MORE Portable Pro Skater Games (GBA) - Square Eyed Jak

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater appeared on the Advance Game Boys starting with THPS2, adopting an isometric viewpoint and an incredibly familiar gameplay style. Are we still talking about weak ports or can the GBA hold its own against the console superiors?
Check out kickblips.com/ for the best chiptune Pro Skater songs! 🎮🎶
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Intro/Outro Music:
• Royalty Free Music #15...
#tonyhawk #hawktober #gamereview

[@SquareEyedJak]

I hope everyone is enjoying Hawktober 2019 so far, we've still got A LOT more to come. Do me a solid and remember to share the videos each day as it really helps out the channel and get more eyes on the product. Cheers! 😁🛹

[@NukaColaWarrior8434]

Jacky boy u da man

[@EverDownward]

5/10 for one of the greatest ports in gaming history? Oof, that's harsh.

[@weed75black35]

Jak has some really funky metrics for his rating system. He explained it once but I forgot which video it was.

[@chomperelectric2676]

He gives lower scores for handheld games, for example, Tasmania on Genesis is 4/10 while Tasmania on Gameboy is also 4/10, but he said that 4/10 on Gameboy is better than 4/10 on Genesis, so basically, I am saying that Jak said Crash Bandicoot n tranced is a masterpiece

[@weed75black35]

@Flashing Colors He judges games based on the "whole picture". Handheld games don't get a higher score than its console counterparts just because of hardware limitations, though it gets special merit points for working around these limitations, it's still an inferior game with less features. He says it himself best: a 5 for a handheld game is not the same as a 5 for a console game.

[@realfamiliarfez]

1-4 is shit, 4-7 is average/good and 7-10 is fantastic. Odd yet smart

[@dhall888]

I give this game 9/10. Solid, no doubts

[@cevapboj9880]

THPS2 5/10? You praised the game mostly xD

[@BugsyFoga]

0:33 That's some nice spongebob and Nightmare before Christmas graffiti art back there 😁👌

[@henrrystine9109]

I know pretty cool

[@SantiagoMonroy5]

Square Eye Jak:tHis Game is incREDIBLE!!! 1111 AWESOME PORT AND SOLID GAME!!!111 Also SEJ: 6/10

[@alex_-yz9to]

Well there is no such thing as a perfect game everyone can and will dissagree with opinions it's what makes us unique human beings as opposed to weird Hive minded colonies of emotionless robots

[@chaaseisstupid2036]

@@alex_-yz9to a 5/10 is good for jak standards

[@puttu_racing]

But remember that even a 4/10 is not bad for a portable game.

[@djtoxicdhg]

I remember playing Tony Hawk's pro skater 2 on my Game Boy advance and having an absolute blast when I was a little kid I was really blown away which is how great the game was for mere portable game

[@topjimmy7325]

whoever did the graffiti art at your local skatepark is an absolute fucking maestro

[@nickamite36]

Man, I loved THPS3 on gba. It is probably my most played gba game I have. I even got close to 100% on it.

[@jaihainsworth4094]

Love waking up to more TONY HAWKTOBER!

[@theallaroundnerd9889]

The GBA was an amazing system my dude, there was a group that showed Nintendo they could port Resident Evil 2 to the GBA and play just like the game. It's really impressive

[@BugsyFoga]

HAWKTOBER: The Gba Chronicles

[@SquareEyedJak]

How are you always at every video AND everyone else's videos the moment they go live? Mad respect dude! 😄

[@BugsyFoga]

@@SquareEyedJak I just simply refresh my sub box whenever it reaches a specific time

[@eugeneketaminekrebs3403]

Square Eyed Jak: He’s like Justin Y.

[@mpa1931]

I remember playing this with my friends GBA, I was completely blown away of how well of a port this was.

[@Saxdude26]

Haha, marathoning Hawktober again and I noticed amongst THPS3's create-a-skater, the graphic tees feature logos of the GBC devs, like HotGen. 👍

[@MatthewDadoun]

Really love Tony Hawktober, great way to act as a time capsule for what will be forgotten games. Awesome to see it from someone who loves the franchise too 😄

[@SDK2K9]

I have to say VV did a damn good job porting Pro Skater 2, 3 & 4 over to the GBA. It's like having the console version of the games on the go. Much better then what we saw on the GBC.

[@Soundwaves329]

“I hope you brought your gameshark“ square eyed jak 2019

[@dav2462]

Fair dinkum, THPS 2 on the GBA is my favorite in the whole series, mostly due to nostalgia. It was the only game I played on those long car trips across Straya to visit relatives in Victoria as a lil sprog.

[@Atri4]

Aight' this time I have the energy to write something longer. So yeah, bloody hell, we got another year! The intro recreations are very nice and the effort was not wasted just like last year :) The short 10-15 minute videos seem to be the best lenght for me, since they aren't too short nor too long, but even if the other videos will be longer I see no probelm with it. Even though we don't have as much skating and live action stuff going on this year it kinda reflects the theme of portable (lesser) games and maybe we'll get some later down the weeks. Besides that I don't really have much else to say besides great job! Oh and I don't know why, but it just made me really happy to see that this episode had the games getting better and better. It's nice to once in a while not be given what you expect, that being failure after success. Vicarious really seem to know what they're doing. K, nice vid cya tomorrow >:3

[@johnnyturbo655]

Dude ur editing skills are really really good! Great video series man!

[@karimaboukoura428]

Uploaded right before I go to school. Now I have something to watch this afternoon

[@Petronious]

Always impresses me how good GBA games still look and feel to play to this day. These ports look just like what you'd expect a port of the console versions to be!

[@DandyDNA]

7:57 To answer your question, the GBA isn't "essentially a portable Super Nintendo" as you say but a halfway point between the SNES and Saturn. It's a very capable little machine!

[@GeneralSherman64]

thps3 on gba was my favorite game for a long time. I actually thought the trade off of having it portable made it better than the ps2 version!

[@j2k478]

This week should be amazing looking forward to it a ton m8

[@AzraelDarkness64Gaming]

Great video as always Jak I almost forgot about this game now looking for it now thanks a lot 😂 😂

[@King_K_Rool_]

Your intros are amazing jak

[@JomasterTheSecond]

Damn son, love those crispy 3D models.

[@Spider_Mike023]

Man it’s that time of year again. I remember seeing these on shelves all the time as a kid, but I was content with the consoles ones I endlessly replayed lol.

[@n1njahawkssecondchannel84]

Hey Square Eyed Jak I love how you made your name GameBoy advance background

[@SquareEyedJak]

Thanks, glad you like it!

[@n1njahawkssecondchannel84]

Square Eyed Jak I’m a fan of game boy that’s why I have a GBASP and first GB

[@razorchance6976]

Vicarious visions did a really good job with pro skater 3, honestly now that I realized it, a good number of gba games I own were developed by vicarious visions *most of the Spider-Man games on gba are a clear example.* I really enjoyed pro skater 3 upon picking it up a few months after getting underground 2, between the 2 I own, I really like pro skater 3 quite a bit, I especially love the music in 3, vicarious visions are very well developers with more hits than miss *I enjoy a few of their games on consoles, like crash nitro kart, marvel ultimate alliance 2 and even the n sane trilogy I like 🤣.* I apologize if this was a mouthful 😂😂 good job jak.

[@NicePasta]

Dude, I legit watched all of Tony Hawktober and a shit ton of your other vids last night. You definitely deserve more subs. I wish you the best on Patreon, and when I'm able to, I'll be supporting you on there because I think you deserve the support. I'm a gamedev as my main job, and hearing you explain why you like things, or dislike things is really helpful for me. I'm a huge fan of your channel man. Keep up the good work!

[@NicePasta]

Also, shared as @dreammixgames on twitter. :)

[@SquareEyedJak]

Appreciate it mate, cheers! :)

[@ZbuntowanyGwindon]

I like Hawktober so much, thanks for making my morning wake up more bearable!

[@Sephinova]

midway through watching and i gotta say that is some really nice graffiti in the background

[@toastbrot97]

Holy cow, i didn't know vicarious visions were such beasts even back in the days. Kudos

[@BLRavenWizard]

Wow. I only have Tony hawk pro Staker 4 for Gba. But I've barely play it. Great video dude! 😎

[@wariotalkingwithoutlungs]

Gameboy advance now this is my favorite. And no princess beach coco or rilla roo is gonna stop me.

[@KeiraLunar]

the closes i have played to THP on GBA is Jet Set Radio

[@haydnzwiers]

I am loving this year Tony Hawk tobober special.

[@GameApologist]

...that might be the prettiest GBA I have ever seen. ...Oh also great video! ...I need that Game boy...

[@djtoxicdhg]

Hands down without a doubt I got to say Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is by far my most favorite mobile game to ever play The Game Boy Advance Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is so badass I almost enjoyed it more than the console version and that's really saying something it was so cool to be able to play this Kick-Ass game while I'm in the car going places some of the best childhood memories hands down

[@fastbreak333]

It's always mind-blowing to see the GBA handle 3D. I know its processor is better than the SNES's, but it can be very difficult to implement as going overboard with 3D on the system means slow-as-hell frame rate.

[@sexycavetroll2788]

an the GBA games bring back memories. i remember being in 9th grade and seeing a kid playing part 2 on the bus. iremember how blown away I was and how much I wanted it. that Christmas I asked my parents for a new GBA and pro skater 2. sadly my mom wasn't in the know with video games so she ended up getting a crappy gba skating game but I still played the heck out of it and was grateful. (I was also grateful that a few days later I was able to return it and get pro skater 2) I think the gba was the last era of gaming that I was really invested in. the hype for games was the strongest, tactics ogre was my golden goose for a while. I wish I could get that passion back but these days even though I still play games (mainly pc) nothing gets me hooked or sucked in like they used to

[@David01.d]

something magical about gameboy advance games

[@bumbus7583]

I've never played a THPS game before but I still enjoy these videos regardless

[@Baranowski]

Your videos are awesome as always and you deserve a lot more views and subs! Keep up your great work! Greetings from a 36 year old, german "Videogame Nerd"! ;)

[@SquareEyedJak]

Cheers dude!

[@DmitriyK12]

To this day I still don't understand why THPS 1 wasn't ported to the GBA...it would have been interesting to see what Vicarious Visions could create on a stronger handheld. Anyway what we got instead is pretty decent , but I will always wonder what if; there was also MTV Skateboarding with Andy McDonald and that video game also did not get a GBA version.

[@MrSkullMerchant]

I love mtv skateboarding especialy the soundtrack

[@Bensworth]

Another great video man. I just have one question though (and pardon me if you answered it somewhere else and I didn’t see it) You rate portable and console games on the same scale, which is fine, but you seem to immediately dock points from portable games for the inevitable technical limitation they have, is that how it is or am I missing something? Not to say your wrong, I haven’t played the game, but it just feels weird to see you talk about how pro skater 3 blew your expectation but then giving it a 6/10, a score that suggests it was just pretty alright.

[@SquareEyedJak]

I do need to do a new video talking about. YES I do immediately dock points from portables because next to the consoles of their era, they can't really compete. So while Pro Skater 3 on GBA is definitely worthy of a 7/10 by the standards of the GBA system, it gets a 6/10 on the overall scale. I hope that makes sense.

[@Bensworth]

Thanks man, just needed the clarification

[@DmitriyK12]

I can't wait to see what Jak has in store for the next video about skateboarding video games (unless he is all finished and there are no more games to critique). You could always dive into the Mac/Windows PC market of knock off THPS titles..if you dare. 👍😬

[@NanaKyoto]

The Game Boy Advance does feature a 32 bit processor, so it was able to handle 3D models, if used sparingly... But you could argue that the atlasphere levels in Crash Bandicoot: N-Tranced are an extension to the GBA Tony Hawk games with how similar they are with the isometric view and 3D models.

[@SquareEyedJak]

Hadn't thought of that comparison actually, good job!

[@eugeneketaminekrebs3403]

Well, they are made by the same company, Vicarious Visions.

[@NanaKyoto]

@@eugeneketaminekrebs3403 I already knew that one.

[@joeyparkhill8751]

Now Vicarious Visions is rebooting the 1st 2 THPS games! Sweet!

[@thiccapples6703]

Pro skater 3 was my first game for the gba, my father didn't want me to get a mario game for whatever reason. It was fun for sure.

[@tyonorshapzc7tjfvb7-caz]

thps 3 is the god here, realy impressed >)

[@paultaylor_yt3577]

To be honest I didn't know that there were so many games for the portable devices, I thought they were on the consoles only so it was a surprise when I found out that they were on portable devices. Loved the video man now I'm gonna play the shit out of THPS3 lol. :D

[@SonOfMyRightHand_Gaming]

These vids are pretty funny

[@m_jade3602]

No wonder vicarious visions were brought on board again to reserruct thps with their release of THPS1+2 remake

[@thegamingreaper0288]

Just curious, do you plan on making another review around Christmas time like with The Last of Us in December 2017? I think it would be a great way to send this channel off into 2020 but at the same time, if you can't make it happen, that's understandable.

[@PellpaPaintinator]

You should review the Skate games!

[@DomtheDemonSlayer]

Tony Hawk lookin' fine on GBA

[@LEYLANDGAMER]

End of Hawktober Special Episode: Ratchet and Clank review!

[@SquareEyedJak]

I should just do that to fuck with people's brains. Sounds like fun!

[@MrBoilertech]

Tony Hawk is so radical

[@legendaryrah1032]

You should at the end of hawktober put all the scores for every game in order of worst to best including all ports and stuff

[@SquareEyedJak]

I've got something even better!

[@chu-pay]

Go easy on my portable tony hawk

[@alemanemc9513]

pro skater es uno de los mejores juegos de deportes extremos en todas las consolas

[@shouldershot]

thank god it’s not possible to OD on TONYHAWKTOBER

[@PlasticCogLiquid]

I love the GBA versions, I used to play them on the GBA addon for the Gamecube. Now I use the RPi, but sometimes I prefer the overhead 2D versions of Tony Hawk.

[@TheNathanNS]

One thing I found hard about the GBA games was the camera. It takes some getting used to when being up high in the air. Other than that, I have to agree with how well they downgraded a PS2-era game to work on SNES-level hardware.

[@SquareEyedJak]

It certainly takes some getting used to. Every single isometric game ever has depth perception issues with objects you need to collect, looks like they're on the ground in front of you but are actually in the air behind. Otherwise though, there are super solid, especially Pro Skater 3!

[@SporkSlayer]

The most impressed with a Gameboy Game I've ever been (though granted, I've not played it yet) is Big Motha Truckers. Somehow they were able to emulate the PS2 game with full 3D graphics. It's a game I want to play to see if it works well or if it's actually any good.

[@SquareEyedJak]

Are you a fan of Fraki on KZbin? His show Port Patrol just covered that recently and he's a pretty cool dude.

[@SporkSlayer]

I haven't heard of him. I'll have to check it out.

[@GrayD_Fox]

VV is like Neversoft's underling

[@ChaseMC215]

So basically, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2?

[@McShizzle]

Growing up I was more of a Mat Hoffman's BMX man myself.

[@reisu_3708]

I didn't expect another upload so soon. Granted, you have a lot to cover, but still! I ain't complaining though, watching you play shitty games is always entertaining

[@SquareEyedJak]

5 videos this week, 5 videos next week. It's a HAWKTOBER SPECIAL!

[@bmorris5863]

Not shitty pretty good ports of one of the biggest franchises ever

[@reisu_3708]

@@SquareEyedJak i guess i missed it when you said there were 5 videos this week lol good job making so much content! Really amazing to see how far the channel has come

[@reisu_3708]

@@bmorris5863 it's true, the games this episode were pretty solid

[@BryanX64]

I actually disagree on THPS4 GBA having samey, score-attack objectived. I’m playing thru it right now and every level has at least two SKATE objectives, two COMBO objectives, a collect-them-all objective and a hidden tape objective in addition to the scoring objectives. Great conversion! I agree it’s ultimately better than the PS1 game.

[@StarForceBelmont321]

I will never understand why THPS4 never had a Marvel boarder, maybe bring in Hulk or Venom

[@sarasaland4709]

Tony Hawk’s Pro GBA-ters.

[@jsavageisonly]

Late to this one too😅

[@jgirling6890]

If you enjoyed playing this... You must climax when playing today's proper consoles lol

[@TrollParty97]

THPS2 IS AN AWESOME PORT 5/10 😂😂😂😂 Underrated channel, great content and production values. Keep it up Jack!!!

[@ChaseMC215]

Base, how low can you go!

[@e93sports80]

Hey!

[@Anon24052]

Have you ever thought about trying to scale handheld scores to console scores? By that, I mean how it is as a handheld game compared to a console game, or like “this score for this handheld game is like this score for a console game”, if that makes sense.

[@SquareEyedJak]

All the handheld scores I give are balanced to an overall scale of everything. 6's and 7's on a GBA are NOT equal to 6's and 7's on consoles. So I take a point off to compensate for that difference. Weaker systems like standard Game Boy or Game Boy Color, I might take 2 off. That's why a 3/10 for a GBC game is bad in the grand scheme of things, but average at a 5/10 by the standards of the Color system. Hope that makes sense.

[@Anon24052]

Square Eyed Jak So around +1 or +2? Makes sense.

[@SquareEyedJak]

Exactly. It's just because it makes things immediately more complicated to be like "so this GBA game gets an 8/10 because it's amazing for the system... but it's actually not that great next to everything else, so it gets a 6/10" just as a basic example. So I opt to explain why it's good or bad, then put in my overall score in comparison to everything out there on a more technical level. If I didn't score games, there would be zero confusion. 😅 But I like to score games because it's nice to have a grading scale for the sake of comparison and critique!

[@kingeatking]

Tony Hawks 2 only gets a 5 out of 10!!!! Are you having a laugh mate!?

[@SquareEyedJak]

You realise we're talking about a Game Boy Advance version right? If I gave the original a 7/10, the GBA game isn't going to reach that.

[@kingeatking]

Square Eyed Jak to hell with your rating system!!! I don’t care anymore!!! I’m rerating it to an 8..... actually fuck that shit it’s getting a 9!!!!!!! I know I’m sick and I need help but the voices comfort me 🤤

[@LTambini96]

@@SquareEyedJak rate the game for what it is, not what it isn't

[@SquareEyedJak]

I did. The game IS not as good as the original.

[@kingeatking]

Square Eyed Jak the voices in my head say differently 🤯 anyway even though I’m pain in the ass I still appreciate the work you put into making these videos and looking forward to the big crescendo you have planned ✌️

[@weed75black35]

Explanation for why Jak gives seemingly low scores to the games he praised so much: They're probably based on the ratings he gave to the original games by Neversoft. He gave THPS2 a 7/10, so the inferior handheld version has to be lower, no matter how good it is on its own. It's a funky rating system, but it's not like it matters much.

[@SquareEyedJak]

Yeah pretty much. Plus I have to give scores based on a full spectrum of everything ever, which obviously is somewhat unfair on portable systems as they're naturally going to be lesser quality next to the console games of their time. That's why a 5/10 for THPS2 on GBA is *average* in the grand scheme of things, an average title on GBA is actually *good* by the systems standards. Point being: a 6/10 by GBA standards is NOT equal to a 6/10 on console, so I dropped it to a 5/10. 🙂

[@franzpattison]

Zone 2 worse than that mine rail level in Ride?

[@warmrollsforthetable]

Damn 5/10

[@adrenaliner91]

THPS2 was the best on GBA. In 3.. the graphics are more vibrant and I think that's a downgrade, it's even harder to see were you are because everything blends together. It's a shame because the PS1/N64 and PS2/GC/Xbox versions are my most favorite classic TH games and I can't even stand the Foundry GBA version, because I can't f*cking see where I am!

[@AceTrainerX3]

7:24 wot?

[@PhantomEyce]

How skater 3 have cars on it an PS1 don't

[@Prowerexem]

Man the gameboy advanced looks more fun than the GameCube version even though the graphics are a little worse.

[@jimbo2revengeance]

Do you have a unique scoring system or something? You gave the gba port of THPS2 a 5/10, which means average on most scales i know of, yet you went on to say how awesome the port was. It makes no sense.

[@SquareEyedJak]

In the grand scheme of everything, yeah it is an average game. But for the GBA system, these are all very good to the point you can +1 or even +2 onto these *if you're looking exclusively at the GBA system* but otherwise, they've got to fit onto a grand scale and a 6 or 7/10 on GBA is NOT equal to a 6 or 7/10 on console. Hope that makes sense! :)

[@jimbo2revengeance]

@@SquareEyedJak Thanks, that explains some things.

[@alexroman8576]

I like your videos but your rating system is baffling

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

"Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 is an awesome handheld port" Then why did you only give it a 5 out of 10?

[@Snivy102]

I think his rating system compares every possible game in existence. So if the best games of all time are 9s or 10s, then it makes more sense for Pro Skater 2 on GBA to get a 5. For example. Let's say Super Metroid on SNES is a 9/10. I personally think Pro Skater 2 on GBA would make sense to be 44% worse than Super Metroid. Most game reviewers (like IGN reviewers) don't hesitate to give great games a 10/10, but I think Jak doesn't believe a 10/10 game exists.

[@SquareEyedJak]

Yeah pretty much. For all of my handhelds scores, you can +1 or +2 onto the scores for how it is *looking ONLY at the handheld system* because a 6/10 on GBA is NOT equal to a 6/10 on console.

[@gamelegendalpha1737]

While I understand the reason why you dock the portable versions points, I don't believe it's fair to sing the ports praises and barely say anything negative just to give them a 5 or a 6. Scores like that pretty much tell people who don't pay attention to what the reviewer has to say that the game/port is crap and that they shouldn't bother wasting their time. I'm not trying to say you're wrong for doing it like that because you're not and I still enjoy the reviews, but it was just something that irked me a bit. If you read this, I hope it doesn't bother you too much.

[@SquareEyedJak]

Well sorry but that's on the people who think a 5 or 6 out of 10 is a bad score. I have to score everything on a fair even scale and these games actually, legitimately are not as good as the original console versions. It's impossible. So I sing the praises because they ARE great games, like a 6/10 or a 7/10 *by the standards of the GBA* but in the grand scheme of everything, they're average and still pretty ok. When you see me scoring handhelds, you can assume an additional point or two on top of my score to the quality of a game ON THAT PARTICULAR SYSTEM. Hope that makes sense.

[@gamelegendalpha1737]

Square Eyed Jak Ok I understand. I appreciate you responding to my comment and I look forward to today's underground remix review.

[@Luis-Hernandez.2022]

I can see SEJ still sucks at rating games. Great reviews still though.

[@AlexJonesGaming]

Actually a GBA is more like a portable PS1 it’s a 32bit system bro

[@SquareEyedJak]

Yeah but the GBA often has a lot of NES and SNES classics ported to it so it's kinda got that reputation.

[@AlexJonesGaming]

Square Eyed Jak true there bro also can we expect American Sk8land for DS this year as well

[@SquareEyedJak]

It literally just got uploaded

[@AlexJonesGaming]

Square Eyed Jak oh wow I need to click that bell

[@toinejaktheonly6082]

Ha ha. Marvel. Spiderman. Great joke

[@KaiBoldt2]

This dude’s rating systems is a joke. Could completely praise the game and in the end gets a 5/10. Like honestly I want to know a game that gets an 8 or above, because I sure haven’t seen it

[@wcamicase_gaming]

Man, sometimes you confuse me. You talk well about some games and then rate them so lowly... It's like what you said doesn't go with the score. I mean, 5 is an okay score, it's right at the centre but after what you praised it, it didn't seem like a 5 and I'll admit that I was expecting at least 6 or 7.

[@SquareEyedJak]

A 6/10 on GBA is not equal to a 6/10 on console. To keep the overall grading scale balanced, handhelds are typically docked 1 or 2 points to keep balance on the grand scale.

[@wcamicase_gaming]

@@SquareEyedJak I understand, it simply feels weird. This is one of the reasons why I don't really like scores, but ohh well. Keep it up man.

[@calebcrowell7669]

Bro TF stop saying thups no body says that

[@AceTrainerX3]

I say it. (._.)

[@nevermindgaming6848]

To be honest I rather play on conlose handled is such a downgrade

[@ThouzandWattz]

How do you praise a game so much and then give it a 5/10? That's literally 50%; a failing grade. 🤦🏾‍♂🤦🏾‍♂🤷🏾‍♂🤷🏾‍♂