At this point we can say with certainty that the Wii isn't as advanced graphically as the other two “next-gen” console offerings. What the Wii lacks in horsepower though, it clearly makes up for it with its innovative controller and console features. As time has gone by, the Wii version of Downhill Jam has begun to look quite solid (when earlier it looked quite rough) and the DS version of the game expectedly follows the same road as its big brother. Surprisingly, the DS version has instated quite a bit of hope and faith that the Wii version will be a good game, because this handheld attempt at taking skateboarding into the realm of racing works quite well. For those that have been predicting the fall of the Hawk franchise, unfortunately for you, it doesn't look like thats going to happen this year.



Unlike previous entries in the series, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, is well, a downhill racing game on skateboards. The Tony Hawk series on the last generation of consoles was starting to show its age and this change of gameplay is a welcome one. Its an exciting feeling to be able to take all the moves and skills you learned and mastered in the previous games, and apply them to a fairly different gameplay arena. If there is any immediate game that you could call to reference what you will experience in Downhill Jam, the first that comes to mind would be SSX. Replace the snow with pavement, the slopes with very steep streets and of course the snowboards with skateboards and you can see how similar the game is at heart. Luckily enough for Downhill Jam, the game feels fresh and its sense of speed in full 3D is appreciated as the little handheld isn't always treated with the most polished of 3D games.

The story is fairly thin, basically serving to set up the gameplay that follows. Tony Hawk and a bunch of other wacky characters challenge you to various events that will test not only your ability to reach the finish line first, but how well you know your tricks as well. The game controls surprisingly well on a handheld and anyone who has played the series before (and if you are reading this review, you probably have) will feel right at home. One skill has a more important role in this game than in any of the previous games, the bertslide. By pressing the shoulder button (using left or right depending on the direction) you can make tighter turns which helps you to get ahead of your opponents if you play to the edges of the courses. Other moves like the wallplant and wallride can also be more beneficial than they were before because now, they can give you a much needed boost. There are a few powerups you can acquire during a race, namely the boost, which launches you ahead for a few seconds. It can be the difference between first and last place in some matches. This is all complemented by the boost meter which fills up as you link moves together. Once filled, you gain access to a special air, grind and ground move initiated by tapping an icon on the touch screen. AI wise, the opponents are fairly competent. Sometimes they become a little too annoying as they are always breathing down your neck. There never seems to be any time to gain any significant distance between them, so you could be dominating only to make a wrong move and blow the whole race. There is no world to walk around in or explore and all of the events are presented to you on a punk inspired list. To get to the next level you have to complete a certain amount of events and there are also special challenges you can unlock which feature slightly harder events. There are six main levels and most of the events use the same environment over and over, though with slightly truncated versions for some of the shorter events. Each of the levels are fairly well designed and seem similar to the levels shown in the Wii version. It won't take an incredibly long time to finish the main events and exhaust the challenges the game has to offer, and that is where the excellently implemented online portion of the game comes in.



While you still need to get all of your buddies' “friend codes” to play with people you know, the random matchmaking does its job. Up from the two player matches included in last year's DS Tony Hawk game, you can race up to four people online. Not only that, but voice chat is included in the matches themselves unlike in Metroid Prime: Hunters where voice chatting was restricted to the lobby chat before a match. Its still not perfect, as you can only send a few second clips at a time by pressing a button on the touch screen, but its definitely a step in the right direction. Basically, as with most games, the computer AI simply does not compare to the fun to be had with real live players, and while the random matchmaking won't exactly create lasting friendships, the sheer fun of zooming past an opponent and showing them how its done almost makes up for it. Lag overall was minimal, though a small gripe is that it took a long time to get into the first few matches. This cannot be held against the game though as it is still very new, especially considering the holiday season is staring the game in the face.

Continuing last year's cel-shaded approach to the series was once again a smart move on the part of the developers. A high speed racing game on skateboards would probably have looked like a pixelated mess in most other styles. With the colorful and simple look, the game comes off as a very fast and clean racer. The character models are the least impressive to behold, but the game gets away with it by making them look as wacky as possible considering the limitations. The environments are great to look at and the game slows down only sparingly in packed situations. The game also features real music tracks which is surprising for a cartridge based handheld game, though they become repetitive when going through the different events and aren't the best selections to begin with. Fans of the series will be happy to know that all of the recognizable sound effects from past games are also here.



For a racer on the go, Tony Hawk is a fun and often exciting game that offers speed, color, challenges and who could forget the next baby step for voice chats? The game doesn't make much use of the touch screen outside of some character customization and utilizing the speed boost meter, but like many games before it has proven, the stylus and touch screen do not always need to be the stars of the show. Speaking of the customization, the game lets you create designs for your clothing, boards and even tags that appear throughout the levels. The tools at your disposal for this are quite impressive and of course, you can take your tricked out character online as well. If you need this year's fix of Tony Hawk, you have two different flavors to choose from this year, traditional skateboarding and racing. As shown by this DS version and hopefully the Wii version later on, racing adds a whole new level of fun to the Hawk series, and it should definitely be given a good close inspection.