Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (1999)

Paywalled Article: Still Shredding – The Legacy Of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater by Brian Shea

Skateboarding and gaming have an intertwined history dating back to the ’80s, with titles like Skate or Die, Skate and Destroy, and 720° letting players live out their kickflip fantasies. But it wasn’t until 1999 that the most prominent skateboarder teamed up with Neversoft to produce some of the most critically acclaimed video games of all time. Together, they permanently changed both the genre and the sport.

Riding a late 1990s wave of popularity for extreme sports, a small team at developer Neversoft had been developing a free-flowing skateboarding title. Late in development, the studio signed popular skateboarder Tony Hawk to lend his name and likeness to the product. Hawk took the responsibility seriously, working closely with the development team to ensure the title accurately reflected the excitement of skateboarding.

“I think what set THPS apart was the mix of authenticity and fantastical fun,” Hawk says. “We weren’t trying to make a skateboarding simulator; we wanted the game to feel true to skate culture while also letting players get crazy with tricks and combos that seemed impossible in real life.”

Neversoft and Hawk sought to differentiate Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater from other skating games, so they signed and motion-captured real skaters, created levels based on iconic skating spots, and featured brands skaters use in real life. Being included in the game as a playable character proved enormous for the awareness of those lucky enough to be chosen.

That holds particularly true for Bob Burnquist, one of Hawk’s chief rivals and the only other skater in the popular demo ahead of the first game’s release. “To this day, I get people come up to me and say, ‘Hey Bob, I’ve always played with your character!’” Burnquist says. “That really took me to a different level.”

However, perhaps the touch of authenticity that has endured through the generations is the soundtracks. The games capitalized upon the large overlap between skate culture and music culture, elevating previously niche or unknown songs to a mainstream audience.

“The soundtrack became a way to share my love of music with a whole new audience, which was one of the most unexpected, but rewarding aspects of our success,” Hawk says. “It’s wild that the soundtrack ended up being as iconic as the gameplay, but I think that just shows how tightly music and skating are linked – we didn’t just want a skateboarding soundtrack, we wanted it to represent the culture.”

The first Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater arrived on PlayStation in 1999, earning a 92 out of 100 on the reviews aggregate site Metacritic. While the debut was a massive success, it only reached new levels with the sequels, which Neversoft and Activision decided to release annually following the overwhelming reception of the first game. The second and third entries are two of the highest-rated video games of all time, earning a 98 and 97 on Metacritic, respectively. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 did little to stop the series’ momentum, holding a 94 aggregate score.

Activision and Neversoft officially had a blockbuster franchise on their hands, and skaters and non-skaters alike took notice. “The Tony Hawk games brought skateboarding into so many families that don’t even skateboard,” skateboarder and TV personality Bam Margera says. “Every grandmom, mom, grandpa, and little kid has played this game, including me. I was missing flights over it.”

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater didn’t just change extreme sports gaming; it’s a rare instance where it transformed the sport on which the series was based. “It actually helped skateboarding progress,” skateboarder and guitarist Steve Caballero says. “It just blows me away when I see social media, and I see these skaters doing tricks I was just doing on a video game, and now they’re doing them in real life. Anything that adds to the sport or enhances it is a good thing. And I think that’s because of Tony’s video game; it’s really brought the attention to people all over the world.”

And with that increased attention, some were inspired by the games to pick up a board and try skating in real life, leading to further evolution. “Over the years, many fans have told me that they started skating because of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and I’m proud of that legacy,” Hawk says. “Being part of something that helped connect people to the sport I love, and to the culture in general, has been one of the most unexpected and rewarding parts of my career. THPS changed my life in the best ways possible.”

This July, Activision and Iron Galaxy Studios will release Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, remakes of two of the series’ most iconic titles. The popularity of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 in 2020 caused Activision to pursue the next set of games, working with Iron Galaxy after the 1 + 2 studio Vicarious Visions merged with Blizzard in 2022. According to Hawk, the trend of reviving the franchise may continue if 3 + 4 receives similar acclaim.

“Seeing how excited fans have been about Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, and now Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, has been surreal,” Hawk says. “And I’d love to see that momentum continue. It’s been amazing to reintroduce these games to OG fans while also connecting with a new generation of players. So, I will do my best to campaign for more remakes in the future.”

THPS 1 Level Appreciation Post - Second Run ⦿

Downtown represents one of the most common and action packed aspects of the Skateboarding meta, that requires environmental awareness and a sharpened reaction system combined with refined fall technique to avoid a plethora of hazards. What I mean to say is...watch out for shit when you're skating in the city.

This is Bob. He skates right into oncoming traffic. Don't be like Bob.

The city of Minneapolis has a square, park, cinemas and shops with TVs in them that plays the music-video from the song that's currently playing. Who else noticed this way later? A fun, chaotic level with memorable high-jinx going on, if a bit one-sided and dark in its presentation.

Burnside, Portland is not only one of my favourite levels in the game, it's also one of my favourite spots in the world. IRL I mean. I always wanted to go there, under some dirty bridge in Portland lol. I wonder if the inhabitants of Oregon knew that some kid in Scandinavia badly wanted to visit, and what they would think. Iconic tricks went down here!

Geoff decided to rip Burnside in shorts. Risky move.

The Streets of SF is another bucket list visit for any Skateboarder, packed with legendary spots and lore around every corner. My head exploded when I learned that Pier 7 is across from EMB basically. This stage is very well done and designed in an efficient way, packed with obstacles of different material and environmental details like water, grass, trams, police cars and other cool stuff. I love to just free skate on Streets.

Muska in his right element. The Streets. Here he's looking at Hubba Hideout.

Well my friends, that concludes

...Hold up, you forgot about me. Roswell. The perhaps most ICONIC bonus level of the franchise. Everyone wanted to know what was going on in there, and Neversoft gave us a glimpse. Who could forget the choppers with their search lights outside and the dinosaur bones, alien space craft and the unforgettable little green visitor asking us to "Help, Help." I always felt for the little guy.

Okay, this concludes it. Thanks for listening.

THPS 1 Level Appreciation Post - First Run ⦿

The rail is missing in the picture, but it's there in the level. Warehouse was remade many times.

The Warehouse in Woodland Hills is a fitting, hard hitting first level introducing you to the rules of the world in this long living, highly praised, often imitated, never replicated action sports series. As a skater myself, having spent thousands of hours in old, cold warehouses during eight-month long winters - this stage really hit home. ⦿

The taxi cab obstacle, over-hang secret room and the oily water puddle are all iconic parts of the stage.

School instantly cures your claustrophobia and opens up a vast school yard, swimming pool area, rooftop section and even a basketball gym for you to explore. Super fun and engaging level that paid homage to the schooling systems greatest contribution to skateboarding - the picnic table. Skating them was made part of the tapes/objectives! ⦿

Officer Dick patrolling the school zone.

The Mall in New York is a great follow up to "School". In fact, it's perfect. What do you do after school..? Well, you go to the mall. However, less shoe shopping and more ledge hopping for us skaters as we make our way through the shopping centre, destroying anything in our path, trying to make it to the parking garage at the end! And remember, no Mall Grabbing!! ⦿

Elissa thinking about smith grinds while waiting for a coffee.

Continued in Part Two, because I can.

DOING EVERYTHING I CAN HOLDING ON TO WHAT I AM PRETENDING I'M A SUPERMAN

I'M TRYING TO KEEP THE GROUND ON MY FEET IT SEEMS THE WORLD'S FALLING DOWN AROUND ME THE NIGHTS ARE ALL LONG I'M SINGING THIS SONG TO TRY AND MAKE THE ANSWERS MORE THAN MAYBE

AND I'M SO CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT TO DO SOMETIMES I WANNA THROW IT ALL AWAY

SO HERE I AM GROWING OLDER ALL THE TIME LOOKING OLDER ALL THE TIME FEELING YOUNGER IN MY MIND AND HERE I AM DOING EVERYTHING I CAN HOLDING ON TO WHAT I AM PRETENDING I'M A SUPERMAN

I'M TRYING TO SLEEP I LOST COUNT OF SHEEP MY MIND IS RACING FASTER EVERY MINUTE WHAT COULD I DO MORE? YEAH, I'M REALLY NOT SURE I KNOW I'M RUNNING CIRCLES BUT I CAN'T QUIT

AND I'M SO CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT TO DO SOMETIMES I WANNA THROW IT ALL AWAY CONTROLLING EVERYTHING IN SIGHT FEELING WEAK, I DON'T FEEL RIGHT YOU'RE TELLING ME I HAVE TO CHANGE TELLING ME TO ACT MY AGE BUT IF ALL THAT I CAN DO IS JUST SIT AND WATCH TIME GO THEN I'LL HAVE TO SAY GOODBYE LIFE'S TOO SHORT TO WATCH IT FLY TO WATCH IT FLY

SO HERE I AM GROWING OLDER ALL THE TIME LOOKING OLDER ALL THE TIME FEELING YOUNGER IN MY MIND AND HERE I AM DOING EVERYTHING I CAN HOLDING ON TO WHAT I AM PRETENDING I'M A SUPERMAN

Initially I picked up the Dreamcast version of this because I read it was the better version out there. It really is too, because the graphics and the audio are better, but what really matters in this game is the way the game controls and feels and the PSX isn't lacking in that regard.
Regardless of what version you play (I ended up playing the PSX because i really was wanting to try and get some retroachievements on this one, as the majority of the set is probably some of the most brag worthy ones on the site) you'll be practicing it for a while to get good. It took me a while to get the hang of this game. Maybe its because i'm unfamiliar with skateboarding or because I have very little in sport simulations but I did manage to figure out some things and improve. At first I didn't know that if you hold down the jump button you will actually accelerate. Tony Hawk will hunker down and start accelerating and then when you release he will jump, or if he's going up a ramp he'll jump off the ramp and you can begin yoru trick move. From here its a matter of timing and practice and finess and feels like a mix between a sports simulation and a fighting game or something to that effect. Depending on your familiarity and skill you can do anything from simple timed moves that you rotate in a 2:00 match to maximize novelty and awarded points, or you can crank out mind bending blends of combos and execute one after another really quickly.

This really is a fun, addictive game. I missed out on it and I can imagine easily how some people might play a game like this and practice it forever endlessly. I knew lots of people at SKOOL who really liked this game. A lot of sports simulations seem to be like that but this one is somewhat more approachable to me maybe because of the arcade like experience and the fact you can just go into a 'free skate' mode where you can investigate and explore each of the maps to familiarize yourself with them and what the game lets you do.

I have very little experience with sports games and sims, but this is good albeit very challenging. I had to eventually put it down but made it through about 80% of the game until hitting a wall on downhill jam and thereby being unable to make further progress to unlock the last competition and the final map (and of course the crazy sounding bonus map)

The only fault I really have against this game is it's really repetitive in the same way practicing a sport is. you just do the same thing over and over and over again until you get the hang of it. Also to really excel in scoring you are going to have to learn to exploit it and cheeseball it the way in which you do a fighting game. Your goal isnt to be 'good' necessarily but to max out your points, and the best moves are signature moves which are executed by three button combos and its something you cant really learn unless you look at a guide. The game is also very arbitrary and has an 'on rails' approach to scoring criteria. As you play the game you start to get a sense for how to build better scores and it often means finding secret or map specific actions and performing tricks interacting with those places (like jumping off a car or onto a car or something on maps that have cars) and on matches not screwing up on your first move to avoid reduction on second attempts and not repeating your repertoire of tricks. This makes scoring a more rigid and procedural task in many instances, its almost like a floor plan in rainbow six or something, then its up to you, the player to follow through and execute.

All in all this is an excellent parkour game that plays like a hybrid arcade style game with it's 'rush' mode in addition to having a 'open' mode with no time limits where you can just play around in as you trial-and-error your way in a map. It also features multiple multiplayer modes. This and Jet Set are some of the earliest parkour games I've played, and we now have so many games like this now. THPS is well conceived, well liked by it's fanbase, and really showcases off both the era in which it was made as well as manage to look baller doing it with a nice selection of punk/ska from the era.

I hate myself for abandoning it and have been tempted many times in less than a day to just pick it back up and waste six hours chasing one of the VHS tapes that feel just out of reach. But hey there are several of these games plus so many more like it to check out!