Tony Hawk: RIDE (Game)

Tony Hawk: RIDE

GAME » on November 17, 2009

PlayStation 3 (Platform)Wii (Platform)Xbox 360 (Platform)

A spin-off of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series of skateboarding games, this time making use of a dedicated motion controller resembling a life-sized skateboard.

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Overview

Promotional image depicting use of the skateboard peripheral. Most of the time, it is not this responsive.

Tony Hawk: RIDE is a skateboarding game developed by Robomodo (Company) (with Buzz Monkey co-developing the Wii version) and published by Activision (Company) for the Xbox 360 (Platform), PlayStation 3 (Platform), and Wii (Platform) on November 17, 2009 (in North America) and December 4, 2009 (in Europe).

A spin-off of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series and the first to be developed by Robomodo, Tony Hawk: RIDE makes use of a dedicated motion controller that resembles a life-sized skateboard, in order to simulate the feel of real-life skateboarding.

Despite the game's negative reception, mostly due to the high price, the peripheral's unresponsiveness, and the simplistic gameplay, it was later followed up in 2010 with Tony Hawk: SHRED, which builds on the concept with snowboarding sections.

Gameplay

The skateboard peripheral.

The skateboard peripheral is a motion sensing balance board designed in the shape of a skateboard. By tilting and twirling the board and moving hands or feet in front of the board's motion sensors, the player could in theory control the action on screen using actions meant to mimic the actual act of skateboarding. Assuming that the technology worked correctly, the player could shift weight to turn and balance grinds, kick back on the tail to ollie, and lean into airs to pull off huge spins.

On Vert levels, the game has players playing the controller sideways, parallel to the screen.

Session Types

Speed Run / Speed Slalom - Reach the goal within the time limit, with pickups and tricks reducing the timer and speed boosts to run over. Speed Slalom adds checkpoints to pass through.
Trick - Reach the target score within the time limit.
Challenge - Complete a series of objectives.

Skaters

Tony Hawk (Character)
Alex Olson
Cara Beth Burnside
Christian Hosoi
Daewon Song
Dustin Dollin
Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins
Mike Mo Capaldi
Mike Vallely (Person)
Nyjah Huston
Paul Rodriguez (Person)
Rodney Mullen (Person)
Ryan Sheckler
Steve Nesser
Stevie Williams

Levels

Southern California

Venice Beach
LA River
Venice Beach Half Pipe (vert)
Vans Downtown Showdown (Pro Challenge)

Chicago

Lower Wacker Drive
Loop Plaza
Boom Boom Huck Jam (vert)
Manual Challenge (Pro Challenge)

New York

Brooklyn Banks
Central Park
Central Park Half Pipe (vert)
Back to the Banks (Pro Challenge)

Frankfurt

Frankfurt Terminal
Quiksilver 80's Vert Challenge (Pro Challenge)

Spain

Barcelona Plaza
Toledo Streets
Barcelona Half Pipe (vert)
éS Game of Skate (Pro Challenge)

Tokyo

BOOMX2 TH VERTICAL U-RAMP! (vert, Pro Challenge)
BOOMX2 TH GO SHOW! (Pro Challenge)

Soundtrack

Adam Tensta – "My Cool"
Band of Skulls – "Patterns"
Beatsteaks – "Run Run"
Beck – "Gamma Ray"
Bill Withers – "Lovely Day"
The Black Keys – "I Got Mine"
The Bronx – "Minutes in Night"
Chevelle – "Jars"
Children Collide – "Social Currency"
Coconut Records – "West Coast"
The Commodores – "Machine Gun"
Darker My Love – "Two Ways Out"
Dead End Road – "Sin City"
Disbelievers – "Bad Storm"
The Duke Spirit – "Into The Fold"
The Faint – "The Geeks Were Right"
The Fold – "Neverender"
Gray Matter – "Fill A Void"
Green Day – "Murder City"
Half Astro – "Cellular"
Helen Earth Band – "Shake N Cut"
Kenny Rogers & First Edition – "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)"
Kram – "Blitzkreig Bop"
KRS-One w/ Buckshot – "Robot "
Living With Lions – "She's A Hack"
The Meters – "Cissy Strut"
MGMT – "Electric Feel"
Modey Lemon – "Become A Monk"
Modest Mouse – "Satellite Skin"
Morning After Girls – "Death Processions"
Murs feat. will.i.am – "Lookin' Fly"
Nico Vega – "Burn Burn"
Nitzer Ebb – "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"
NOFX – "Just the Flu"
Norma Jean – "Robots 3 Humans 0"
Patchwork – "Ping Pong"
The Pinkertones – "Electrobumbao"
Queens of the Stone Age – "The Lost Art of Keeping A Secret"
The Raconteurs – "Consoler of the Lonely"
The Replacements –"Takin' A Ride"
Revolution Mother – "Night Ride"
Rose Hill Drive – "Showdown"
Russian Circles – "Death Rides A Horse"
Santigold – "L.E.S. Artistes"
Shiny Toy Guns – "Ricochet"
Spinnerette – "All Babes Are Wolves"
The Stooges – "I Got A Right"
Superchunk – "Punch Me Harder"
The Temper Trap – "Hearts"
This Drama – "She Had A Knife"
TSOL – "Dance With Me"
Turbotito – "Losing Their Head"
TV On The Radio – "Dancing Choose"
We Are Scientists – "After Hours"
Willowz – "Ulcer Soul"
Wolfmother – "Joker & The Thief"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – "Zero"

Reception

Promotional hype for the game in the months leading up to its release was quiet to almost non-existent; an unusual move given the Tony Hawk franchise's history and the full-on nature of the reboot. Unfortunately, despite the work put in to revitalize the series, the game was met with a harsh critical reception.

Upon release, Ride was generally maligned by critics. While some touted the new peripheral and series direction as innovative and refreshing, most called the experience frustrating and disappointing. The skateboard peripheral drew the most ire from critics of the game, with many calling it unresponsive and that it made the game a cumbersome experience. The game itself was criticized as stripped-down and a shadow of what the series used to be. Negative reviews of the game gave it credit for trying something new and different, but said that heartily failed in execution. The price tag of $120 did nothing to help, as the skateboard peripheral that made up half of the price tag was largely considered a hardware design failure.

The game was later followed by Tony Hawk: Shred; a title also by Robomodo that uses the same peripheral and includes snowboarding challenges in addition to skateboarding. It did not fair much better among critics and tanked at retail; it sold only three thousand copies in its first week on shelves.

Safety Concerns

Tony Hawk: Ride involves the player standing on the skateboard peripheral as one would stand on an actual skateboard, tilting and spinning it around in front of the television to do different tricks. Velcro is included to attach the bottom of the board when used on a non-carpeted surface. The game requires players to have good balance, and there could be safety issues trying to preform tricks. It is recommended that players stay next to something they can hold on to, or to stop and get off the board if they feel they are about to fall. The board is designed for use by people under 300lbs.

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