Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2: A Remake Worth Trying

Tony Hawk is one of those series that enjoyed great popularity and critical admiration until it gradually disappeared and died. Activision’s last attempt to bring the name back to prominence with the fifth installment in 2015 did not live up to gamers’ expectations and it seemed like the series was over forever. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is another attempt to revive the name, this time with a remake of the first two installments in the series, developed by Vicarious Visions, who previously worked on the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. Will the attempt succeed this time? ?

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 offers an experience that combines the stages of the first two parts of the series, but with the game mechanics and feel of the following parts. Here you can perform advanced moves such as reverts and manuals that were not available in the first two parts, and through these you can link your jumps and moves together to achieve a total score that could not be achieved in the original games. The game understands this and rebalances itself based on the new mechanics, adding new objectives in the phases of the first part and rebalancing some objectives in the phases of the second part. However, if you want to experience the first part as it was, the game gives you the option to turn off the mechanics you don’t want. However, if you are new and find the systems more complex and difficult than you can handle there are cheat options to make the manuals and reverts easier for those who need them.

A Nostalgic Feel with Modern Mechanics

What series veterans will notice immediately upon launching the game is Vicarious Visions’ astonishing success in maintaining the addictive feel that characterized Neversoft games. They know it’s a difficult task, with every part developed after Neversoft’s departure failing. Vicarious Visions has already done great work in the N. Sane trilogy, but the feeling of playing in this group wasn’t quite the same as the original games, and there were some noticeable differences for the players that didn’t fit with the design of the stages, however In Pro Skater 1 + 2, despite adding mechanics from the advanced parts, they managed to make it feel like they have exactly the original gameplay, and that’s an achievement that deserves respect. The gameplay system is still just as engaging and entertaining as it was 20 years ago, and still offers the same arcade-like fun that has always set the series apart from true competitors like SKATE. Few games offer the euphoria of connecting moves and breaking records in Tony Hawk. Vicarious Visions’ fidelity to the original experience is also evident in the return of all the licensed songs that distinguished the two original installments. There are also new songs, most of which are good to excellent and introduced me to new artists like the original games did back in the day, but the game gives you the option to turn them off if that’s how you like the original experience would like to see what it was like.

The artistic direction of this game differs from the originals. Although the design of the stages remained exactly the same, the appearance of these stages differed. This is normal, because the PS1 didn’t allow developers to be creative with the details of the 3D environments at the time, and the remake decided to incorporate these details and the appropriate atmosphere for the sport of skateboarding here instead of blindly copying. The game also features a mode for designing and sharing stages online, as well as a long list of general challenges, skaters, and options for changes to the skateboard’s appearance, clothing, and more. These options guarantee more hours of gameplay for those who don’t want to leave the addictive gameplay system after completing the main stages. Perhaps the only thing that stands in the way of the game’s addictive potential is the loading times. If you decide to restart a level, it takes around 10 seconds to load on the PS4 Pro, which can be annoying considering the number of times you have to restart to get the perfect combination you want. .

A Classic Series Revived

For the second time, Vicarious Visions does it and brings a classic series back to life at its finest. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is the best Tony Hawk experience since Part 4 and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for the series after this fantastic start.

The game was reviewed using a PS4 copy received from the publisher.