If you’re like me and grew up during the early 2000s, then you’ll probably remember the Tony Hawk series. It’s one of those iconic series that gamers will remember, even though I started out playing the later games from THPS 4 and later, I still remember them to this day.
Continuing with their recent trend of remastering their older games, Activision has remastered the first two entries in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (THPS) series into one game for current-gen consoles.
Gameplay
For those that played any of the THPS games, the gameplay of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 will feel very familiar. To do any sort of trick, you’ll be using a combination of button press plus an analog stick.
The A button fo jumps, B for grabs, X for flips and Y for grind tricks. Using the triggers or bumpers will add some flair to your tricks.
The Career Mode from the original games has been reimagined as Tours. There’s one tour for THPS and one for THPS2. Most of the levels featured are goal-based, meaning you have a 2-minute timer where you must complete goals such as getting a certain score or combo, collecting certain items etc.
Completing a number of goals will unlock the next level and so far. The other type of level is Competition, where you’re up against other computer skaters trying to get the highest score after three rounds. If you make it in the top three after the three rounds, you’ll get a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal.
Once you complete each Tour, you’ll be able to unlock two secret parks and some other rewards.
The THPS Tour consists of:
- Warehouse
- School
- Mall
- Skate Park
- Downtown
- Downhill Jam
- Burnside
- Streets
- Roswell
The THPS2 Tour has:
- Hangar
- School II
- Marseille
- NYC
- Venice
- Skate Street
- Philadelphia
- Bullring
While some of the goals in the levels are easy to obtain, others will take some skill, especially for new players. Thankfully, the game does feature some mods that will help new players such as no bails, perfect grind etc.
In addition to the Tours, the game has a local and online multiplayer so you can play with your friends. If you don’t feel like playing the Tours, you can free skate any of the levels just for fun.
But if you want to show off your creative side, there’s a Create-A-Park, where you can design your own skate park.
Throughout the game, you can choose to play as a Pro Skater like Tony Hawk Bob Burnquist or Rodney Mullen. Or you can choose to create your own skater. To customize your character, you can purchase clothing and boards from the skate shop using the money you earn by playing levels.
Presentation
From a visual point of view, the game looks great and runs at 4K resolution of Xbox One X with HDR10 support. The game is running on Unreal Engine 4, which what Activision and Toys for Bob used for the Spyro remaster.
You can see more details in both the skaters and the environment around them.
The team at Vicarious Visions, who did the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy did a great job at remastering these two games into one.
In addition to the great visuals, the game features most of the songs from the original soundtracks, which is a mix of old‑school ‘80s rap and ‘90s ska-punk to international indie hits and up-and-coming artists.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is a great remaster than retains the fun and nostalgia of the original games but just brought up to current-gen consoles.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 is available now for Xbox One, PS4 and PC (via the Epic Games Store) and cost $59.99 CAD ($39.99 USD).
An Xbox One review code of the game was provided by the game’s publisher, Activision.
Pros
- Visually looks great with HDR support
- High replayability with lots of content
- Lots of level variety
- Throwback soundtrack with a mix of new artists and bands
- Good accessibility options for new players
Cons
- Some level challenges can be difficult for new players
TheCanadianTechie 