As if you could not predict this happening, the Tony Hawk series of extreme skateboarding games has made an early jump to the next generation consoles with Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland for the Xbox 360. And while it is hardly a revolution as far as gameplay goes and the game is not really pushing the next-gen hardware, Tony Hawk American Wasteland is a solid skateboarding game that will probably make the Tony Hawk fans more than happy.

It is hard to believe that the Tony Hawk series has been going strong now for six years and the games have appeared on about a dozen different platforms. Millions of virtual falls after its first appearance on the original PlayStation, there is no sign of the franchise losing too many of its fans. There have basically been three Tony Hawk game types: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Tony Hawk’s Underground, and now, Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland. American Wasteland goes back more to the roots of the series and adds construction – of a skate park.

In Tony Hawk American Wasteland you are a new skater in Los Angeles, fresh off the bus from Hicksville. You aren’t too cool and the locals immediately set upon you, steal all your stuff but your board, and leave you nursing your wounded pride. A cute and savvy local girl named Mindy takes pity on your sorry butt and puts you on the road to skater fame by pointing you in the right direction to get your hair and clothes looking more like the indigenous population so you don’t stick out like a dork. After that you’re off to prove yourself, get your stuff back and ultimately build the ultimate skate park called the Skate Ranch. You’ll do that by collecting bits of the LA scenery to go into the park. As the park gets built up, you’ll even be able to ride on the work you’ve accomplished. Seasoned Tony Hawk players should expect to spend about a half a dozen hours to complete the story mode.

Unlike previous Tony Hawk games, American Wasteland features a much-touted streaming world that you’ll be able to freely roam in without ever seeing a loading screen. American Wasteland accomplishes this feat by breaking LA into manageable chunks and then linking them by less detailed conduits between the chunks. Yes, you can do limited tricks in the conduits, but it is not like you can get on surface streets and navigate your way around LA like a car if you happen to know how all the streets connect up. It feels like a bit of a cheat over the marketing hype, but at least a loading screen does not appear to stop the action unnaturally.

The LA of American Wasteland is what might be called a skateboarder’s heaven. There are ramps and grind rails everywhere. The whole thing is constructed to give the player the most opportunities to show his style.

Control is very solid with the Xbox 360 controller. The two new bumper buttons in conjunction with the triggers nicely approximate the original Tony Hawk control scheme that was designed for the PlayStation Dual Shock controller. It may actually even be a little better. The game starts the player out with a tutorial level that teaches the basics of riding and then introduces new tricks as the game moves forward. Seasoned Tony Hawk players are surely going to find the tutorial almost insulting, but for the new players it is the basis for future success.

In addition to the skateboarding, players can also pick up and stunt with the BMX bikes that are scattered about the levels. They offer a new challenge and control significantly different from the skateboarding control system. It actually works well and is enjoyable. You can also ditch the wheels entirely and just walk around.

In addition to the main single-player story mode, there is a Classic mode that will challenge players’ Pro-Skater-old-school style by putting them in Tony Hawk levels from the franchise’s past and require them to accomplish ten goals in two minutes. This mode can also be played cooperatively with another player or head-to-head. The game also features a full slate of Xbox Live modes that will have the gamer playing with up to seven other skaters in a variety of game types online.

Graphically the game is good, but not really outstanding. It reminds me more of a really good Xbox game rather than the stuff I’ve been seeing on the Xbox 360. Running the game on a high-definition display actually makes the problem worse rather than better. The increased detail shows up the flaws more.

In the audio department things are a little better. The sound effects are believable and still serve this game very well even if they do sound like previous Tony Hawk games. (It ain’t broke, don’t fix it.) The soundtrack is solid rock and punk. Not the best but more than adequate to accompany the action.