever in a Hawk game - the freedom to skate, or bike, throughout a rich, expansive open environment. Once you arrive in Los Angeles, the vast city that gave birth to skate culture, the sky's the limit as you progress through the Wasteland story and choose missions that will have you immersed in the action without ever skating the same line twice. New on the board tricks include the Bert slides, Natas spins handstands, and one-footed grinds and manuals. New off the board tricks include wall runs, wall flips, and charged jumps. Choose Board Or Bike: For the first time, you can choose to ride BMX bikes throughout the entire game, with all-new physics, a BMX specific control system and several BMX-specific goals. Customize Like Crazy: Enter and explore dozens of shops in game to customize your gear and your look! Check out skate shops, barbershops, tattoo parlors, and clothing stores as you accomplish goals and earn cash. [Activision]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: Tony Hawk's Proving Ground

Cheat Codes & Hints: GameSpot Hints & Cheats

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Nintendophiles

One heck of a game that rises above its genre as something everyone can play.

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PGNx Media

It has the solid gameplay you expect from the Tony Hawk franchise and adds some online multiplayer and fashionable visuals.

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Game Chronicles

Without a doubt the finest handheld version of the franchise you can currently play. It might even be one of the top five DS games released to date.

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Gaming Age

Another amazing release by Vicarious Visions. One where they have not only gone all out with their effort, but have pushed what we can expect out of the system. It is easily one of the best titles to be released on the system thus far.

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Nintendojo

What differentiates Tony Hawk's American Sk8land from "Mario Kart" is the level of involvement. Sk8land is far less pick-up-and-play, but those who take the time to learn its intricacies will have a blast.

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NintendoWorldReport

It may be the best looking DS game yet, and it matches the console experience to a degree that you'd expect only on the PSP.

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Game Over Online

A monster of a package. I was expecting a cheap tie-in game and ended up playing one of the best titles that the DS has to offer, and one of the better games in the Tony Hawk series. Marvelous.

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DailyGame

An excellent mix of single and multiplayer options, and online gameplay that will force DS developers to try real hard to beat it.

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GameSpy

Definitely the best DS game to date that has been produced by non-Japanese developers. The single-player story mode is goofy and fun, classic mode rocks, and the online multiplayer serves as a standard for what future DS WiFi games should use for their website/DS integration.

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Gaming Nexus

It's rare to see a quality console-to-portable translation, but Vicarious Visions pulls it off with flying colors. A fresh new art style, mildly intriguing story, rock-solid classic modes and a stellar multiplayer component launch American Sk8land to superstardom on the DS.

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ZTGameDomain

With the addition of true online play, content download, and some creative touch screen use this is certainly one of the better games available right now for Nintendo’s handheld wonder.

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GameZone

One of the most impressive handheld versions of the Tony Hawk series to come to the portable gaming format, Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land is a true thrasher classic.

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IGN

Even though it’s a been there, done that experience, Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land still a fun, frantic, and fantastic design that works extraordinarily well on the handheld due to its pick-up-and-play, quick-shot construction.

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Game Informer

To put it simply, Sk8Land is a no-brainer for Tony Hawk fans with a DS. [Feb 2006, p.112]

N-Insanity

A great DS game. The short and relatively easy story mode is still a blast to play through, and the other modes make it a fun game.

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eToychest

This is a great representation of the series, with very attractive visuals and a robust collection of maps and tricks, and it’s pretty amazing that Vicarious Visions managed to turn this one around so handily.

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GameSpot

Its novel look, its online play, solid gameplay, and its revamped goals make this a great one for the Nintendo DS.

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GamingTrend

It is a solid game with only a few issues, and is deserving of a purchase.

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Armchair Empire

The perfect kind of portable title -- while it's based off a console game, the unique visual style alone makes it worthwhile to own both.

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VGPub

Though the touch screen gameplay in Sk8land isn’t as intuitive as it should be, Vicarious Visions hit all the other bases of a good Tony Hawk title.

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Eurogamer

A really solid rendition of what made those early Tony Hawk games great, but on your faithful friend, the DS. It's smart and sassy, and it looks far better than you could possibly expect.

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Nintendo Power

Aside from a few minor issues, though, Vicarious Visions had done a fantastic job creating a faithful and fun Hawk game. [Jan 2006, p.112]

PALGN

American Sk8land manages to create a feeling of fun that has been missing from recent Tony Hawk titles, by focusing on pure skating, rather than mischief.

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GameShark

The game has a 100 percent pure Tony Hawk pedigree. For gamers looking for more innovative experiences for their innovative little system, it probably should be a rental-before-purchase situation.

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Detroit Free Press

I didn't want to put this game down. I took it with me in the car, in my room, everywhere. Wiping out and failing goals only made me want to play more.

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Game Revolution

It's nice to spend a few minutes getting some goals knocked out while waiting for the bus, and while the world may be tiring of Hawk style, now you can have a respectable version in your pocket.

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Thunderbolt

The Touch Screen is both used and abused, offering a few poorly executed trick concepts and a slew of customization options for the creative artist in all of us.

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DarkStation

The developers went back to the core ideals of the franchise, and came out with what made it fun, and fully customized to really shine on the DS.

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Worth Playing

Sk8land is the best attempt yet to convert the old boy of skateboarding to a portable.

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Gamestyle

There's enough levels to provide a bit of variety to the single player modes but multiplayer is definitely where it's at, and always has been.

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Games Radar (in-house)

Tiny DS buttons make tight and efficient combos downright painful, and unless you set your sights on buffing your skater’s speed stats from the get-go, the pokey pace of play will put you to sleep.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 46 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
Just awsome! the online community has all the pictures you make and it has forums, so if you get bored of the game(not likely) you will still have fun on the create graphidy mode.

mise gave it a9:
Quality game; highly enjoyable gameplay, great visuals and sfx, decent music, and superb replayabilty with WiFi. Definitely a must for DS owners.

Tails Canadian Sk8er gave it a9:
This is the best Tony Hawk game in the series; could only be better if you could do a caveman.

Steve D. gave it an8:
The whole game us great except for the reason that you cant talk to your opponet on wifi. Im addicted to it. The soundtrack could have been better.

Michael S. gave it a10:
The best graphics on the DS yet, and online features better than MK, together with a solid gameplay engine, make this on of the best DS games altogether to date.

Flarestorm gave it a9:
This game was way better than I expected, and the Wi-Fi is awsome. Being able to upload your art and look at other people's masterpieces and putting it on your board. The skateing is just like the ones for the Gamecube and such. With touch specials you can also add some extra points in your combo much easier. I recomend you get this if you like Tony Hawk Pro Skater/THUG. Oh and it doesn't matter if you can't get out of your board in this game, it still beats American Wasteland.

Extremekid21 gave it a10:
Great game, I love the shading, goals, and levels. It also has a much easier concept of doing trick and specials, and i reccomend it for people new to the ds.

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Tony Hawk's American Sk8land

Game Info

Summary

Also On Metacritic

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

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Recent Releases