The gameplay in THUG2 starts with THUG, which added the ability to get off your board to run around, and expands from there. Many of the levels are the same ones you see in the story mode, but a number of levels from previous entries in the series - all the way back to the school and downhill jam levels from the very first game - appear here.
Underground 2 also contains "classic mode," which brings back the two-minute run timer and goal structure of the first three Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games.
While this approach frees the game of clutter and onscreen icons, it also means you're going to be spending a lot more time reading text in the pause menu. If you want the skinny on what, exactly, you're supposed to be doing, you have to pause the game and go into your view goals screen, which will give you more details on what you need to do. There aren't any onscreen indicators to point you in the direction of a goal, though if you happen to do a trick off a piece that is part of a combo goal, the rest of the pieces will light up. At the beginning of each level, you're given a list and set off into the world. You start out each level as your created skater, though you'll also pick a pro skater as a partner. THUG2's story mode is a whirlwind tour that gives you four skaters and a mess of goals to accomplish in each level. But the important things, like the ultra-tight control and gameplay the series is known for, are all shockingly intact. Also, there's no in-level voice work at all. Other things that fans of the console games will notice is that the graphics, while insanely impressive and very comparable to the PlayStation 2 version, have been scaled back slightly. Each of these levels is a fine addition, and each fits right into the lineup of existing levels very well. Kyoto, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Santa Cruz have been worked into the main story mode, meaning you'll hear some new dialogue in the between-level cutscenes that make these new levels fit. The biggest change made for the PSP remix of THUG2 is the addition of four new levels. This "remixed" version of the original delivers almost everything that was great about the console versions, and with the inclusion of four new levels, the single-player experience has gotten even better.
Now, Activision is set to offer up a portable version of Tony Hawk's Underground 2, which was released on consoles last year. But at the same time, you couldn't help but feel like you were playing a different game entirely. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 took the series to the Game Boy Advance with winning results.