Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 (2020)

Like any good video game-loving, skateboard-curious kid growing up in the '90s and 2000s, I got deep into the Tony Hawk Pro Skater games. I dutifully followed this series all through the 2000s, and even picked up the Tony Hawk Ride skateboard peripheral game—which was, understandably, my last straw. I loved Tony Hawk, and as this series got older, it kept adding new elements and new ideas, and in doing so, started to get away from the simplicity that I loved so much about this series. I loved having two minutes to finish multiple challenges and the opportunity to make it look as cool as possible, but once you started getting into absurd goals, getting off the board, and story modes that had you facing off against Bam Margera, I started to lose interest.

So going back to the beginning of this series, yet still keeping some of the advancements that really made this game fun is exactly what this franchise needed to do. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 is the perfect reboot of a series that deserved one, getting back to the basics of two-minute challenges, levels full of opportunities, and levels that begged to be explored and chained across. This is introducing what made Tony Hawk so great to a new generation, while improving what was already great for those nostalgic for the game's past.

I primarily just played through these first two games, and I forgot just how fun and challenging these games were, while also impressed by how difficult they could be at times. Like, my goodness, the difficulty from Warehouse to School really ratches things up fairly quickly. But part of the fun is just figuring out each level's secrets, and creating your own personal challenges of landing great tricks and cool combos. It's so simple, yet after several decades, it's still immensely rewarding.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 also offers a ridiculous amount of things to do to enhance the replayability, whether it's tons of challenges, or playing through the game with EVERY character, creating your own parks and characters, and going online. Honestly, that's too much for me, but if this was the version that had come out 25 years ago, I probably would've dove deep into every nook and cranny this game has to offer, which is a lot.

But I'm so glad that the Tony Hawk series has just tried to improve these past games and get things back to the basics. This feels like a more essential remake than most games these days, and it's just a blast to return to these levels. I can't wait to see what they do with 3 + 4, since I still think those are the highwater mark for the series, but this is a great start to bringing back this series.

It is physically impossible for me to even attempt to make an objective review of this game. I just love THPS so freaking much.

This remaster is probably too arcady. I kinda felt a little dissapointed with the customizables and the options, because deep down I expected some sort of merger between the original games and the Post-ProSkater titles of the early 00's (THUG, THUG2, THAW), but in that regard is fairly barebones... And you know what? after spending almost SEVENTY HOURS in this game, I kinda prefer it this way.

Sticking so hard to the first Pro Skater modes and adding just different kinds of playability really empowers this "blast from the past" feeling. Man, the first time I started this game and Superman by Goldfinger started blasting I really, truly felt like the Critic from Ratatouille. It was such a gut punch in the nostalgia to be in the Warehouse again, to be able to play with all this guys I admired so much (Jamie Thomas, Geoff Rowley and his Darkslide, Campbell and his Ghetto Bird, CHAD FUCKING MUSKA).

I love the idea of the mechanics because hell, they do not try to reinvent the wheel at all. Of course the animations are smoother and the controls are more responsive compared to the originals but holy shit all the mechanics are just... there. There is a caveat here because this game... hardly will make you a fan if you didn't enjoy it in the first place. If you have never liked Tony Hawk's Pro Skater this game hardly will turn you into a convert, but for me growing up with this shit and having those same feelings like twenty years ago... Hmph, just the best.

I have to make an aside here for the music: OMG the music of this games RAISED ME. I almost wept on my first play session when Can I Kick It played, and then Bad Religion, Lagwagon, FUCKING MXPX???? My taste in music was cultivated by these people and the selection this time around both plays tribute and improves with new additions. My On Repeat list on Spotify is irreparably altered for this year.

I was a big Skate Culture dweeb back in the day, I just love everything about it even if a grew up in a place where the skate scene didn't accept me. I always felt there were a group of people out there that maybe someday will let me ride with them and hang around and discuss why Mike Herrera is so awesome. I found that community eventually and had to leave again for migration issues, but this game is a reminder how skate stays with you for life and how good a community like that can be, how emotionally honest and uplifting it is.

There I was at twenty-nine, I can't believe I'm still alive Though it was never easy, yeah, you and me were born to survive. Let's ride.

I played the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater after a friend twisted my arm a bit to give it a try. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't until I played the sequel's PlayStation Jampack demo that I really fell for its arcadey, improvisational gameplay loop and its collectathon platformer-esque goals. I picked up the full game for Dreamcast as soon as I could and enjoyed it for hours and hours, on my own and with friends.

This remake feels as good today as I remember THPS2 feeling back then, which is fantastic. As an even bigger fan of THPS3, I love having manuals and reverts across both classic campaigns, which look better than ever. The soundtrack is impressively stocked with old favorites, there are new modes and challenges, and they added online multiplayer without sacrificing good ol' local splitscreen.

That doesn't mean there aren't one or two nits to pick... there are fewer unlockable skaters than in the originals (with one tied to a "digital deluxe" edition as of this writing), and I prefer the simplicity of the 32-bit menus. But as a fan of these games, it's been a treat to play such a substantial yet faithful reimagining... even if it does mean having Dub Pistols' "Cyclone" hopelessly stuck in my head all over again!

This remake captures two classic games of the millennial generation’s youth in a way that authentically preserves them while making the needed advancements to actually feel as good as our nostalgia goggles see the originals.

Gameplay-wise, it feels how I remember it, which is to say, better than it actually was. They’ve included great improvements from following games in even THPS1, delivering the best possible version of the combo system that this game revolves around. That combo system is still easily manipulable by intermediate players who can spam manual and lip trick variations, but this style of play becomes stale and tapers off score-wise in comparison to the game as it’s meant to be played, flying through gaps and using momentum to chaining together a set of varied moves. It’s still a rewarding system that offers an interesting risk/reward balance and encourages variety.

In the generation of wide open sports games like Steep, Pro Skater’s 2-minute time limit in its main mode definitely feels a bit out of place. It can feel a bit limiting in larger levels, but forces an element of strategy and the occasional “barely made it!” moment that are the essence of its arcadey feel. I had a lot of fun 100%-ing each area and getting to know it in and out. I think this is where newer players may fail to gel with the game, but luckily the game offers free skate mode and more open-ended online play for those players who don’t like a time limit.

That online play is where I find myself going when I log on for the last several days, and overall is a lot of fun. Players are placed in groups of 8 into one of the game’s many skateparks and allowed to free roam between short competitive rounds. This kind of play is great, never staying in one place too long but letting you enjoy the same park for a while. The lobby is kept together indefinitely, which is also nice but does show cracks in the setup. The game types are pretty simple and static, such as seeing who can score 100,000 first. It’s really easy to have a veteran player stomp the lobby for an hour, which I’ve been on both sides of. With the right lobby of similarly skilled players, or without taking it too seriously, this mode is a ton of fun. The graffiti mode is a glimpse at what it could be with a bit more creativity, encouraging a different style of play and making use of the full park a bit better.

The game overall looks nice, a solid upgrade over the originals. The original Xbox One has pretty horrendous texture pop-in in menus, but the game itself looks great in motion. A pretty nice challenge system, skate shop, and park creation mode give good reason to come back to the game for a while. Overall, as a former big fan of this series who had lost interest, I’m really happy with it and see myself playing multiplayer on and off for a while. Definitely recommended to new and old players alike!

It feels pretty much the way the originals did. The layouts are the same, with updated graphics and a new coat of paint. Some of the changes are a bit weird. There's an unnecessary effort to make it look modern (the surfaces of things will look more like what they are trying to be looks now than the old games looked, skaters included, they've all aged, some of the levels are jarringly painted in new ways) this isn't..bad. it's just weird. The gameplay is the same, with updates. Mechanics from the games up through 4 are present, and it's very welcome (you can switch this off and limit yourself to the mechanics of the old games if you like. They are easy to cheese combos with manuals, wall plants, and other new tricks) everything moves a bit smoother and with more weight. Skaters emote more. their faces move, they make noises out loud here and there. it all feels..right. like a remake should feel.

There's plenty of added motivation to play (sort of). You have a wide array of goals to accomplish, outside the in level ones, which will level you up to unlock the chance to buy clothes, board designs, logos, and other things for your created skater, with in game currency earned by playing. There is the looming threat of micro transactions but nothing yet.

The create a skater is bare. You basically just pick the face of one of the pro skaters, pick from a few hair styles, tweak the colors a bit, and dress them how you like. No sliders. nothing deep. You can't change the body at all. Shout out to not being gendered though. you can freely add facial hair to whatever face you want, or not. you can dress anyone however you wish.

I didn't try the multiplayer options. Because I don't care. I can't speak to how good they are or not.

PROS

• Absolutely nails the look and feel of the classic THPS games
• Tastefully curated soundtrack heightens the skater punk atmosphere
• Buttery smooth controls feature mechanics from the later entries seamlessly blended in
• Satisfying sound design
• Includes hundreds of new challenges on top of all the content of the originals
• In many ways is the definitive THPS experience

CONS

• Combo system, like in most of the series, is ridiculously easy to cheese
• Rudimentary level designs and player objectives feel somewhat dated