Can you believe it's almost been five years since Activision first introduced their Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series? It feels like it was just yesterday that we were first getting into rail grinds and building combos back in the School and the Warehouse, building up scores into the thousands and then trying to show off against our friends in two-player mode. Sniff...how time goes by. Now the latest in the series has arrived, and you guessed it, this one is just as enjoyable as the previous entries, and quite a bit deeper.

While Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 introduced you to a real-time element where you could interact with a number of people offering challenges, Tony Hawk's Underground goes even further by giving you incredible customization. You can build your own skater, customize detailed options (like board and clothing), and then take them on a tour to help them become a pro. You can follow pre-set goals, or take different paths to earn yourself greatness. You can impress the pros, take on a "hood" of thugs eager to cause harm, or just skate around and have a good time; the choice is yours. If you're not in the mood to create a skater just yet, you can take a pre-made one (including the beautiful tube-top wearing Daisy) and give it a go. There's a ton of challenges in this mode and each one earns you a higher rank. There's also the addition of a difficulty setting, so the amateurs can take the easy way into getting into the game while the pros can dig their knuckles right into the pro mode.

While you have the ability to create your own park, so you have a place to skate around and call your own, the default parks offered here are amazing turfs in their own right. From the rooftops of your own hometown (perfect for skating gaps), to the busier side of Manhattan, to inside a corporate building, each one is created rather nicely, with lots of trick opportunities and hidden goodies to uncover. The game runs smooth in each level, and even shifts from one part to another with nary any loading time.

The controls work in the Tony Hawk tradition, with a ton of opportunities for combos. You can also customize your own tricks, or try out what the pros have to offer. This is a great touch, as always, as there's a lot to discover, including some awesome rail slides that look a little too nuts to be real. Handstands? One-handers? The game can even be adjustable depending on which difficulty level you select. Pro works with real physics, while Amateur allows for a bit of breathing room in terms of balance.

The game's got a killer soundtrack, like always. There's a mix of new school stuff, like Jurassic 5, along with old-school rock, including a few songs from Kiss. Of course, if you want to use your own, you have that option, courtesy of the Xbox hard drive. Sound effects and voicework come across well, although there are some strange examples of dialogue. For instance, you're a female character and yet one or two guys insist you're a guy. Other than that, great stuff.

Underground has replayability galore. Even after you complete the original goals, there are bonus challenges to complete, as well as plenty of two-player games to take on with a friend. Trick Attack, Combo Mambo, Grafitti, and Score Challenge are just waiting to be taken on. Mambo's my favorite, however the game is severely lacking Xbox Live features...again. What's the deal? The PS2 version has online play, so why doesn't Activision get down the basics of the system and add some joy to the Xbox Live network? Oh well, maybe next year.

Tony Hawk's Underground is one of the most pleasing entries in the series, by simply providing you with the option to do everything yourself this time, instead of just building your own skater and park. There's a ton of replay value here, and the entertainment it brings is shoveled at you in droves. All that's really left to ask is, what's left for part six? I can't see how the folks at Neversoft will expand this further, but then again, that's what I've been saying for the last four years. This company's full of surprises.