Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure

It’s not hard to see why so many gamers fell in love with the Tony Hawk Pro Skater games, particularly the third and fourth installments of the skateboarding series, since it not only featured a slew of tricks but mission-based objectives that made each challenge addictively enjoyable.  Sporting an isometric perspective, the Tony Hawk games were even a smash on the handheld front.  Activision has now set its sights on the younger skate fans and this time it brought some familiar Disney faces.  Yet how well does a Disney-themed skating game fare on the Game Boy Advance?  Only way to find out is to read on, space cadets. 

Thankfully, Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure uses the same Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 engine so the game looks and feels identical to that game only with the Disney license.  You’ll find characters and locations from three specific Disney animated movies such as Tarzan, Toy Story and The Lion King.  There are three modes of playing this game (including a Tutorial Mode) and three worlds with at least two different skating environments.  The Tutorial Mode is the first mode gamers should try first since it gives gamers a basic rundown of each basic trick to pull off.  Verse Mode is the game’s only multiplayer game mode that has you sharing your GBA system with a friend to play a Tony Hawk classic called HORSE.  Games Mode is a mode filled with three mini-games: Time Challenge, Trick Challenge and Turbo Challenge.

The game’s main mode of playing is Story Mode, which will have gamers choosing from the three game worlds and then playing through an environment filled with characters related to the world.  For example, if you’re playing as Toy Story’s Woody, you interact with characters straight from the film such as Buzz Lightyear, the plastic army men and Mr. Potato Head.  Each character has an objective you must complete for major points.  The majority of the objectives have you collecting things or pulling off tricks in a specific location in the environment.

The game levels in any of the three worlds are geared to the specific film.  The Toy Story segment has you in Andy’s Room and Pizza Planet, The Lion King segment puts you in Pride Rock and the Elephant Graveyard and Tarzan has you skating through the Jungle Tree House and the Human Camp.  Each location has a number of ramps, half-pipes and things to grind and there are even level bosses to defeat--which is an interesting new concept to the genre.  There are also seven characters to choose from in total, although you won’t find characters from any other Disney movies (no Donald Duck or Goofy in this one).

Pulling off combos and tricks successfully is no hard feat considering the fact that the Tony Hawk tricks have been toned down for the Disney crowd.  This does not mean, however, that the game is too kiddy even for its own good.  This just means that pulling off complex Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 tricks is easy enough to pull off without being too frustrating.  This leaves more room to concentrate on the various challenges you’ll encounter in the game’s main mode. 

Graphics-wise, Extreme Skate Adventure is actually quite impressive when you get right down to it.  While the locations are not as richly detailed, there are just enough things to grind and plenty of ramps to launch off from when you want to pull off some neat aerial tricks.  Some locations actually look much better than other do, for example, Pride Rock in The Lion King world has more in ways of ramps and details than the Elephant Graveyard.  The characters, though, is what makes this a real treat.  Not only are they wonderfully detailed tot he point that they’re instantly recognizable off the bat, but they move just as you might expect them to move.  Not bad at all, actually.

The sound, though, could have used the magical Disney touch when it comes to sound effects.  While you’ll actually hear the skate skidding while grinding things, the most prominent sound you’ll ever hear is the sound of your character eating the floor when you take a mean spill or land on your head.  There’s not even a sound bite or two when you complete a task or pull off a string of amazing combos.  There’s music but it’s mostly what you might expect from a Disney-themed game . . . although it’s pretty interesting that the music for each world comes close to the score of each of the three movies.

Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure might not be as deep as the Tony Hawk Pro Skater games on the GBA but the game certainly is appealing enough to for kids that love Disney characters and skateboarding.  Not only does this game run smoothly but also pulling off tricks is utterly fun.  Still, the game does leave much to be desired when it comes to multiplayer action.  This is pure skating fun for kids that are not quite up to the Tony Hawk challenge so, by all means, get this for them. 

Gameplay: 7.5
Extreme Skate Adventure’s controls are pure Tony Hawk bliss, only slightly modified to keep each trick as simple to pull off.  Yes this game is geared toward the target Disney ages, but its solid skating fun is good enough for all ages to enjoy.  The many challenges you’ll encounter in the game’s Story Mode will have you collecting things appropriate to each of the three worlds and it’s great to interact with movie favorites. The boss battles can be a bit of a distraction; but then again, it adds a fresh new element to the genre.

Graphics: 8.0
The game’s graphics are actually pretty impressive since it not only features some wildly interesting skating locations (Andy’s Room has got to be one of the most satisfyingly amusing levels) with enough details to give you something to interact with during a level.  There are some locations that are somewhat plain, though, but this is hardly anything that will distract from the fun.  It’s the characters (especially the rag doll cowpokes Woody and Jesse) that will put a smile on your face.

Sound: 7.0
Where are the Disney sound bites?  Why isn’t Buzz Lightyear spouting off his catch phrase “To infinity and beyond!”  You won’t find very much in terms of sound effects here as well and this makes for a pretty average sound experience that could have benefited from tiny sound details.  The music, though, does offer something pretty impressive--music that comes close to the score of each of the three movies the levels are based on.

Difficulty: Medium
Story Mode is filled with plenty of challenges to complete and thanks to the smooth and easy-to-pull-off tricks, this leaves plenty of room to concentrate on each challenge.  The difficulty comes from the timer that is ever so demanding.  Yet there is nothing here that will leave you frustrated or at a loss of what to do next and gamers can be thankful that the challenges aren’t too easy either.

Concept: 8.0
It might be a little odd to see The Lion King’s Simba on a skateboard, but it’s also quite an amusing spectacle to see the little critter pull of extreme tricks.  The characters themselves are what give this game its charming appeal and it’s nice to see that you get to interact with characters from Tarzan, Toy Story and The Lion King.  It’s also cool to see character specific tricks (Woody waves his hat like he’s riding a bull when he pulls off manuals.

Multiplayer: 7.0
If there’s a Game Boy Advance title just begging for a deep multiplayer experience it’s this one.  Not only would this game have benefited from a GBA Link Cable option to play this one with two GBA systems, but it also would have made for a more frantic Verses game mode.  Instead we get a decent version of the HORSE game mode.  HORSE (or a word associated with the Disney world you choose) has you pulling off as many combos or killer tricks within a time limit.  Then hand your GBA over to your friend who will try to match or beat your score in order to avoid getting a letter that will eventually spell the word, thus losing the game.

Overall: 7.9
While not on the same level as the Tony Hawk games, Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure is a perfect way for kids to get comfortable with the skating genre.  There’s an ample amount of objectives, game modes and characters to keep gamers young and old well occupied but if you’re looking for a deep skating experience, this is not the game that will satisfy your skateboarding cravings.  Still, this one is too fun to pass up so pick this one up if you’ve got a child that’s obsessed with skateboarding and all things Disney.