Tony Hawk's Underground

Game Overview

In Tony Hawk's Underground, players step into the shoes of an aspiring amateur skater from New Jersey who, alongside their reckless best friend Eric Sparrow, battles from local backyard ramps to professional global stardom. The single-player story mode takes players on an epic journey across New Jersey, Manhattan, Tampa, San Diego, Hawaii, and Moscow as they deal with betrayal, redemption, and fame. For the first time in series history, players are no longer restricted to a rolling skateboard: pressing a button allows skaters to dismount, scale chain-link fences, climb ladders, crawl through tight spaces, and throw objects. Supplemented by deep online/offline creation tools—including a park editor, deck creator, and graffiti tag maker—Underground reinvented extreme sports gaming for the sixth generation.

Quick Specifications

• Platform: Nintendo GameCube

• Developer: Neversoft

• Publisher: Activision

• Release Date: October 27, 2003 (North America)

• Genre: Arcade Sports / Skateboarding

• Players: 1–2 Players (Local Split-Screen Multiplayer)

• ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Key Features

• Story-Driven Campaign: Experience a cinematic narrative following your rise from an unknown local skater to a sponsored professional, featuring dramatic twists and rivalries.

• On-Foot Exploration: Dismount your board at any time to walk, run, jump, grab ledges, climb ladders, and traverse complex multi-tiered open environments.

• Face-Mapping Technology: Utilize memory card features and custom creation tools to design your own skater, or use photo-realistic face texture options.

• Expanded Park & Trick Editors: Build custom skate parks with the enhanced Park Editor, create custom spray-paint graffiti tags, and string together customized flatland tricks using the Trick Nation system.

Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A)

What changes did getting off your board bring to gameplay?

Dismounting allowed level designers to create massive, puzzle-like environments where players had to climb to rooftops, shimmy across ledges, and drop into inaccessible halfpipes or secret areas that were previously unreachable on a skateboard.

Can you play as Tony Hawk in the game?

Yes, while the career mode focuses on your custom protagonist, legendary pro skaters like Tony Hawk, Bob Burnquist, Chad Muska, Bam Margera, and Rodney Mullen appear prominently as mentors and rivals throughout the story, and are fully playable in free skate and multiplayer modes.

Does the GameCube version feature online play?

No. While the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of Tony Hawk's Underground featured online multiplayer capabilities, the Nintendo GameCube release is limited to offline single-player and robust local 2-player split-screen modes.

What multiplayer modes are available locally?

The game features classic split-screen head-to-head modes including Trick Attack, Graffiti, Horse, Slap, Free Skate, and specialized mini-games introduced in the story campaign.