On September 4, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 will be released as a remake. A holiday for everyone who used to perform kickflips on a virtual skateboard. After the last few years, there was some skepticism – but judging by the demo, it looks like you can let that go!
This is the thing about Tony Hawk: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was the cornerstone of a franchise that spanned years. First, there were more “Pro Skater” titles, where you had to tear through arcade-style skateboard levels, before games like “Underground” expanded it with larger worlds and story modes.
The Tony Hawk games became a cult series and completely captivated me as well. The fantastic music, the perfect balance between fun and challenge, the endless duels for the highest scores on the couch against friends and family – all of that has embedded the Tony Hawk series so deeply in my gamer heart that I still have the combos in my fingers today.
I picked up every one of the games up until 2007. That was the point when Tony Hawk tried new tricks and really fell off the board for the first time. From 2008 onwards, the developer “Robomodo” took over the Hawk games from Neversoft and experimented with things like the “skateboard” controller, which did anything but convey a skateboard feeling.
It rather gave the feeling that an old love was dying – and it was. After the motion control games “Ride” and “Shred” flopped, they attempted a remake with “Pro Skater HD” and even a sequel, “Pro Skater 5”. But instead of salvation, they became the coffin nail for the once-great series: The graphics were dull, the gameplay didn’t work, and the reviews were devastating. In short: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was dead. Until now.
In May 2020, a trailer appeared that forcefully pulled the series out of the coffin. Suddenly, everything was back: The music. The sound of the boards on the ground. The perfect “clack” when the board spun during a kickflip. The trailer announced THPS 1 + 2 as a remake – and it was supposed to be just like before. Just in beautiful style. I suddenly felt like I was 12 again, and the hype was there – mixed with skepticism due to the last few years. Accordingly, I approached the demo cautiously so as not to be disappointed. But the “Warehouse Demo” couldn’t be further from disappointment.
A small but fine demo – Tony is back on track
This is the demo: In the demo, you can play the classic level “Warehouse” or translated “Warehouse”. The grandmaster, Tony Hawk himself, is at your disposal. The only mode is the classic point chase within two minutes that you can repeat as many times as you want. That’s it for now. Sounds like little, it is. But: It is more than enough to get a sense of the gameplay and atmosphere.
This is how I experienced the demo: Just the first moments, when the familiar, cheerful music blares from the speakers, bring a smile – which widens as you roll the first few meters on the board. Tony breaks through a wooden wall, rides down a ramp, and is now right in the warehouse.
The first jump succeeds, and with a quick grind, Tony goes over a rail. A button press here, one there, and Tony varies the tricks while grinding. The skater jumps off the piece of iron, switches into a manual, keeping the combo alive – and loses his balance. “Oops,” I think to myself, “How could that happen?”.
Somehow I must have steered too hard in one direction – and then I realize the mistake: Having been used to all the other games of recent years, I controlled with the analog stick. But I had learned Tony Hawk ages ago with the D-pad – “well”, I think to myself, “then with the arrow keys”.
I think for the first time ever I’m playing such a PS4 game primarily with the D-pad – and now everything feels just like it used to. The tricks come as usual, and the atmosphere of skate sounds and music does the rest. Nothing feels mushy or “wrong”, as one might have feared. The tricks from back in the day still work. This also gives hope that one won’t struggle in multiplayer later on.
Helpful: Also tricks from “newer” games for extending combos, such as the revert or wallride, which were not present in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2, have made it into the game. Here, the developers apparently looked closely at which developments the series underwent over the years that players have probably gotten used to.
After a brief two minutes, the run is over. But all my concerns about “Is this going to be good?” have vanished. In a good mood, I immediately start the next round.
If the full game at the beginning of September captures the spirit of the old games as the demo does – complemented by a prettier look and one or two innovations – then there’s no need to worry about the remake. After the demo, I’m extremely curious to see what the finished game looks like!
After several years of Hawk break, it seems that the series is back in shape. The demo managed to ensure that even after a long Pro Skater break, it didn’t suddenly feel like you landed in a completely different game. MeinMMO author Jürgen Horn recently had exactly this problem – but with Fortnite.
