Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam

While this chapter of the Tony Hawk saga takes a decidedly juvenile turn, its still a lot of fun - especially for a portable. The gameplay is cel-shaded, just like the previous TH game for the DS (American Sk8land), but it works extremely well. The characters and backgrounds are all extremely crisp.

While the occasional move doesn't work perfectly, most everything is timed to a tee. Repeatedly pressing the turbo button (a new addition to the series) makes your thumb extremely tired, but its a cool option that really helps as the levels mount.

The level designs are all great, except for the last level, which is a re-hash of a previous PS2 downhill level ("The Dam", here referred to as "Hoover Dam"). The music rocks - and its a true pleasure to hear real licensed music in stereo sound coming from the DS - the Green Day track is a personal fave.

All-in-all, an excellent addition to my DS library. If you're a fan of TH, snowboarding, or racing games - pick this bad boy up! 9/10