SCEA threw in everything but the kitchen sink for
Grind Session, with a ton of challenges and absolutely stupid-huge levels. A training level, eight tournament levels, and a bonus stage make up the landscape. Two of the eight are competition levels, including the Vans Triple Crown. By unlocking levels in Tournament Mode, you open a whole slew of other modes, and winning is all about racking up points. Tricks and technical lines earn the biggest numbers, but there’s also vandal points scored for knocking things over or breaking stuff. Endurance Mode is like Simon for skateboarding; you have to perform specific tricks on demand while the clock ticks. The better you do on all this, the more likely it is you’ll unlock some of the bonus stuff like a photo shoot, where you get wiggy for the camera doing tricks for max points.
And that’s just one-player mode! Multiplayer for up to 16, anyone? Grind Session is heavy on trick points, so most of multiplayer is about competing in short events for trick points or playing against another skater to copy tricks and then one-up the next guy.
Grind Session signed on some kickin’ skaters from the pro ranks, like John Cardiel and Cara-Beth Burnside, but if you get sick of them, you can roll your own custom skater. Playing as each character, you not only get to use special tricks, but also unlock new tricks by scoring points and earning respect from the crowd.