Take the Xbox version of Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland, ratchet the resolution up to 720p, and voila! You’ve got an Xbox 360 game, ready to ship…for better or worse.

The premise is all the same – taking the role of a young punk looking to create the ultimate Los Angeles skatepark with your scruffy pals. THAW is geared a bit toward franchise newbies since now-basic moves like reverts must be learned and unlocked in the course of the story. However, once you get going, you’ll find this virtual Los Angeles to be extremely skateable – there are tons of lips, ramps, rails, and funky objects around town just waiting for you to session. The addition of a BMX bike is merely a distracting novelty in an otherwise satisfying, sprawling skate adventure, albeit one that feels like it’s ready to collapse under its own weight. Skating, biking, grafitti, plus the new wallruns and flips…what’s next, running your own skate shop? The bolt-on extensions to gameplay make it feel a bit too bloated.

And where’s the 360-ness? Aside from the 720p boost and a minor controller layout change (the function of the White and Black buttons move to the shoulder bumpers), the two Xbox Live-enabled THAWs play and feel the same – no real next-gen flexing here. THAW ties into the new Achievements system (basically, as you hit story milestones, they’re noted), but is that worth another $10? Still, Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland is your best choice for Xbox 360 skating, partly because it’s your only choice at launch. It’s fun, just not next-gen sparkly.

ON XBOX 360

+ Xbox Live, 720p, and a proven fun franchise – all good stuff or a launch title.

- Doesn’t leverage the expected power of the Xbox 360.

- Some textures look grody.

? Why no female skaters in story mode?

7.5