Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam

I must admit, despite being a big fan of THPS, this game has never appealed. It seems like blatant "brand extension"... I mean, c'mon, anyone who has ever stood on a board knows that ramp skating and speedboarding are two totally separate disciplines, and no-ne has ever excelled at both. Tony Hawk has never, to my knowledge, ridden downhill competitively, and he's certainly never been a name in that field of skating.

So why is his name on the box? Presumably because the great unwashed have heard of him, and possibly seen him prostituting himself on MTV, whereas they've probably never heard of Martin Siegrist, or Olle Van Keppel or anyone who deserves to have their name on the front of this box.

Watch out for more great sporting games soon, like David Beckham's Rugby (what? it involves kicking a ball), and Roger Federer's Pro Baseball (what? it involves hitting a ball with a stick).

Downhill skatebaording is one of those sports that is dangerous to take part in, exciting to watch, but cannot possibly translate onto a computer well. It would be like a driving game where you can only go downhill, and with the exception of 4 secodns of accelerating at the top (as they downhillers push-off) only freewheel.

Tony should be ashamed for putting his name to this.