Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD Review

Much like Bagel Bites, Mountain Dew, beanbag chairs, and the Y2K bug, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is practically synonymous with late-90’s nostalgia.

Funny thing about nostalgia, though: it’s a bittersweet fruit. While it can fill you with a nice little fuzzy feeling, too much can lead to fruitless reminiscing. For that reason, it’s best to approach Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD cautiously. The 2012 remake contains seven levels from Tony Hawk 1 and 2 in something of a best-of compilation, but Tony Hawk 1 came out 13 years ago and the gameplay has been left almost completely untouched.

Gee, Tony Hawk really hit the wall in the last 13 years...(kidding!)

Gameplay mechanics over a decade old often feel, well, old. But our skepticism proved unwarranted – Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater still feels as buttery smooth as it did in 1999.

That’s due in part to the inclusion Pro Skater 2’s manual move to all the Tony Hawk 1 levels, which allows for extremely long combos. As much as we love the later additions (like the revert, which is due in a future DLC pack), we were perfectly content with the usual assortment of flip tricks, grabs, grinds, and manuals.

THPSHD looks great too, but surprisingly, you’ll quickly forget that this isn’t how it always looked. After all, when we jammed this on our PS1’s and N64’s the graphics seemed breathtaking. But its transition to the seventh generation of consoles is a successful one, with small touches like the way drawstrings move on hoodies showing the careful polish and love grafted into this update.

However, Pro Skater HD isn’t a 1:1 remake of its predecessors. Levels feel just a little different (not better or worse, just scaled slightly differently), only about half of the songs from the original two titles return (don’t worry: Goldfinger’s “Superman” is still in the mix), and this time around there’s a map that shows you where every single collectible and objective is. This will help perfectionists reach 100% faster than ever before, but as is always the case with Tony Hawk games, the “end” just unlocks more.

This time around, 100%-ing the campaign unlocks Projectives, a series of ludicrously difficult objectives that will leave you mashing the restart button and pulling out your hair but never putting the controller down. These alone add enough value to the series to warrant the game’s $15 price tag for Birdman fans.

Of course, there’s the $15 price point is bittersweet too. Some pretty big sacrifices have been made. For instance, there are no unlockable levels, and the seven included stages wear thin by a second play-through. Many of your favorite skaters don’t return – Chad Muska and Bucky Lasek are notable absences – and unlike Tony Hawk 2, there’s also no character- or park creator (though you can play as your Xbox 360 Avatar). At times the game can be a bit glitchy too – your character might soar sky-high after a high-speed bail, or wobble back and forth in midair. While none of these are deal-breakers, the omission of split-screen play stings the most.

Multiplayer is online-only, but at least there's a new Big Head Elimination mode.

Yes, all of Pro Skater HD’s multiplayer matches take place online. The lack of couch co-op aside, there are plenty of enjoyable modes to choose from. Graffiti and Trick Attack are back, and there’s a new addition called Big Head Elimination, in which you have to score points to deflate your ever-expanding head. It’s frantic and fast – and seeing realistic skaters with heads 40 times too large is a potent mix of comical and creepy. Bail too much or score too little and your skater’s head explodes and you lose. It literally adds insult to your skater’s injury.

Of course, as soon as “Superman” starts pouring out of the speakers, all of our worries just melt away, and we’re back to the sweet side of nostalgia. Grinding through the warehouse rafters is just as fun 13 years later, and with the updated graphics you’ll constantly stumble upon visual treats and things you never noticed before.

At 44, the real Tony Hawk might not be the ubiquitous whirlwind of culture and athleticism he once was, but Pro Skater HD proves that the Birdman has aged very well indeed.

Source : feeds.ign.com