Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (GameCube)

In Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, players were introduced to the Manual--a move that greatly revolutionised the series' gameplay. This instalment introduces the Revert, and while it isn't as significant an addition as the Manual, it does add another layer to the already deep trick system. The game features solid graphics, but a level of detail was sacrificed in order to make the game's levels so large. There are a few moments of frame skipping and polygon clipping, but these instances are rare and don't overshadow the stellar gameplay.

Career mode is as deep as ever, with eight objective-filled levels. In this single-player mode players traverse their way through some brilliantly designed courses to achieve high scores, collect the letters to the word "skate", find hidden video tapes and interact with level-specific objects. Two players can participate in the five multiplayer mini-games, which include King of the Hill, Horse, and Trick Attack. There's no reason for fans of sports, action and platform games not to have this title; this game will satisfy them all. --Raymond M Padilla