Tony Hawk’s is a series that almost everyone growing up in the 2000s played. I personally came in at Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 and loved the Underground games and American Wasteland before feeling the series started trying too hard to be relevant and keep up with a yearly release schedule. I then played Skate 3 and was spoiled from all skateboard games afterward, and we won’t even speak about Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5. That timeline I think leads me to the place I am at with this preview of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2.
When the Warehouse Demo first started my first instinct, because of the later skateboarding games, was to press a button to push off and gain speed. I quickly learned that there would be none of that in this game. The original games seemingly decided how fast you would be going depending on your line and where you were in the level. After that was out of the way, the arcade style nostalgia of the Tony Hawk’s series came rushing back and the iconic warehouse is a perfect sampling of what is to come for gamers starting Friday. The new graphics are well done, and while they are not photorealistic they are as close to it as you can get and still feel like a Tony Hawk’s game.
The character model is actually the worst aspect of what is available to sample in this early taste. The clothing looks a bit flat with no natural movement, but that is not a big issue in a game like this. This game is about the fluidity of the controls and the movement of your character. Both are buttery smooth, or as buttery smooth as a remaster can be while staying true to the original. That said, being able to push to increase speed would have been a welcomed addition even if it strayed away from the original intent of the game and levels.
When Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is released this Friday, incidentally a day after my birthday, it will do so with a lot of nostalgic fed fanfare. This is only heighten with the fact that Robomodo has finally been pulled off the series. The remaster being in better, more trusted hands, should keep Activison’s quality remaster streak going. At the very least, it can not be any worst than Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5…right? Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 releases Friday, September 4th, on Epic Games Store (PC), Playstation 4, and Xbox One.
Ouch That Hertz! 