I’ve seen a lot of people criticizing Grind Session as some kind of watered-down Tony Hawk. Well, unless you want to miss another great skateboarding game, don’t believe the bull! SCEA put time into making this game look sweet. There aren’t a lot of showy effects, but character animations are awesome, and no matter how many times I pulled a face-plant on the concrete, it looked real enough to make me groan. From railslides on delivery trucks to jumping subway cars to chasing pigeons, it all looks great, with very little slow-down or seams showing.

I loved the music, and the only disappointment is that it’s not Red Book Audio, so don’t expect to pop this one in your CD player. Old school acts like Black Flag share space with great new talent like GZA and Dr. Octagon on the soundtrack.

SCEA threw in everything but the kitchen sink for Grind Session, with a ton of challenges and absolutely stupid-huge levels. A training level, eight tournament levels, and a bonus stage make up the landscape. Two of the eight are competition levels, including the Vans Triple Crown. By unlocking levels in Tournament Mode, you open a whole slew of other modes, and winning is all about racking up points. Tricks and technical lines earn the biggest numbers, but there’s also vandal points scored for knocking things over or breaking stuff. Endurance Mode is like Simon for skateboarding; you have to perform specific tricks on demand while the clock ticks. The better you do on all this, the more likely it is you’ll unlock some of the bonus stuff like a photo shoot, where you get wiggy for the camera doing tricks for max points.

And that’s just one-player mode! Multiplayer for up to 16, anyone? Grind Session is heavy on trick points, so most of multiplayer is about competing in short events for trick points or playing against another skater to copy tricks and then one-up the next guy.

Grind Session signed on some kickin’ skaters from the pro ranks, like John Cardiel and Cara-Beth Burnside, but if you get sick of them, you can roll your own custom skater. Playing as each character, you not only get to use special tricks, but also unlock new tricks by scoring points and earning respect from the crowd.

It’s only as difficult as you make it. SCEA did a nice job balancing difficulty, to the extent that each technical line is rated as Easy, Medium, or Hard. You may not unlock everything by taking the easy way out, but there’s still plenty of novice action until you learn to shred the big stuff.

There are several small touches that raise Grind Session from good to great. Trick controls are easy to manage, and controlling each skater is simple and clean. I found it was easier to pull off tricks in digital rather than analog, but both are there to use. The vibration isn’t overdone, just tasteful.

To help figure out each level, Grind Session includes a Skater’s Eye feature that shows where the technical lines are, including the order you should skate them to get the most respect. Tech lines are ranked from Easy to Hard, and are more about precision than tricks. It’s possible to clear most of the levels without skating one of these, but you’ll eventually have to. Each level seems weighted toward certain tricks and skating styles. Atlanta is all up on the rooftops, so expect some big air and lots of railslide action. Detroit is one big railslide with some heavy halfpipe action to boot, and San Francisco is all about air. Learning how to hit the tech lines while nailing tricks is where the challenge comes in, and the only thing a little frustrating about Grind Session is the trick control sometimes feels a little mushy. Every skater is unique, though, weighted and rated by balance, skill and vertical ability. The way to win is to figure out a skater’s strengths and weaknesses and play up their strong points to earn big respect.

It’s a wild ride and a fun game. If you liked Tony Hawk and want more of the same, Grind Session doesn’t disappoint.