Although I’ve always been someone who has loved to play through a lot of different single player games, preferring that to multiplayer most of the time, those aren’t the only titles that have ever captured me. Of course, I’ve spent many hours playing multiplayer too, but only certain games really hooked me. I also spent a ton of time playing hockey games, and was obsessed with extreme sports ones from the get go.
Like many others who thoroughly enjoyed the genre during and even after its heyday (a couple of decades ago), it mostly centred upon the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, although 1080 Snowboarding, Matt Hoffman’s Pro BMX and SSX also took many hours of my life.
Back then, it seemed like they were releasing often, but that unfortunately isn’t the case anymore. There’s been a severe lack of interactive extreme sports experiences over the last number of years, which is one of the reasons why I was so happy that Activision decided to remake and re-release the games that pretty much started it all: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2. That, as well as the fact that the games (the first, especially) were a big part of my childhood. I still remember finding the N64 version at a local independent video store about 7 days before it was supposed to release, renting it for that week and not being able to stop playing. I’ve since completed it more times than I can comprehend, and also thoroughly beat the remakes on four consoles (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series S and PlayStation 5.)
It’s hard to believe that they were released several years ago now, but time flies.
When it was announced that the folks who helmed the remakes of the first two Tony Hawk games were put on support for the Call of Duty series, I was extremely disappointed. That’s because I had hoped that they’d be so successful that Activision would decide to invest in remaking Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4. It didn’t seem like that was going to happen but, thankfully, my fears were not valid.
Fast forward to this weekend, and not only have Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 been remade, but the package is now available. I’ve spent two days revisiting what I consider to be two of the best games ever made, and the last truly great titles in the series. While I enjoyed Tony Hawk’s Underground when I rented it (it was the first one I never owned), it was really enjoyable but felt like a bit of a step down. The gameplay then continued to be good and addictive in its sequel (THUG2), but it was so stupid that it annoyed me. That’s especially true of the unloveable secret character who rode a motorcycle. That was the beginning of the decline.
If you’ve never played one of these games, they are pretty simple in terms of mechanics. The most important thing to note is that they’re arcade games as opposed to something realistic, and the goal is to pull off crazy and flashy combos. Trying to outdo yourself (and your friends) quickly becomes an addictive reason to return to a formula that offers unlimited replay value and never gets old.
Each game presents a list of different, themed, maps that are essentially skate parks. These take the form of open levels and competition stages, wherein the goal is to get the best average score (from invisible judges) over the course of three rounds. The top three then receive gold, silver and bronze medals, like in the Olympics.
The more traditional stages present a set of goals; a number of which must be completed to unlock more levels. These begin with high score and combo challenges, as well as hidden tapes to find, before the lists become more creative and level specific. Examples include drenching a foreman in the Foundry, stopping pickpockets in the Airport, impressing other skaters on the Cruise Ship and more.
For many fans, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 featured some of the best and most iconic stages in the entire franchise, including Canada, Airport and Cruise Ship. Given that it was probably my most played PlayStation 2 games, or at least one of them, I spent a lot of time combo-ing my way through them and could not wait to revisit them and their peers.
Iron Galaxy, who worked on the PC port of the last release, helmed these remakes and did an absolutely wonderful job of bringing these iconic environments to modern consoles. Not only are they all much more vibrant and detailed, but they look like they did in our minds back then. I wish I could go back in time and show my high school aged self these remade versions, since they look so good.
Of course, some things have been changed. This usually comes in the form of new details and effects, but a number of people have pointed out things like the urinating person having been removed from Canada. It’d been a lot of years since I’d last played this game, so I didn’t notice that personally. The stages all seem to be pretty much the same to me, and I’m grateful for that. They just happen to look and play better.
As you may have heard, that isn’t exactly the case when it comes to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4.
Unlike its predecessors, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 featured a more open and less structured design, eschewing the series’ well known 2 minute timer for the ability to explore and find missions to tackle. As such, it felt different, changed things up and earned a lot of fans despite some of its goals and dialogue being kind of dumb. I played it a ton, myself, and really enjoyed it, but I’ve never thought it was better than the first three. It was, however, one of the first games I was able to play online, with my dial-up internet and my expensive PS2 network adapter, and I fondly remember spending hours playing the fun competitive modes. There was one specific spot that I’d rush to and constantly combo, if that map came up.
For this remade package, the developers made the questionable and controversial decision to change the fourth game. In the process, they made it more like those which came before it, meaning it now has levels with two minute time limits, traditional goals and even some competition stages. As such, existing levels (like Alcatraz, Shipyard, Zoo and College) have been reworked to fit this design change. Thankfully, they are mostly the same — at least the majority of them are — in terms of layout.
At least two stages (Carnival and Chicago) were removed from this remake, for whatever reason, and they’ve been replaced by three new ones. The first of these is a Movie Studio, which exists as a competition level complete with those invisible judges. The next one is a Waterpark, and it’s arguably the best stage in the entire game, meaning that the changes definitely aren’t all bad. Then, there’s a secret final level that is basically a Cel-shaded and zombie themed pinball machine, complete with skaters’ tombstones that you must knock over.
Although I adored the fourth game decades ago, and don’t entirely understand or agree with the developers’ decision to alter it, I’m not as angry as some others. I’m just glad to be able to revisit these games, even if one has been altered. It helps that the changes make THPS4 work with a two minute limit, and that the new levels are pretty great.
I do honestly wish that the game hadn’t been changed, and that its original career mode hadn’t been removed or streamlined, if you will, but it is what it is.
The nice thing is that you can unlock some pro goals that pay homage to some of the game’s classic ones.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 features by far the biggest roster of professional skaters the series has ever seen, and that’s basically an understatement. There are tons to choose from, including returnees like Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen, as well as newcomers like Jamie Foy, Yuto Horigame, Riley Hawk, Nora Vasconcellos, Zion Wright, Chloe Covell and Rayssa Leal. There are also secret skaters, whom can be purchased with in-game currency found throughout each map. These include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Michaelangelo, Bam Margera and more. Those who purchase the Deluxe Edition also receive the Doomslayer and a Revenant demon from the Doom games, along with themed boards and tricks, and songs from Mick Gordon’s soundtracks.
I went with a created skater, and used the merely decent character creator to make him. I expected there to be more options, with the same being true of clothing, but I’ve never been one to care all that much or spend too much time customizing things. I’m not creative, am not that bothered and see it as a waste of time after the first five or ten minutes.
There are a decent amount of clothing items to use and unlock, but a lot of them require being purchased, but not with real money. The same is true of the wide selection of pretty great boards. You can also buy different screen filters and trail effects, like an 80s filter and cube trail effect, as well as metallic and ice filters for the skaters.
The Tony Hawk games have always been well known for their iconic soundtracks, but Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 has a somewhat disappointing one. Some songs were carried forward from yesteryear, but a lot of new songs were also added, creating a kind of forgettable mixed bag. There are some standouts, like Them Bones by Alice in Chains, but it’s probably the weakest soundtrack I can remember, at least when it comes to the first four games. I remember only liking one or two songs in THUG and listening to them on repeat.
Things would’ve been drastically better had Goldfinger’s Spokesman been brought back, but it wasn’t.
I’ve honestly just played while listening to my metal playlist on Spotify. Thankfully, that’s an option. I listened to the soundtrack for a bit, though.
This package also gives you other accessibility options, like the ability to change the timer to 5 or even 60 minutes. Using that can make the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 stages feel a bit more like they used to, but it’s still not the same.
Of course, free skate mode also returns. This allows you to just have fun without any stress. It’s joined by a speed run mode, which will appeal to those who would like to see how fast they can complete each stage’s goals.
Online play also returns, and it’s still a lot of fun. Thanks to crossplay, it’s possible to play with folks on other platforms too. You can even create and share parks across platforms, and I’ve enjoyed playing others’ creations. Maybe I like Waterpark so much because it reminds me of a great player created level from the last game.
Like before, the competitive online modes include favourites like score/combo/trick attack and graffiti, but there’s also a mode wherein you hide letters for another player to find.
Things aren’t perfect, but my time with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 has been pretty great. There were a couple instances where my skater clipped something that was out of the camera’s sight line, or a transfer didn’t work, but that happens. I bet those issues will be fixed through patches. It just so happened, though, that the transfer that failed was the same one that was broken in the demo. It worked the first number of times, though.
As mentioned above, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 features much more visually impressive versions of classic stages, which was to be expected. Developer Iron Galaxy has added a lot of colour, flair, effects and details to fan favourite maps, but they’ve done so tastefully and very effectively. Nothing feels cluttered or problematic. Meanwhile, the new levels give us a glimpse at what a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 6 could be like. That’s something I want to see more of.
It goes without saying, but I’m extremely happy that Activision has remade Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4, even if the latter features some odd design changes. As a whole, it’s a wonderful, incredibly fun and nostalgic experience, which I love. While I wish the second game in this package was more faithful to its roots, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing through this new version of it and am not too bothered. Even with those changes and a largely different (and mediocre) soundtrack, these games remain two of the best ever made, and they generally look and play better than ever.
I look forward to starting it anew on Xbox Game Pass.
This review is based on the PlayStation 5 Pro version of the game, which we were provided with.