Neversoft has done it again with their latest rendition of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, a title which needs little introduction in the electronic gaming scene. Be ready for brand new tricks and treats (oh wait, Halloween's over...) in this edition, along with updates on that kickin' graphics engine we've grown to expect since the release of the original way back in '99.

Do I really need to tell you that the visuals are gorgeous? Well, okay: Did you get to play Tony Hawk 3? It's better than that. The character models are so very convincing; from something as minute as missing the board on an ollie to wipeouts as painful as landing up-side down on your chin, trust me when I say the developers did not miss a beat.

They were also able to work some HUGE levels into the engine (which the PS2's hardware handles flawlessly, I should add). This game sports a rock-solid framerate, not to mention smooth collision handling and one hell of a snazzy interface. Wow, if this isn't design...

Sound effects are great, too - most impressive (though no better then the last Pro Skater) are the rolling sounds which depend upon the terrain the player is skating or grinding on. Neversoft has always done a great job in covering all of the bases. The soundtrack is also really good, including some of the latest punk, rock and rap music.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 plays like a charm, and there are some new moves that make the experience even better. Most noticeably is the spine transfer, which allows you to level out your board depending on where you are fixing to land. Before now if you were to jump out of the halfpipe and miss the edge, you were sure to wipe out. Now you can still pull off the move if you hit the spine transfer button in time, which brings a whole new line of possible tricks into play.

The several levels that you can earn are huge compared to what you might have been used to before. The new Campaign mode is a lot less redundant - sure you can still choose to free skate, but by default the player is placed in these small cities and allowed to skate around and explore. Goals can be started by talking to other NPCs in the levels, who will have problems like 'Destroy all of the signs by grinding along the top of that building' or 'Save my co-worker from that shark!!' No, the goals aren't very realistic, but the game definitely benefits from them.

There's a slight difference in that you no longer have to earn money to get further into the game. Now all of the money that the player earns can be spent on cool stuff like skateboards, clothes and accessories, and cheats. None of these are needed to beat the game, but it's cool to have access to them and gives the game a broader, more realistic scope.

New players will have no trouble getting used to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. Of course, everyone will get better with more experience, but it's just as fun for veterans as it is for newbies. Those who are experienced with the predecessors will feel right at home, and my guess is that they'll love the new tricks as well.

More and more games seem to take this goal system up where the player is given more than a few options to choose from, and not all of them are needed to advance further into the game. Hardcore skateboard players will love getting all of the goals and mastering the levels (which would take a very long time!) and the more casual gamers can still beat the game with a lot left over for the next time they feel like playing.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 is systematically unchanged from the original THPS that revolutionized the extreme sports gaming genre. The camera view is in the third-person and really captures the player from the best possible angle (from behind when free-styling down the street, and above towards the ground when the flinging from the lip of a half-pipe). There are many different combinations of controls and tricks to learn, but the most important are jump(X), grind move(triangle), grab move(circle) and kickflip(square). Again, these are but a few of many possibilities, but a newcomer will soon catch on after the first level.

There's so much more one could say about Tony Hawk 4 without rambling on, but it can only be done justice by going out and playing it yourself. Some of us can remember the old days when games like 720 on the NES were popular, and very little can prove how far the consumer market of electronic games has come more than Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4.