Back in 1999, developer Neversoft and publisher Activision unleashed Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater onto the unsuspecting gaming public. We kickflipped. We unlocked big head mode. We denied our smaller siblings access to the controller in pursuit of the perfect score in Trick Attack mode. We became obsessed with Goldfinger and Papa Roach. Then came Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, which was somehow even better than the first, and had one of the most iconic games soundtracks of all time.
I can’t tell if Gault is ignoring the existence of THPS5 just a few years ago as a bit, since it was so bad, or if he genuinely forgot/didn’t know it existed. Not to mention that HD remaster thing that also sucked.
I’m cautiously optimistic for this since this remaster/remake is being developed by Vicarious Visions, who developed the recent Crash Bandicoot trilogy remaster. They got those games playing impressively close to how the original versions played. They’re also using the original game’s code as the basis for this, so it’s pretty likely that it’ll play pretty similar to how the originals played.
Judging by the trailer on Twitter, it appears as though this is a from-the-ground-up Crash Bandicoot/Spyro-style remasters where they rebuild the whole thing from scratch. So, to Gault’s point: please for the love of God let this not suck thank you.
And they did the amazing ports of the original Tony Hawks. Luke Punkett even put up an article last week on how great their ports were.
wax nostalgic about my teenage years
Ew, no. Don’t even make me think about my teenage years or the Tony Hawks of the time, your Project 8 and Proving Ground gimmicks. I was born the same year as Riley Hawk and this is time to wax about my childhood and the Tony Hawks associated.
We were staying at my grandmother’s house while ours was being refloored. I’d brought my N64 and rented THPS2. It was 9/10/01. The wild turkeys are harbingers of doom.
Okay, so weird millennial flashback aside, I want to be nostalgic about riding down hills on skateboards with my friends because that’s all we could do with them, not when I did muscle damage to my arm after falling on it because I wanted to get back into skateboarding with my surprisingly old, frail, and uncoordinated 16 year old body.
Tony Hawk has influenced my life more than any other game series. My dad listened to 2-Tone ska, but the ska punk from Tony Hawk was eye-opening. Because of it, I eventually started my own ska bands, got into a DIY scene, discovered hardcore and straight edge, and it changed my life forever. I still go to shows, volunteer at the all ages venues, and help out as much as possible. If these games suck I will be heartbroken
Outside of purely on-the-margins issues in the remake process like the weird collision in the Crash games, I have no reason to believe these won’t turn out totally fine.
Activision as a corporate entity hasn’t really changed since THPS5, but they know that good remakes are a hot commodity right now.
I’m sure the track list is out there somewhere, but “Superman” and “Guerrilla Radio” are literally the first two songs the game throws at you, if that’s your question. They got the stuff my brain tells me needed to be there (looking at you, Powerman 5000).
