Tony Hawk Shred comes with a skateboard controller that you use to control the game.  It’s recommended to play on carpet, but if you have hard floors, it comes with some adhesive strips that can be attached to it.

Even though there are all the buttons you’d need on the side of the skateboard, you’ll definitely also need to have an Xbox controller with you in order to navigate the game’s menus.  It is possible to do most selections from the skateboard, but it’s much easier to use a controller, and in fact we even ran into some problems where the skateboard was overly sensitive on the selection screens.

You’ll also need to do a one-time set up and calibration of the skateboard the first time you play.  This takes about 5 minutes.

In addition to leaning left and right as if you’re steering a skateboard, the basic controls involve stepping on the back of the board to lift the front edge up (Ollie), or stepping on the front of the board to lift the back of the board up (Nollie).  You can also learn to cover the sensors on the sides, front and back of the board with your hands or feet to simulate stunts or forward motion.

Once you start, Tony Hawk and his friends talk to you directly, offering encouragement and telling you what to do.  The game talks to you in very positive manner, but it’s definitely over the top and you can tell that Tony Hawk and all his “friends” are cheesing it up for the camera.

The game contains both skating and snowboarding odes, and there are different styles you can perform of each, such as trying to earn more points by doing tricks, finishing a course in a certain tie, or collecting point icons during your run to finish with the high score (without needing to do tricks).

You’ll need to play through the single player mode in order to unlock tracks for the party mode.  The single player mode basically consists of all the same games as the party mode, you just need to complete the with some degree of success in order to move on.

There are different difficulty modes, and on easy ode, the game selects your path for you, while allowing you at ties to lean one way or the other to choose a different path, sort of like a little fork in the road.  It’s great for young kids and those that aren’t that serious about skating, because it lets players focus on trying to do tricks and keep up with the onscreen action.  Not only did our three year old fall in love this game and beg to be able to play it again and again, but we even saw a 1-year-old hop on the board and complete a course in Point Rush mode.  It truly is able to be played by anyone who can stand on the skateboard controller.

Tony Hawk Shred is a very fun game that uses a skateboard shaped controller, which you set on the ground, and is perfect for allowing non-skaters and even toddlers the chance to feel like they can pull off some cool moves.  We can’t speak to the authenticity of any moves because we’re not skaters and we didn’t test it with real, skilled skaters, but we can tell you that our family had a blast with it.  Tony Hawk Shred makes it really easy for any gamer that can step onto the skateboard controller to feel like they are skating like a pro.