Well, after completing the DS game earlier, I decided to go back to this, which I’d previously stopped playing after reaching Tampa some 15 months ago. And it was alarmingly easy to just drop back into after all this time. Finished off Tampa, and made a start on San Diego after it, mainly just bumping up stats as I’d just been made an “Am”.
After managing some of the previously impossible goals, I had The Warehouse unlocked, and completed some of the goals in there. That’s all the levels unlocked now, so… Went back to Story Mode. And ripped through all of the rest of it! Bought all the bits for the Warehouse, earned a stack of money, and made the skate video. And won the game! Hurrah!
I moved onto the next few levels instead of struggling with the few remaining goals at Vans. The next level was pretty hard too, and there’s no way in hell I can get the COMBO letters, nor any of the higher scores. And I can’t even see the Secret Tape, let alone collect it. There’s another goal where I have to do tricks through some signs. Two of the signs say “GRIND”, so I grind through and get them, no …
I can’t understand why I’m crap at this game. I used to be pretty good at Pro Skater on other formats, but I just can’t get high scores in this one. As well my inability to revert-manual, I find you lose momentum on the manuals far too quickly, meaning you can’t string more than a couple of verts together in a combo. Or at least, not one after another. Anyway, I completed a few more goals, but am stuck in …
Played a fair bit of Story Mode this evening, and worked my way past the first two levels. It seems a lot easier than Classic Mode so far. Also tried to bump up my rankings a bit, but in the end only managed to lengthen my Lip Trick time (to 31 seconds). Did boost my stats a bit though too, but Air and Ollie are woefully low. I can’t do the “8 grab tricks in one combo” type requirements, as …
High score rackage! Almost! I’ve been trying to bump up my scores and stats to improve my standings in my Skate Crew’s scoretables. I’ve only been trying on Hollywood, but I’m now 5th for the Run Score, and 1st for the longest grind of 33 seconds. That even puts me 52nd in the Global Grind Scores for that level too, which is pretty good going.
It’s Super Decal Fighter II Turbo today! Make two Graffiti “tags”: Great, no? They’re Horace from off of Horace Goes Skiing, and the Yellow Castle from off of Adventure on the Atari 2600. Marvellous. I also managed some deck art too: Yes! It’s the Sinclair rainbow!
Just knocking up my “Sk8 Crew” stats a bit today on this. I’m about 4th or 5th for overall score on Hollywood. Hurrah! Sadly, I’m in the bottom three for almost every other stat going. Boo! You can see my crew here, and my personal stats here. If you so wish.
Although I’d previously finished the game, I managed to unlock the rest of the Retro Cups in Mirror Mode today, and then win those too. Got an A rank and a Star rank for the Leaf and Lightning Cups respectively. I can now choose any kart for any character. Not really sure what advantage that gives me, but anyway.
And completed Broadway… The secret tape was a real pain to get to though. Thankfully, on the next level (Downtown), I picked the the tape entirely by accident, so I won’t need to struggle to find it there! Also picked up the COMBO letters and completed a few scores on Downtown.
Finished off all the challenges in Hollywood on Classic Mode, and had a bit of a skate around there before moving on to the next level – Broadway. I really can’t get the land-revert-manual controls working reliably, which made the 300,000 point Sick Score on Broadway a bit difficult. I’m sure it’s harder to time than on the console versions of Tony Hawk’s. Anyway, I managed to do all the scores, and the other challenges bar the secret tape (which …
Hmm. I just did the second Retro Cup on Mirror Mode, and came first overall. For some reason, it didn’t unlock the next Cup as I’d expected it to. Which means I’ve run out of Cups to play. Why hasn’t it opened up any more? I know I have a B rank on the Cup I did today, but surely that shouldn’t make any difference?
All of the 150cc cups have now been won! By me! Which means the game is completed! Well, technically, there is still Mirror Mode to go (and the missions), but the game proper is all done now. Almost all of my ranks are A and above, with just one or two Bs. I think there may be a D in there somewhere too, but I think I might have redone it. I’ve also done all the DS cups in Mirror …
I’ve now completed all of the “new” 150cc cups! Some of the tracks are pretty tricky to win, especially if the front two drivers happen to be heavy characters like Donkey Kong, Wario or Bowser. They can spin you out just by ramming you, which isn’t nice at all. I’ve also done the first Retro Cup on 150cc too. Only three left to go!
The Rev, lovely as he is, is no match for my ph33rz0me Kart mad sk1llz. 4-0 to me, oh crying one.