Product Info

Platform

PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

Publisher

Activision

Developer

Vicarious Visions

Series

Tony Hawk's

Genre

Sports

Players

2 (offline) 2-8 (online)

File Size (Minimum)

21.04 GB

Release Date (NA)

Sep 3, 2020

Purchase From

Amazon

Best Buy

Target

GameStop

PSN Store

Microsoft Store

Epic Games

Before diving into the remake of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, let me take you back in time to a magical place called the ‘90s. Specifically, the tail end, 1999. President Bill Clinton was in office, Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace ruled the box office, and the Backstreet Boys dominated the radio. That same year, Anthony Frank Hawk landed the first 900 in a competition. And two months later, the video game bearing his name would be released.

The effect that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater had on video game and extreme sport culture cannot be understated. It made a good deal of my generation buy skateboards, watch skate videos, and eventually help to get skateboarding into the Olympics.

And now, revisiting that game over two decades later. It can be a little scary, right? This was a game released when Jar Jar Binks was the height of video technology. Can gameplay that old still find relevance in today’s modern gaming landscape?

Here to tell you the answer to that question is yes. Just like a Super Mario platformer, or a Doom first-person shooter, this extreme sports title’s gameplay is just as replayable as it ever was. Riding around in levels trying to rack up a sick score is timeless fun.

Updated Looks, For Modern Sensibilities

The graphics here are great, just what you’d expect for a release this late into this generation’s console cycle. It’s amazing to see these levels fleshed out into real looking landscapes, as compared to the polygonal look of the PlayStation One era, all while maintaining the layout of the original designs. It’s fun to be skating around and see small animals running around, or drones buzzing about. There are so many little touches like that, not to mention that these areas now look like actual places inside of a world, because you can see out into the distance.

Crank Up The Tunes, Bro

And the soundtrack! Where to even begin? Most of the original lineup of songs are back, including everyone’s favorite (you know the one). And now it’s even better because they’ve more than doubled the number of artists represented here, with songs added from MxPx, The Ataris, A Tribe Called Quest, and more. This is one of the areas where this entry really outshines the original. Having so many more songs can really help from the same dozen tunes looping and grating on your brain.

Feels Just Like You Remember

The real star of the show here is physics. When Robomodo took over the franchise from Neversoft years ago, suddenly the gameplay that players had built up years of muscle memory with, became floaty and unresponsive (not to mention the bugginess and the artstyle; the less said about those games the better). The team at Vicarious Visions really took care to make sure that the feel of this game is just right, and just like you remember. When you catch air off a quarter pipe, your hang time just feels natural and gives you the perfect control you need to pull off your trick. You’re given a full move set that includes reverts from Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3, and trick modifications from Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4. Gone is the ability to get off the board and walk around and climb, but that’s fine. We’re here to skateboard, not scale buildings and spray paint things.

There are 17 levels to unlock from the first two Tony Hawk games. While one might worry that these levels will feel small compared to the open world maps of the later games, this proves not to be the case as these compact spaces really allow for getting a feel for the area, and lets you plan your lines and combos accordingly.

Even Pros Faceplant Sometimes

The list of negatives is short. It seems like the hitboxes on the collectables are a little less forgiving than they used to be. Sometimes, you might be trying to grab a “T” over a gap and don’t collect it, even though it seems like you would have in earlier games. It also feels the manual is a bit harder to pull off now, specifically the revert to manual. And without that, your hopes of linking your big air tricks to your flatland is out of the question. Maybe both of these points can just be attributed to old age. But even revisiting the older games often, there’s never been an issue off the old R1-Up-Down. Also, the Create-A-Skater seems a bit lacking in this title. There are not a lot of faces to choose from, and no scaling options either. It’s a lot harder to create your perfect avatar to skate around with the pros. And in playing, there were a couple times when the skater clipped out of bounds and fell to his death. But what would a Tony Hawk Pro Skater game be without some out-of-bounds glitches?

All that aside, the stuff that’s been added is a lot of fun. The online multiplayer is a great way to spend a few minutes skating, and lose to a guy who lands a million point combo in 20 seconds. Also, the badges you can unlock for completing certain tasks will add many hours of additional replay.

No Childhoods Have Been Ruined In The Making Of This Game

It’s great when a franchise is brought back from the dead, and done right. Many thanks to the people at Activision and Vicarious Visions, for treating this property with respect, and giving us a great game. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran, or picking this series up for the first time, with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, you’re sure to have a blast grinding rails and pretending you’re a Superman.

A review code provided by Activision for this review and gameplay footage. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 available now for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.