Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 Review

"The King of Skate Returns"

Campaign

September 18, 2020 at 4:06am
By Jason Stettner

The classic skateboarding games are back, fully remastered and rebuilt from the ground up. It’s quite an endeavor to do so, and they absolutely nailed it. For those returning it’ll feel like a blast from the past, for newcomers you’ll understand why this franchise lasted so long and had so many follow-ups. They get back to basics, and I think this is perhaps a beautiful starting point for the series to continue strongly once more.

Not only is this insanely faithful, it expands the core concept in ways that make it feel better than it ever did prior. It’s quite remarkable, and a blast to play. It’s also something that only gets better as you do progress, unlocking things and perfecting your skater. It’s a thrilling time and a journey that’s certainly worth the venture.

So with this release you get the first game and the second one including all of the original maps. You work through the games separately with quick play to just enjoy the levels if you’d like. If you play the traditional way you need to unlock new levels by gaining enough goal completions across the previous ones. These range from hitting certain scores, gathering collectibles or entering hidden areas. It’s interesting, and provides a good challenge for players.

If that’s not enough, the game also has multiplayer. Play competitively against others in a variety of game modes that provide challenges to those engaging with it, or even play casually as well if you’d like. Mini games such as hitting the top score, getting the best chain or even painting over areas by performing tricks. On top of that, there’s an expansive track creator area. You can make your own levels to share with others, or play what the community has created. They’ve really created something expansive there, and that’s going to keep the game fresh for quite a long time following this initial release.

Gameplay

It might seem overwhelming initially in regards to how you skate, but the more you play the better grasp of the experience you’ll have. It’s not just about skateboarding well, you need to chain together mad tricks to get better multipliers. It’s going to also be more difficult initially since you’ll need to gain XP tokens to improve each individual skater’s abilities.

You can make your own skater, or also play from the original cast alongside new additions. It’s quite expansive, they offer many big names of the sport. At least, I believe so as I really only know the title character. Anyways, it’s very sleek in movement. It features many combinations to create unique moves, and chaining those within the world create some stunning showcases.

It’s got everything from grinding, to doing mad jumps and even perhaps smashing into things too. There are many collectibles as I’ve mentioned, they’re a part of the main progression though. The game handles very well movement wise in general, super smooth when you get a full hold of things. When it comes to performance the game is buttery smooth. It looks gorgeous too, while still retaining the original aesthetic of the maps.

They’re definitely re-imagined to a degree style wise, but feel like modern takes on the classic maps. There are little extra bits of detail added, satisfying destruction and a realistic element that’s great. The skaters look fantastic too, as do the many customization options available to earn while playing. I really don’t think I’ve gotten across just how great the game looks, it’s fantastic.

The Xbox One X enhancement was particularly excellent here, it’s incredible looking. When it comes to the music, the soundtrack you remember is back with extra additions. With that, music carries forward across the snappy loading which is excellent to have. Feels like one smooth experience the whole way through. Even getting back on the board is almost instant, a cool glitch effect that works greatly.

The Conclusion

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is a stunning remaster that brings back the nostalgia you desire, but completely enhances it for the modern era. They’ve handled these games with great care, and that shines through every moment you’re skating along. It’s got a good amount of challenge to it, and just a ton of content. Skate freely through the levels, work through the campaign or even compete against others online in a variety of fun modes.

If you can’t get enough, others are likely making more maps for you to play or you could very well make your own in a very intuitive park builder area. It’s a generally impressive and well rounded package. I was truly shocked by what they delivered here, and it’s so addicting too. I kept wanting to get higher scores, and to push for better. I know I’m not the best out there, not even close but I was starting to get some great chains going which felt good to pull off.

You definitely feel that progression as you level your skater, especially if you created them custom. It’s a shocking release that truly does deliver. I would have never imagined this series coming back, let alone to the level of quality that’s been present here. Bring on more of them, this team definitely knows what they’re doing. Respecting the legacy of the series, and overhauling it for a modern style.

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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Activision

Rating Overall: 9.0