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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was a revelation back in the PlayStation era, wrangling in both skateboarding fans and gamers who couldn’t maintain their balance on a board in real life. The excellent gameplay steadily improved over the first few iterations, which added combo-extending manuals and reverts. Unfortunately, in later years the series veered wildly off track, thanks to embarrassing Jackass-style antics and the notorious Tony Hawk Ride peripheral.
After letting the franchise cool its wheels for nearly two years, Activision is jumping back in the half-pipe. This time around, instead of trying to come up with yet another silly gimmick for Pro Skater, Activision is going back to what made the original series great. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD is taking the best levels and characters from the first few games, adding online multiplayer, and wrapping it all up with a nice HD visual update. In short, this is the Tony Hawk game fans have wanted for a long time.
Fan favorite levels such as Phoenix’s Downhill Jam, the School from Pro Skater 2, and the Warehouse are in the game. The team at Robomodo isn’t merely eyeballing those classic levels, either. Neversoft provided the studio with the original game files, which means that every ramp, rail, and funbox is in its proper place. Since this is a remix, players can keep their combos rolling by using manuals and other tricks in levels that didn’t originally support those moves. Other little tweaks include replacing the collectable tape icons with more contemporary DVDs. The game looks gorgeous, especially after seeing an Activision rep play the Warehouse level on the original PS1 before then switching to the updated HD version (spoiler: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater doesn’t look quite as nice as you may remember).
The roster is a mix of both familiar faces and modern skaters. Veterans include favorites Rodney Mullen, Andrew Reynolds, and, of course, the birdman himself. Pros like Nyjah Huston and Chris Cole join the roster as well. Fans can expect to see some of the more bizarre characters from the series, too, such as Ollie the Magic Bum and a pixelated Tony Hawk that’s sure to make old fogies feel right at home.
The first Tony Hawk’s Pro Skaters delivered memorable music, with ska, rap, punk, and hardcore jams accompanying the skating. Activision says the game won’t feature the original soundtrack at this point, but if it’s being overseen with the same level of care as the rest of the early version we saw in action, we’re prepared to turn our stereos up.
Activision plans on releasing this downloadable mash note sometime this summer. Now that fans have had time for their scabs to heal, it’s looking like a great time to get back on board with the game that started it all.
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