Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 may be a remaster, but it is also ambitious. The upcoming collection of iconic PlayStation era games aims to capture everything players love about the original titles – the skaters, the courses, the tricks – and update them to make them feel at home in 2020. It’s not that simple as it sounds.
Games, especially early 3D kids, are not always funny age. It is a difficult balancing act; change too little, and the game will feel dated, but change too much, and it may also be another game. Luckily, from what I played, THPS1 + 2 has found the sweet spot. This is Tony Hawk the way I remember it.
The demo I played – which will be available on August 14 for those who have pre-ordered the game – is, admittedly, a very short part of the whole experience. I could only try one level (the iconic opening warehouse stage), use one skater (Tony Hawk, of course), and play through the single session mode where you have exactly two minutes to do whatever you want. But it was enough to get me excited for the final product.
The most obvious change is the way the game looks. The blocky, muddy characters and environments have been replaced by much more realistic visuals. The characters in particular look amazing. I liked the way the skaters would move their bodies a little awkwardly when landing a particularly difficult trick, and there’s a cool effect when you wipe it out, as if someone were rewinding a VHS tape. But despite the new coat painted, things are not so different. The warehouse was built exactly as it was 20 years ago. All the details – the wall you push through to reach ground level, the barely reachable office space, the taxi driver – are still there. They just look a lot more realistic now.
This expands to the way the game is played. Well, I did not play THPS in many years, so I can not exactly say that the remaster is completely faithful in terms of controls. But it felt the way I remember playing it; probably, that means developer Vicarious Visions is slippery about some of the awkward animations and controls, so the new version does not look dated. Whatever the studio did, it worked. At its best, THPS has always fit into a narrow space between an over-the-top arcade game and a more realistic simulation, and it still feels that way. There is just enough realism and effort to pull off cool tricks that it captures the excitement of skateboarding without all the frustrations. Even if you suck, it’s fun. And you can still do it all while listening to Goldfinger and Rage Against the Machine.
There are still a lot of questions about the game, of course. THPS1 + 2 combines two games, with a metagame at the top, that link them together in a way that is meant to create a cohesive whole. There are also new online and creation elements, along with a modern cast of riders. These elements will be an important factor in the question of whether the new game has lasting power, and I have not experienced any of them yet.
But the demo is still a relief. One of the reasons fans were so excited for the remaster is that the Tony Hawk series has … well, it has not been very good for years. I would not blame anyone for warning me again of another attempt to revitalize it, considering past attempts THPS5, which, to put it mildly, was a disappointment. That’s why this new demo, as short as it is, is so welcome. There could still be problems with the game in general, but in the core, THPS1 + 2 does what it says: it plays like a classic Tony Hawk while it looks like a game new game.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 will launch on September 4 on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC (via the Epic Games Store).
