*2. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (DC - Sports) *
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Marseille, France. Those two words do a little something for me like nothing else in the video game world -- i havee often mentioned how this or that is one of my favorite parts of gaming. Well, this particular level of this particular game is the favorite.
The setup: I had been playing some game on the Playstation, couldn't remember what -- i turned on the system expecting my game to still be in. However, I discovered that at some point my brother had put in the latest demo disc from Official Playstation Magazine into the system. Now I'm not one for demos, but for whatever reason I decided to check this one out -- I saw Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 on, remembered the good reviews the first one got, and figured I'd give it a whirl. I was hooked no more than ten minutes later.
The demo consisted of two skaters and one level, Marseille. All you did was pick your skater and try to get a high score over a two minute run. Not a single bit more. Man alive though, did I take that simple goal to the extreme -- i don't know how many hours I logged on this demo, but it was a lot -- i could easily play 20 runs in a sitting -- and i was at it most days for at least a couple of months. The only thing that stopped me was the actual game's release (for the Dreamcast, not the Playstation).
That whole demo run is something that is a landmark in my video game career. It may be insane, but the demo alone would have found its way somewhere on the countdown -- Once i started with the full game though, forget about it. It was just the demo times ten. Same quality, just more of it.
Along with MvC2, this single handedly kept the Dreamcast alive for me well after most people had set their's aside -- i brought it with me to my first year of college -- and I hooked all five of my suitemates on the game. Only one was what i would call a person who would normally play video games, yet it felt like there wasn't an hour that could pass without someone coming in my room to play a little bit of Tony Hawk. They weren't exactly the best, and approximately five times a day it was requested that i help them with a goal (high score in Philly was very common), but the point is that they were hooked.
This game is just flat out near perfection. 99% scores on both IGN and Gamespot can attest to that. So can the fact that i managed to hook four non-gaming friend onto it like some kind of drug -- i thought long and hard about putting Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 at the number one spot -- Alas, it'll have to settle for second best.