Before the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, most skateboarding video games had you either performing the most basic of tricks in a 2D half-pipe (Skate or Die), or had you doing truly non-skateboarding things like racing across country (2 Xtreme). The original THPS changed all that, adding a much-needed focus on tricks and in the process single-handedly sculpted the skateboarding genre that we all know today.
But what if the Tony Hawk games weren’t the best skateboarding games on the PlayStation? Sure, it may have been completely drowned out by the much more hyped Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, but Grind Session from Shaba Games is, quite frankly, the best skateboarding game on the PlayStation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sonpaxDd1w
If you have ever played a single Tony Hawk game, you already know how Grind Session feels. You can use either the D-Pad or the Analog Sticks on the DualShock controller to control your skater, and the face buttons control which type of trick you do. You know, just like Tony Hawk. The similarities don’t end with the controller layout, either. One of the levels from the original THPS (and later in THPS3), Burnside Skate Park, appears in Grind Session — the only difference being that you can actually jump the fence and skate around the trucks in GS. All the similarities with THPS aside, there were some key differences in Grind Session that separated it from, and ultimately helped it surpass, THPS (and THPS2, which came out the same year as GS).
The most obvious difference was the inclusion of what were called technical lines: Grinding or jumping goals that, when achieved, helped you earn large chunks of respect, the currency used for unlocking new tricks, stages, movies, and characters. You have three types of technical lines: Blue (easy), Yellow (moderate) and Red (hard). You would complete them by either making a jump or holding a grind for a certain amount of time. Other ways you earn respect is by collecting a certain number of objects strewn throughout each level and scoring points by stringing tricks together. Once you reach the initial point limit, the final score is bumped up x2, x3, etc. to give each stage an additional challenge. Of course, between the standard stages you also have the occasional tournament which is done in three segments: Vert, Street and Trick. In Vert you are only scored for tricks done in the half-pipe, Street lets you play with the entire course and Trick is, well, where you are scored on a single trick – so make it count.
Grind Session featured a small stable of relatively well-known skateboarders, including Willy Santos, Cara-Beth Burnside, Ed Templeton and John Cardiel. Former Big Brother Dave Carnie was but one of the many unlockable characters, notable for his yellow jumpsuit and penchant for farting whenever you went for a grind. Other hidden characters included, in no particular order:
# A demon
# A robot
# An alien named Stanley
and
# Master AO, a kung-fu master who has the best stats in the game
Now by todays standards the soundtrack would be considered lacking, but back in 2000 having a soundtrack with acts like Black Flag, NOFX and Jurassic 5 was a big deal, and if you are into that brand of music you will absolutely love the games list of music.
If you own either a PlayStation 2 or PS3, do yourself a huge favor and pick up Grind Session. You can find it on eBay for about $5, and trust me when I tell you that it’s worth every penny.
The Bender Podcast
