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Grind Session
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Console: Sony PlayStation
Region:U
Year: 2000
RFG ID #: U-061-S-04780-A
Part #: SCUS-94568
UPC: 711719456827
Developer: Shaba Games
Publisher: SCEA
Rating:
T (ESRB): Mild Animated Violence

Genre: Sports
Sub-genre: Skateboarding
Players: 1-16 (Turn based)
Controller: Standard Controller
Media Format: CD-ROM x1
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Collection Stats:

  • 57 of 7621 collectors (0.7%) have this game in their collection
  • 2 of 7621 collectors (0%) have this game in their wishlist.
  • 0 of 7621 collectors (0%) have this game for sale or trade.
Review:

Tan's Review:

Right off the bat I'll say that I really like it's interface and presentation. From it's opening intro to it's menu screen it's clean crisp and easy to navigate. It's all about getting you into the action as quickly as possible without fighting with the menus or endless, needless sub-menus. Choosing your game mode, skater, board and wheel style (tight or loose) is easy and doesn't require any special knowledge of the sport. After that you have a level select screen that shows you your goal progression, score and reputation. This all comes into play in unlocking new levels and high scores.

Gameplay is what you'd expect. Performing tricks and combos for points by using a combination of the directional keys and face buttons. All pretty standard stuff. At the same time, you have other secondary goals besides the point total like smashing objects by running into them and performing tricks on predefined areas. You can actually stop the clock and stand in one spot and look around the entire level searching for these items and special tricks. That's a huge bonus in a game that is fast with changing camera angles that may not allow you to take in the scope of the level your playing when your in constant motion. Speaking of levels, the level design in this game is great! They tend to be huge and more open with lots of variety in half-pipes, ramps and rails. I always found in Tony Hawk that sometimes it got a bit too claustrophobic if I wanted to move through the level to a specific spot or get more speed. There's no problem with that in this game!

As far as difficulty, it's balanced between allowing you to muddle through if you really suck at the game and challenging you for the reputation points needed to unlock new levels. There's also a training course with no time limit to familiarize yourself with the gameplay and expectations of earning secondary objectives.

I really like the look of this game. It's not busy with too many objects on screen and it has great use of colour and texture. It suits the open style of the levels well and the special attention to the character models makes it feel more animated. There's lots of variety in each level and they did a great job in making each one fun to explore with opportunities for points no matter where you are.

Sound is another aspect of this game I appreciate. It has a great soundtrack with variety that suits the game well and the sound effects were well chosen. I can appreciate the small things like echoes in underground areas and wheel noise on different types of surfaces. Also your character lets you know if you've done something that will hurt the next morning!

The only thing left to comment on is multiplayer. While this game has what many would consider a weak multiplayer mode, in a way it's also one of it's biggest strengths if you own other games like it. Personally, I'm not a fan of split screen on a game like this. I like to watch my rivals perform their tricks and wipe out and when it's my turn, concentrate on playing without looking at their screen. Well in this game you do exactly that. Instead of split screen, you take turns with the controller and have the screen to yourself when you play. Up to 16 players can do this and it makes for a more casual, tournament-like experience. Great for parties where playing games is only one of the things you may be doing. Suck back some beers, suck some face, grab a slice and kick ass when it comes around to being your turn, hey you've got time!

I didn't expect to like this game nearly as much as I do. In fact, I like it much more than Tony Hawk 1 & 2 which is saying a lot. For you PSP owners out there, it's default control style works perfectly if your wanting to use remote play on your PS3. Having said that, the beer/face/pizza/kicking ass is much more fun when you can do it anywhere in the house. It turns this into a "hot potato" game passing it off to the next person wherever they are.

This game gets a 9.5/10 from me. It has a charm that's hard to explain and an easygoing nature that makes it a lot of fun. It definitely replaces Tony Hawk 2 on my List 'em for favorite sports titles. It's addictive as all get out and I foresee many hours with this game in my future!

Extra Media:


Back of Manual
Case Inside
Variations:

Console Reg. Type Title Publisher Year Genre
Sony PlayStation United Kingdom S Grind Session SCEE 2000 Sports
Sony PlayStation France S Grind Session SCEE 2000 Sports
Sony PlayStation FR, DE, IT, NL S Grind Session SCEE 2000 Sports
Sony PlayStation DK, FI, NO, SE S Grind Session Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) 2000 Sports
Sony PlayStation U S Grind Session [Demo Sleeve] SCEA Sports
Sony PlayStation U S Grind Session [Demo Blue Disc] SCEA Sports
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Tondog: Misc
VACRMH: Scans, Photos
Keith Brown (Tan): Review

Last Updated: 2014-08-20 18:24:10
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