Game Play Tips

• Most of the skaters share stats with at least one other character. It's possible to go through the game using 3 or 4 of your favorite skaters. My personal picks are Garam (or Boogie) for levels that require a lot of grinding. Beat (or Corn) for general tagging type challenges. Gum for Jet Flag and City Rush challenges. I also tossed Yoyo in there 'cause I like him :)
• Rapid 99 and the Love Shockers will challenge you to Jet Flag (Capture the Flag). The easiest way to get the flags without stressing about it is to play through the course once so that you know where the flags will appear. Then play through it again going for flags 1, 3, and 5. The only real race will be to get the first flag. After you've gotten that one, go to where the third will appear while the other team chases after the second flag. When they grab the second flag, the third will appear right in front of you. From there, go to the fifth location while they're going to the fourth and you should be set.
• When doing races at the Expo, choose a character that is good at *grinding*. I like Garam and Boogie for this. Cube is the fastest character, but outright speed won't win the race. Grinding is faster than skating, so grind through as much of the track as possible. That includes grinding off the blue walls unless you have enough spray cans to boost down the straightaway.
• During City Rush challenges you don't have to strictly stick to the course. Use shortcuts and back alleys if they're available. If you can drop down to a lower part of the track and cut off part of the length, that's perfectly okay!
• Remember that pressing in on the left stick will "unstick" you from the sides of halfpipes while grinding. (Oh how I wish it worked on other grinding surfaces as well...)
• When trying to meet point challenges use the Y button to get the most for your tricks. The Y point multiplier goes up to 16x while the X multiplier only goes up to 8x.
• During chapter 8, don't bother fighting the baddies in Shibuya station. They regenerate and continue to be a pain in the rear. They'll go away permanently once you hit chapter 9.
• The black baddies on the bottom level of the last stage (the one with the trippy background) can't be defeated. They're only there for smacking spray cans out of. When trying to find the way up to the final boss, grind off of the telephone lines that have the spiral stair case behind them. You'll never touch that stair case, but it'll tell you that you're going to the right set of lines. You can't damage the boss until you've grinded all the way up 3 times. Once you make it up, you might as well jump right down again and come back up (yes, this is *very* aggravating). If you knock the boss down, he'll come back up again. You don't have to chase him around.

Tips by Greenbeans on June 24th, 2002