Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 uses the same game engine as its predecessor while improving the graphics and gameplay, most notably with the introduction of manuals and cash rewards.

The game takes place in a three-dimensional urban environment permeated by an ambience of punk rock and hip hop music.

All versions of the game were praised, with critics lauding its addictive gameplay, large environments, detailed graphics, fluid and precise controls, customization features and soundtrack, with some minor criticisms directed at the lack of a first-person camera and the truncated soundtrack of the Nintendo 64 version.

[11] The game's universe maintains a loose grip on physics for the sake of gameplay quality; while the player character can jump reasonable heights and perform short grinds early on in their career, they may eventually come to grind for much longer distances and reach such a disproportionate height in their jumps as to be capable of stringing an unrealistic chain of maneuvers together midair.

[13] In Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, the player character is self-propelling and can have their course altered via the arrow keys or d-pad.

Each completed objective is rewarded with cash, which can be used to improve skater statistics and obtain new equipment and playable characters.

A select few levels take place in a competition in which the player must perform for judges and accumulate the highest score within three one-minute rounds.

Other single-player modes include the Single Session, in which the player can freely accumulate a high score within two minutes using any previously obtained levels and characters, and the Free Skate, in which there is no time limit imposed.

[15][18][19] The multiplayer mode consists of five types of games: "Graffiti", "Trick Attack", "Tag", "HORSE" and "Free Skate".

[24][25] The game features a total of thirteen real-life professional skateboarders, along with four unlockable original characters, depending on the version.

^a unlockable ^b South Korean and certain Asian versions only By September 1999, Neversoft began to hire new programmers and designers for a sequel to its then-latest release Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.

[29] In April 2000, Activision began development of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 for the Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, PlayStation, Dreamcast and PC platforms.

[35][36][37] Pro Skater 2 is the first installment in the series to feature a level editor, character customization and manuals; the latter was intended to be included in the previous game, but was not implemented due to time constraints.

[35] On September 19, 2000, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 made its premiere the day before its wide release at the Best Buy in West Los Angeles.

[41] The original version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was developed for the PlayStation by Neversoft and was released in North America and Europe in September 2000.

While the game's textures and frame rate are smoother than that of the PlayStation version, the soundtrack had been shortened to six tracks consisting of instrumental chorus loops due to limited storage capacity.

[40] Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was ported to the PC by LTI Gray Matter and was released in North America in October 2000 and in Europe the following month.

[45] Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was developed for the Game Boy Color by Natsume Co., Ltd. and was released in the United States and Europe in November 2000.

The Game Boy Color's limited capacity necessitated a change in perspective to side-scrolling and isometric overhead levels and a completely synthesized soundtrack.

The game's graphics had been improved from those of the PC and Dreamcast versions; the textures were reworked to display more detail, most notably in the patches of grass.

An enhanced remake[d] of both Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and the second game, titled Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, was developed by Vicarious Visions and released on September 4, 2020, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, followed up a year later on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.

He also elaborated on the game's graphical improvements over its predecessor, though noted the slightly unsatisfactory draw distance in the larger levels as a minor flaw.

[13] Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot commended the large levels and the game's ability to maintain a solid frame rate while handling them.

Fran Mirabella of IGN stated that Edge of Reality gave the best version of the game that the Nintendo 64 was capable of having.

[40] Justin Leeper of Game Informer noted that along with the original version's strengths being successfully transposed, the reduced load times are an advantage of the Nintendo 64 port.

In regards to the soundtrack, while both reviewers commended the effort to incorporate the licensed tracks onto a cartridge format, they concluded that the result came across as "butchered".

[40][66] Greg Orlando of Next Generation gave five stars out of five for PlayStation version, praising the graphics, gameplay, controls, soundtrack, and level editor.

[48] Craig Harris of IGN noted that while the Game Boy Color version had "serious" gameplay problems, it was an improvement over its predecessor's equivalent on the same platform.

[46] Hillary Goldstein of IGN stated that the iOS version "maintains the fun and challenge of the original" in spite of its imperfect controls.