In a world where Tony Hawk reigns supreme, Konami Aims to please with Evolution Skateboarding. Unfortunately, they are just shy of a bull's-eye. Evolution Skateboarding has all the earmarks of a great skateboarding game, and if you can get past its minor flaws, you're in for a fun ride.

Evolution Skateboarding clearly tries to set itself apart from Tony Hawk, which is fine and dandy, except when it comes to the controls. The game relies heavily on combos. Pretty much every move you try to pull, except for the very basic moves, requires some combination of button pressing and control stick movement. It is not the kind of game you just pick up and play, like Tony Hawk. Perhaps if you have a good understanding of skateboarding, you would understand the moves better and have an easier time memorizing them, but I didn't enjoy feeling like I had to study the manual in order to get anywhere in the game. And as a novice I ended up aimlessly pulling off only the few tricks I managed to get down pat. Training stages are there but are bland and boring.

Ok, now that we've gotten past the bad stuff, we can get on with the games high points! The game features a decent selection of skaters, including Arto Saari, Danny Way, Mark Appleyard, Rick McCrank, Chris Senn, Steve Williams, Kerry Getz and Colin McKay. There are various hidden characters you can unlock as well…such as Solid Snake. You can also create and customize your own skater, as well as customize the appearance of the characters mentioned above. Everything from Clothing, shoes, skateboard stickers, right down to tweaking the components of your skateboard. You can also design your own combo's for your player. This combined with all the games unlockable features really adds to the replay factor. Menus do get a bit deep and so there is a quick start option for those of us who don't want to be bothered with endless options.

Gameplay modes include Arcade, where you try to complete a set of goals before the clock runs out. Trial, where you compete against other skaters. Free, which is self explanatory; And Challenge, where you are posed with increasingly difficult obstacles to overcome.

Graphics are impressive. Character detail is good and environments are detailed and well polished. Framerates are fast with nary a hint of slowdown. There is a bit of clipping, it's a common occurrence to see your skateboard disappear into the floor. Level design is a bit lacking however. There aren't many wide open area's so it's kind of hard to gain speed easily, and there just isn't a lot of room to maneuver around. Also, obstacles aren't clearly defined, except for say ramps and railings…so it's hard to tell where you can pull off a trick until you try.

Now onto my favorite part of this game, the audio. First of all, the game is presented in Dolby Surround Pro Logic II. Meaning those of you with a 5 channel home theater system will be in heaven. Sounds are clear and crisp, and more importantly, the soundtrack rocks! Featuring a good mix of Rock and Hip-Hop, the soundtrack is the defining feature of this game. Featuring bands such as Primus, Default, Agent Orange, Stereo MC's, and Ill Nino (to name a few). It made me play the game more just so I could hear the rest of the music.

Evolution Skateboarding isn't a bad game. In fact, it's quite good. Once you get into it and start learning the moves and combo's, it's quite addictive. However, it's no Tony Hawk, and the learning curve shows that. If you just can't get enough of skateboarding games, buy it. If you're just a casual gamer when it comes to titles like this, invite over a few friends and rent it.