"And all this time I
thought it was an act! Come on guys, it’s the REAL Buzz Lightyear!"
"You’re mocking me,
aren’t you?"
"Oh no, no…Buzz look at
alien!"
(Buzz turns around, then
realizes there’s nothing there.)
"Hahaha!"
Who could possibly forget
classic moments like that? Disney has been making memorable animated motion
pictures for more than half a century. Most recently Pixar has continued
Disney’s tradition of masterpiece filmmaking with the release of Toy Story 1 and
2, A Bug’s Life, Monster’s Inc., and Finding Nemo.
While Pixar slowly began
to transform into the "new Disney," a little-known company called Neversoft
began working on a game staring a little-known extreme skateboarder: Tony Hawk.
As hard as it may be to believe, prior to the release of his first game, Tony
Hawk wasn’t a household name. With nothing but the best in innovative gameplay,
Neversoft quickly earned the status of being the industry’s top extreme sports
game developer. The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series is and probably always will
be the benchmark title — the one that developers look to before creating a
competing title, and the one critics look to for comparisons.
With Pixar, the best in
animated movies, and Neversoft, the best in extreme skateboard engines, it
didn’t take long for the people at Disney Interactive to realize what potential
the two had when combined. Months of brainstorming and game development time
later, Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure is born.
Utilizing the power of
Neversoft’s Tony Hawk 4 engine, Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure comes packed
with hundreds of tricks to pull off, a dozen skaters and several courses to
explore. With a familiar engine in place, it’s no surprise that the gameplay is
nearly identical to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. The control scheme, the trick
formations, the combos – everything you would expect to be here is discovered
within a few minutes of play.
As a much more
lighthearted title than the game that inspired it, Disney’s Extreme Skate
Adventure isn’t as extreme as you might think. You still can’t procrastinate
while trying to perform a series of tricks or else you’ll fall flat on your
face. It is, however, a lot easier to grind, and even easier to balance. You
could easily hop on a rail (or the equivalent of it, such as the side of a
kitchen countertop in the Toy Story themed worlds, or a cluster of rocks in the
courses based on The Lion King) and grind for 30 seconds without ever having to
worry about falling off. It’s not that it was a huge challenge to balance
during a grind in Tony Hawk, but it was never possible to consistently grind
30,000+ points in every stage without getting a little practice first. If you
have ever played an extreme skateboarding game, it won’t even take a minute for
you to become accustomed to Extreme Skate Adventure’s simpler play mechanics.
It is important that you
do assume that just because something is simple that it is not challenging.
Tony Hawk masters will unlock most of the secrets and conquer the entire world
in a day. The rest of us, however, will probably take at least a few more days
to figure everything out, and inexperienced children (the game’s target
audience) will no doubt take even longer.
This begs the question:
if the game is relatively easy, why would a gamer looking for a challenge even
bother?
The answer lies within
Extreme Skate Adventure’s fun factor. The gameplay is too familiar to credit it
as being the game’s entire source of entertainment. As trivial as aesthetics
usually are, they play an important role in this game. Being a huge fan of Toy
Story, I loved being able to play as Buzz, Woody and Jessie. All three
characters are great, and while their controls are the same, they each have
their own unique animations that closely resemble the way the characters moved
in the movie. Upon crashing, Woody will fall in the same clumsy way that he did
on film. It’s a minor – but extremely cool – element that gives Pixar nuts like
me an increased amount of joy.
Most pleasing to Disney
fans will be the game’s skate parks. The parks are actually worlds based on the
most memorable areas from the three movies featured in the game (Tarzan, Toy
Story, and The Lion King). All nine of these parks are good, but the Toy Story
levels are exceptional. Explore Andy’s toy-filled room, infiltrate the lair of
evil Emperor Zurg, or have a slice of pizza at Pizza Planet. Two things came to
mind when I entered the Pizza Planet level for the first time: 1) this looks
just like the movie and 2) it reminded me of the Pizza Planet-themed area of
Disney Quest in Walt Disney World. Awesome!
Despite being too easy
for most hardcore gamers (especially those who think they are too "cool" to play
a game that’s geared at children), I thoroughly enjoyed playing Disney’s Extreme
Skate Adventure. It may play like a Tony Hawk rip-off, but it was created using
the Tony Hawk engine, and was published by the company that owns the Tony Hawk
name, so technically it’s part of the Neversoft family. Kids will love it, and
any adult that gives it a chance will find that it’s much more than a kiddie
game.
Gameplay: 7.9
Disney’s Extreme
Skate Adventure’s ingredients are like those of a delicious cake. You’ve got
high-quality eggs, flour and milk (the Tony Hawk engine); rich, irresistible
chocolate (Tony Hawk-style gameplay); and a sugary-sweet frosting that’s too
good to miss (Disney characters). No matter how full you are from the feast of
extreme skateboard titles out there, you can always find room for seconds,
right?
Graphics: 8
Disney’s Extreme
Skate Adventure’s ingredients are like those of a delicious cake. You’ve got
high-quality eggs, flour and milk (the Tony Hawk engine); rich, irresistible
chocolate (Tony Hawk-style gameplay); and a sugary-sweet frosting that’s too
good to miss (Disney characters). No matter how full you are from the feast of
extreme skateboard titles out there, you can always find room for seconds,
right? I know I can, especially when one is as entertaining as Disney’s Extreme
Skate Adventure.
Sound: 5
Punk rock music
is great, and some rap is tolerable (if not a little enjoyable), but this is by
far the lowest quality soundtrack I’ve heard in a Tony Hawk spin-off. The only
notable bands either feature their most repetitive songs (Simple Plan’s “Grow
Up” lacks the depth of their other tracks), or are so far past their prime that
you won’t even acknowledge their presence.
Difficulty: Medium
Disney’s Extreme
Skate Adventure brings the characters of Tarzan, Toy Story and The Lion King to
life in a whole new way. The cartoony graphics are great. Buzz, Woody and
Jessie’s animations instantly catch the eye, mimicking their movie counterparts
very nicely. Simba, Rafiki, and Timon and Pumbaa also move well, though it’s
not as hard to recreate realistic animal movements (which are common in games)
as it is to make a wooden doll fall with style.
Concept: 7
The main concept
is a no-brainer: take Tony Hawk gameplay and throw in several familiar faces.
However, the developers did take the time to faithfully recreate Andy’s room.
And while they had little to work with in terms of the wide-open spaces that
filled the movie worlds of Tarzan and The Lion King, that didn’t stop them from
doing their best to make those levels fun.
Multiplayer: 7
Not bad, but not
great either. Only two players can enjoy this one simultaneously, making the
multiplayer mode less appealing. It’s still fun, but you probably won’t spend a
large amount of time playing it.
Overall: 7.9
Looking for
extreme skateboarding? Looking for adventure? Then stop rolling your eyes and
point your eyes here. Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure is the perfect way to
break into the Tony Hawk series. If you have never played a Tony Hawk game
before (it’s not likely but is possible), or just feel that they’re a little too
hard to get into, then this is the game to get. Kids will especially love it,
whether they’re casual or hardcore players who kick butt online. It’s well
worth your time, worth the money for Disney fans, and worth renting for anyone
who’s looking for a fun Tony Hawk-style game to finish in a weekend.
