Tony Hawk's Underground on GBA, evolution of skate with a narrative story mode. Player-created character, authentic skater life. The story mode enriches the experience even on handheld.
Your verdict
Category
Sports1 player16+
Description
Skateboarding game developed by Activision and published in the USA and Europe in October 2003. The player creates their own personalized skater and starts from a suburb to complete trick missions and conquer the skating world. Story mode with status progression narrative, skater and board customization, new environments and improved physics system. Fifth episode introducing the personal story mode to the franchise.
Tony Hawk's Underground review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
More narrative, the entry leans on a raging selection of punk, hip-hop and rock, transposed into biting chiptune to accompany the player's rise. Every theme charges the flow of combos and matches the rebellious attitude of street skating. This raw energy, condensed on GBA, hits home from the first run to the last.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
This time you step off the board to build the story of a skater starting from nothing: this new freedom reinvents the series, even on a handheld. The blend of virtuoso combos and personal adventure brings fresh air, without losing any of the riding joy. Customisable and snappy, an ambitious arcade skater that grabs you from the first line.
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Blending the combo hunt with a narrative thread and the ability to step off the board noticeably widens the playing field. Wrapping up an objective, polishing a line and then aiming for a better score endlessly revives the session. The handheld adventure loses scale next to the home consoles, but this quest for the perfect run keeps an immediate, tenacious appeal.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Average"
Technical info
💾4,9 MB📅21/10/2003
Published by Activision
Tony Hawk's Underground (GBA) price, value & rarity
Complete: box, manual and disc/cart very clean. Lightly handled.
Q1 damagedQ6 completeQ10 new
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Is Tony Hawk's Underground still worth playing in 2026?
Tony Hawk's Underground brings to GBA the entry that swung the series toward a narrative approach, where you create your own skater and climb the ranks from the suburbs. The combo grammar stays solid and character creation brings welcome attachment, but the conversion struggles to convey the original's story ambition and the content comes out diluted. For fans of arcade skateboarding and the Tony Hawk series curious about this portable version, it is a decent title, without reaching the heights of the previous entry on the support.
