The Tony Hawk series has always had a big impact on me. We all picked up music tastes from the games, but the fun has been just as important a piece of the series’ legacy. With the addition of this remaster, I have played ten Tony Hawk games extensively. That’s all of them except the Wii’s “Downhill Jam,” and none of the games from the 2008-2015 era of games from Robomodo. I remember as a ten year old, being at my best friend’s house who had a PlayStation, and playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater for the first time. I was instantly in love. This remaster is everything I have loved about the series, and was clearly done with great consideration and care.
Vicarious Visions brought this game to market in September 2020. I bought it for the Switch, a version which just dropped at the end of June. I couldn’t think of a better game to always have with me. The joy-cons that have previously befuddled some of my gaming experiences work just fine here. That said, I have also vastly improved with the joy-cons from these experiences, and this one as well.
The most important thing for this game to be good is tight controls. I have found them to be honed well. Picking up a Tony Hawk game to me is like riding a bicycle, so I instantly knew loosely how things were going to work. And my past with the series has served me quite well. I’m sure if you aren’t as familiar, it will be a longer journey to be where I am at in terms of skill. But, I can assure you that you will have every bit as much fun learning the game for the first time as a veteran coming in.
The remaster looks like a new game. Not like a 1999 game they slapped some fresh paint on. Visuals are engaging and effective. Levels look great, as do models and animations. Customization options are satisfactory. Sometimes I find myself wishing it were a little deeper, but I can easily spend hours on just making my skater look his freshest before we skate out. Self-expression should be as much a part of any skateboarding game as it is to any real-life skateboarder. Tony Hawk games have always been a hallmark of that fact.
There is endless gameplay here. The skill cap is unbelievably high. So high, you may play for well over a hundred hours and still be improving. There are multiple ways you can improve including getting better with new tricks and strategies, knowing the levels as they contain depth, and just simply mastering the controls. You will also be picking up skill points for your custom skater throughout the game. There are a bevy of pro skaters, old and new, from which to choose, but as I said, I am big on self-expression, so I always use my own character. There are 17 levels, which all have unique goals. If you just want to fool around or learn the level, there is a “Free Skate” option. I spend a lot of time here. It is perfect if you just want to skate around with no time limit, and also if you want to warm-up on a level before a main game session.
The “Create-A-Park” feature is back, and I love it. I am working on one master park where I can pull off ridiculous interweaving and looping lines. I also will be making parks with certain focuses as well. Like a vert ramp heavy park, or just a park I think looks neat for example. You can share parks online, and some of the custom parks are really good, you should check these out if you’re looking for some fresh terrain or inspiration.
Create-A-Park isn’t the only thing about these games the internet has improved. Back in the day if you wanted to play multiplayer you needed a friend who knew the game and could be there to play. Now, I can hop online and enjoy the fantastic mini games at my leisure. This is probably a greater remaster improvement than the graphics, for me. These mini games are so simple, yet so fun. My favorite is “Graffiti,” where you score points on an obstacle to paint it, highest score trick on said piece paints, and player with the most pieces painted at the end wins. I am crazy about the online features of this game, I just wish there were a bigger community.
Tony Hawk games can be very cathartic. I think maybe in part because as hard as I tried, I was always the worst skateboarder. The arcade style of THPS will have you doing insane stunts inconceivable to reality. This style has always helped me alleviate things like anxiety and anger, somehow. The perfect vortex of awesome music, satisfying combos and the soothing sound of skateboarding just resonates with me in way that is difficult to express. The nostalgia I feel doesn’t just bring me back to those innocent days of playing the first game for the first time, but it reminds me that no matter how bad my life has been, there is always something worth playing. I also remember plenty of nights staying up all night playing Tony Hawk so I could go to the skate park at first light, when nobody else was there.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 Remastered is a more than welcome addition to my catalog. It has been far too long since I have been able to enjoy one of these games. It is everything I could want from the remaster: updated graphics, perfected gameplay, customization options and online features. All of which are fantastic. These games bring me immense joy, and there is so much more to this remaster than nostalgia. For about $40 base game, you get to enjoy a piece of gaming history, and a case study in how to make a worthy remaster of a game. I recommend this game to die-hard fans and newcomers alike, either way you are getting a game that’ll bring you endless fun.
Credit: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 Remastered. Screenshots by me.
HereticDerek 