(Link to video)
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 features the series' trademark open-ended gameplay, in which the player (playing as a professional skateboarder) completes a number of tasks which result in cash rewards. With money gained, the player can then purchase skill improvements and better skateboards. THPS2 was also the first game in the series to introduce the manual, a skateboarding trick where the performer balances on two wheels. This enables players to string together trick combos. The game also introduced the Noseslide, Tailslide, Bluntslide, Nosebluntside, Feeble, and Overcrook grinds. It was also the first of the Pro Skater games to feature Create-a-Skater and Park Editor features, now staples in the series.

Game Objectives

  • Emulator used: Mupen64 0.5 rerecording v8
  • Aims for fastest time
  • Genre: Sport
  • Even better than the 1st one
Here are the four main tricks used in this run:

Grinding

Grinding usually adds to your speed. This is why I jump many times on the same rail to reach optimal speed. Upward rails give speed faster than downward rails for some reason.

Wallriding

While wallriding, you can jump a second time to reach higher areas.

Jumping

Jumping keeps most of your speed.

Manual

Manuals keep your combo going and add to your multiplier. They are useful to get the high points goals.

Comments

I chose to reach the ending credits as fast as possible, instead of going for 100% requirements.

Character Choice

I used Tony Hawk because he already has a lot of speed and spin. After the first stage, I just have barely enough money to max those two stats. Visiting the store takes about 6 seconds; since the other stats seemed useless to me I decided to visit it only once.

Stage by Stage Comments

The Hangar

After uploading my [/Forum/Topics/4739&start=101|first WIP], YouTube user stevoisiak notified me that it was possible to get both the first gap and the "nosegrind over the pipe" goals. It took a lot of work, but I finally pulled it out. I also was able to get the third gap and grind the end of the propeller at the same time.

School II

This stage is pretty straight-forward. I doubt there’s a better possible route here.

Marseilles

Again, another pretty straight-forward stage. I get the minimum points to still get in first position. In THPS2, you can’t trigger the ending credits if you don’t have all three gold medals.

New York City

Hitting "retry" here (like in neskamikaze's run) is slower, since I don't aim for in-game time. Looking back at this, I think there's a way to quit Joey's sculpture faster while still getting the goal.

Venice Beach

Here, there may be a way to get the sick score goal before reaching the secret tape, which would save a bit of time. I tried three different routes and the one you see turned out to be the fastest.

Skate Street

Same two rounds.

Philadelphia

My favorite stage! The route is pretty different from the RTA run and way more entertaining.

Bullring

Grinds, grinds, grinds, fun, gold medals, etc.

Comparison Table

Here I compare the times I got in each stage with neskamizake's times (taken from this video). Since there weren't any better/TASed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 run, those were my goals to beat.
LevelsNahoc's in-game timeneskamizake’s in-game timeTime saved
The Hangar14 seconds24 seconds10 seconds
School II22 seconds26 seconds4 seconds
Marseilles5 and 5 seconds7 and 7 seconds4 seconds
New York City45 seconds53 seconds7 seconds + retry time
Venice Beach18 seconds28 seconds10 seconds + retry time
Skate Street3 and 3 seconds7 and 7 seconds8 seconds
Philadelphia17 seconds31 seconds14 seconds
Bullring6 and 6 seconds8 and 9 seconds5 seconds
Total2 minutes and 24 seconds3 minutes and 27 seconds1 minute and 3 seconds

Special Thanks

  • neskamikaze: He gave me many, many tips and a lot of advices. He kept giving me new ideas to try and luckily, they worked quite often! His RTA run was also useful for comparison. Huge thanks to him.
  • sonicpacker: He encouraged me and gave me feedback throughout the run.
  • sportplanet.com: This site provided me with nice [link removed]that helped me build my routes.

adelikat: Claimed for judging.
adelikat: Good viewer response, accepting for publication.
Nahoc: Processing...

Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 757
Gave this a Meh. I mean I liked it a lot and it was well run, but I feel this has so much more potential to offer. A 100% Run that nails all the gaps as well? Now that'd be absolutely epic! As a result, it just hits the Meh.. and barely... but only because I know 100% would be way better. Mr. Kelly R. Flewin
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin Just another random gamer ---- <OmnipotentEntity> How do you people get bored in the span of 10 seconds? Worst ADD ever.
Editor, Player (44)
Joined: 7/11/2010
Posts: 1022
I didn't think the loading screens really got in the way. I enjoyed watching this, and think pure-speed is a viable goal for the game, but I'd have enjoyed watching it more if I knew what the object of the game was. Are you trying to get enough of the goals of each level that it allows you to continue?
Joined: 11/20/2011
Posts: 27
Location: UK
I never played this game, so my point of view is purely depending on the video. The loading screen does have bad effect on watching experience, as one stage takes only few seconds but loading screen takes more than that. But even though I don't know the game, I can tell the skills showing here are amazing, I do appreciate this run. If 100% run can be made and nice to watch, I will like that as well I think. If no, this is good enough for me. I don't really care about 100% or not. So, yes vote for sure. To be honest, this run is too fast for me, I don't even know what just happened and stage was over. Maybe 100% run can slow down a bit...
Player (70)
Joined: 8/24/2004
Posts: 2562
Location: Sweden
aluoaniki wrote:
Maybe 100% run can slow down a bit...
Hehe. You can always snatch the movie file and use a slow motion setting in your video player. Or on youtube you just have to hit the pause/play button very rapidly. :) Edit: I was just playing around with THPS2 for PSX. Found a zipping/ejecting glitch. Not sure how to reproduce. I had very low speed when coming up to a rail when I started to grind it. Got zipped down from the building. Not sure if this would be helpful at all, but maybe we can find out how it works, and maybe abuse it. Also not sure if it works for PC or N64 for example. I know that PC has some various glitches which are documented elsewhere. Just wanted to share my finding. Cheers!
Joined: 2/28/2012
Posts: 3
Tub wrote:
I have to agree that a 100% run would be... at least 100% more entertaining. That's not a reason to stop this from being published though, so I have to vote yes.
Agreed. It is what it is and while a 100% would be more fun to watch it is still a great run.
adelikat
He/Him
Emulator Coder, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player (3598)
Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4738
Location: Tennessee
I wouldn't have thought an aims for fastest time would be appropriate for a game like this. But it seems pretty rad since the level ends as soon as you rack up enough points or whatever. I found it entertaining, and give a solid yes.
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 14887
Location: 127.0.0.1
This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [1984] N64 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 by Nahoc in 05:18.72