Tony Hawk Ride

RIDE is a blend of two worlds: one that tests your patience versus one that feels surprisingly interactive. With some bugs and controller issues RIDE does come across as a bit unfinished, but Robomodo has fearlessly taken on the role of changing the genre and with that comes a learning curve.

Not all is lost with Tony Hawk: Ride though as the foundation is there for a decent game; you just might be better served to wait until the next instalment arrives with hopefully a little more polish.

Unnecessary clunky controls make this more of a hell ride than a fun ride.

If you want to spend that much time perfecting your balance and looking silly, you can buy a real skateboard for much less.

Tony Hawk RIDE reminds me a lot of the Sega Activator; a great idea that will play a huge role in gaming hardware innovation but unfortunately way ahead of its time. In the know gamers, to you I say: spend your money on something else because you will end up regretting your purchase, and it’s too bad.

The huge level of frustration is not worth the time it takes to master the awkward gameplay idiosyncrasies. Instead, it’s more tempting – even as someone with experience – to just spam the waggle movements for a passable high score.

The concept is a sound one but the technology simply falls short. I would love to see this idea fully realized and perfected, but I fear that hefty price tag and poor reception may hinder future iterations in this direction.

Tony Hawk: Ride was a knee-jerk reaction by a publisher who pushed gimmick over gameplay, and the result feels like the most manufactured, soulless gaming experience to ever be released.

While the idea of a skateboard peripheral seems a good one in theory, in practice it just doesn't work. Perhaps if Tony Hawk Ride wasn't so flawed it may have been a different story.

The idea for Tony Hawk RIDE has merit, it just wasn’t executed very well in this instance.

Tony Hawk: Ride is not the broken junk heap some critics would have you believe. However, it is far from the revolutionary title Tony Hawk and Activision were counting on. In fact, it is actually a less enjoyable outing than lackluster games in the series such as Project 8 and American Wasteland. Still, if you're a skater, have the patience of a saint, or are a glutton for punishment (and frustration), there is a novel, skate-sim experience that can be uncovered.

A game stuck between hardcore and casual, without appealing to either one. [Feb 2010, p.84]

Tony Hawk Ride never came together. It straddles an uncomfortable line between casual and hardcore without being satisfying in either respect and it lacks the polish and presentation necessary to cover up the gameplay shortcomings...File this one under "gimmick."