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Tony Hawk titles have arguably been a lot of the same ol’, same ol’ for almost ten years running. No one really seemed to be complaining too much, but that didn’t stop Vicarious Visions from re-inventing the franchise anyway. Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam is a fusion of classic Tony Hawk gameplay coupled with downhill racing akin to the likes of the SSX franchise. The result is a surprisingly robust game that shows off what the DS can really do when it comes to online play, as well as an entertaining, albeit short single player game.

The story in Downhill Jam is light, as it should be, as the king is truly the rather addicting gameplay. You take your created skater through numerous races, trying to climb the ladder to downhill racing excellence. There are only 6 courses available to play through, which is something that really needs to be improved on the next time around, and the game spans the story progression throughout all six of these courses, so if it seems like you’re getting a strange sense of déjà vu, don’t worry, you have, in fact, been here before. Many times. But, that said, the back tracking is done effectively, demanding you fulfill new goals during each run, much like the traditional Tony Hawk goal scheme. Thankfully this helps the game from feeling too ‘been here, done that’.

You start your game in San Francisco, a simple yet effective training ground for the games new mechanics. It’s here that you learn the basics of the game, such as strategically using your special for boosting, and how that ties in with your traditional grinding, flipping and grabbing. The boost is a simple tool, but mastering it is key to your success in Downhill Jam. Even with maxed out speed, your boost is what makes or breaks your finishing place. Another important addition to the game, Burtslide, is a simple maneuver that helps you take much tighter corners with no loss in speed. Mastering these new moves will shave huge time off your courses, and will really make a difference when you step up to the online portion of the game.

Online play in Downhill Jam is easily the hightlight of the entire game, offering several ways to challenge your friends (or complete strangers) including standard races, as well as score and combo challenges. There’s still no generalized lobby system to speak of, and you still have to juggle friend codes in order to take advantage of playing with friends, but hey, once you get in, it’s a blast. The voice chat feature isn’t perfect, but it’s a start. There’s an icon on the touch screen you can press to record a few seconds of dialogue, it’s then sent through the network and plays back through the speakers of the other players. While one player is recording a message, the icon disappears, which means only one player can send a message at once.

Visually, Downhill Jam sports the same quasi-cel shaded look of Sk8land, only now slightly more polished. Thanks to the innovative touch screen, gamers can design their own clothing and boards, giving them real control over how their skater looks. The game runs at a steady fps that serves the speed of the game well, and the environments are bright, colorful, and easy to navigate.

The game has a decent soundtrack, with the same usual punk-ridden fanfare gamers have come to expect from the franchise, and as always, it suits the action well. The sound effects are pretty standard fair by now for fans of the series, and the ‘cut scenes’ are all fully voiced, which is nice. The DS’s speakers have their limits, but thankfully everything churns out of them with enough quality to keep you from turning the volume down.

When I first heard of Downhill Jam, the first thought to go through my head was ‘don’t ruin a good thing’, and I’m glad to report that they haven’t. Downhill Jam was never meant as a replacement to the more popular (and traditional) series, it’s meant as an expansion to the popular franchise, and as such, it does a great job in offering a tried and true franchise new legs on an innovative platform. Hopefully Vicarious Visions can keep up the good work, and we can look forward to Downhill Jam 2 in time for Christmas next year.