Prior to playing this game, I had absolutely no idea what wakeboarding was.  I had seen the sport before, but I never really knew what the point of it was, or what the athletes do.  Wakeboarding is, in a nutshell, surfing with a boat-towing friend.  The wakeboarder (who is riding a variation of the surfboard) holds onto a rope that is being pulled by a boat.  While holding on, the wakeboarder will attempt to perform several crazy stunts (flips, spins and the like).  Wakeboarding Unleashed takes that concept to the Tony Hawk level by throwing in nine spacious levels, dozens of challenges and objectives, as well as two challenge-specific levels.

The wakeboarding style, where you're almost always being pulled through the level, creates a much different extreme sport experience.  Whereas in other games you can just skate or bike around the course as much as you want, Wakeboarding Unleashed is a bit more restrictive, yet still feels open and free.  Shaba's new Rope Mechanics enable the player to perform incredible tricks, let go of the rope (intentionally or otherwise), perform a few more and grab the rope again without ever stopping.  If you let go of the rope and you lose momentum, thus slowing down, or the boat gets too far away from you, the game will reset your position and you'll automatically be attached to the boat again.  But as long as a trick is in motion, the game will not prevent the player from finishing a killer combo.

Every action button is virtually the same as they are in Tony Hawk, so it won't take you five seconds to grind a wire (it's called boardersliding in this game, but it's the exact same thing).  What might take some time is getting a hang of the unfamiliar, unstable terrain.  Curved mountains, pipes, ramps and other environmental surfaces enable you to launch yourself into the air, but the majority of the game requires the use of boat-created waves.  As the boat pulls you through each course, water is shot out from under it, forming a short (but wide) wave.  Riding on top of it won't do you much good, unless you're performing a manual.  By riding on the outer edge of the wave and then sharply turning towards it, you can jump high into the air.  From there, you can perform combos, boarderslide or attempt to reach new areas.

Nine of the 12 levels have several gaps, challenges and groove objectives.  The gaps are significant areas in the game that must be tricked through in order to complete each level.  Groove objectives are a mix of both unique and traditional tasks that must be performed, such as earning a certain number of points or boardersliding (grinding) five objects.  The challenges take the groove objectives even further by making the player unleash more combos, perform more tricks and do crazier things than had been done before.  One of my favorites is the Video Shoot.  For this challenge, you're given an easy task like earning 40,000 points in 20 seconds.  The hard part comes from the awkward, constantly moving camera angle (this is a video shoot, remember)?  The controls almost feel reversed, and while you can make mistakes, you cannot crash!

Another thing that can't be ignored is the absence of a time limit.  Where did it go?  Who knows and who cares!  Finally extreme sports games have gotten away from using a timer.  Wakeboarding Unleashed's Groove Meter is not as kind as the one in Aggressive Inline.  Increasing the meter's energy is not as easy as performing a few simple tricks.  Long, powerful combos are needed to add life to the Groove Meter.  It depletes slowly, but chunks of life are taken away with every crash.  So as pretty as the graphics are, you won't want to waste much time sightseeing; perform well first, watch the waves later.

All of this adds up to one heck of a game.  Wakeboarding Unleashed feels like a successor to Aggressive Inline in that it does many new things, but still has a classic extreme sports feel.  This is one extremely addictive game, and lucky for you, it retails for $10 less than most brand-new games.  Make no mistake though – this isn't a "value" title.  The quality is just as high as in the games that retail for fifty bucks.  Pro skaters and aggressive inliners: this is the game you've been waiting for.

Gameplay: 9
If this sounds like a good time to you – jumping 100 feet into the air, holding onto the board while performing 360s, landing into a manual and then repeating the process all over again without crashing – then Wakeboarding Unleashed is a must-buy game.  It was for me, and to be honest, I'm not the world's biggest extreme sports fan.  But I love highly polished extreme sports games, and since this is one of them, I couldn't resist playing it.

Graphics: 8.8
If there's one graphical effect that continues to impress on the PS2, it's H2O.  Wakeboarding Unleashed isn't particularly impressive in the splash department (not enough particle effects or animation), the reflective, detailed and interactive water effects are fabulous.

Sound: 6.5
I love rock music, but Wakeboarding Unleashed missed the boat.  Its soundtrack is comprised of songs from bands like The Pixies and The Flaming Lips, as well as a few bands I've never heard of.  It's not a bad soundtrack.  If you like these bands, then it'll sound great to you.  But I don't happen to be a fan of any of them.

Difficulty: Medium
Either my extreme sport skills have greatly improved, or Wakeboarding Unleashed is somewhat easier than Aggressive Inline.  This is still a very challenging game, but you won't start pulling your hair till you reach the fifth level.

Concept: 8.5
Wakeboarding Unleashed's new Robe Mechanics are stellar.  This game takes the wonderful Tony Hawk concept to a whole new level.

Multiplayer: 7.6
The two-player mode is typical Tony Hawk stuff, along with a unique co-op mode where one player drives the boat while the other player controls the wakeboarder.  Cool concept, but only if you can convince your friend to drive the boat (and not crash it).

Overall: 8.9
Wow!  You know, I expected good things from this game, but I never expected it to be as good as it is.  Shaba (the developer) hit the bull's eye and this is only their first shot at wakeboarding.  Just think of what they'll be able to do with a sequel...