High-Definition Nostalgia and Not Much Else
Over the years since its creation, the Tony Hawk franchise became the epitome of running a good idea into the ground. A series of games that were considered some of the best ever made slowly became more outlandish and less appealing to players throughout its yearly releases. With Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD, Activision and developer Robomodo go back to the late 1990s and remind us of what was so great about the early days of the Tony Hawk games. Do they succeed in their goal? Not quite. In fact, they might have reminded us of some of the problems those first games had.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD isn't a HD remake of the original Tony Hawk Pro Skater. Instead, it's a combination of all of the best characters, levels, and songs from the first two games with some new features thrown in and updated with modern graphics. The main objective in this game is the same as the older games, which is to go through each level and preform the tasks given to you within a two minute run. All of the original goals are left intact, but new ones have also been added.
If you played the first two games as obsessively as I did, how the game plays should feel second nature to you. I was a little surprised at how quick I remembered all of my favorite tricks and gaps and where all of the collectables were. But, if you're new to these games, there is a new map that shows you where every item and gap is. Some purists may prefer being tasked to exploring the levels on their own without a map since that was a main draw to all of the previous games, but the newbies might appreciate being spared the possible frustration.
Since this game only looks at the first two entries in the series, some notable features from later games are left out like the revert and the ability to get off the skateboard. These two features were important for keeping fluidity during lines and adding better control. It's strange to see these moves left out as they only helped each run more enjoyable and less frustrating. Aside from those weird exclusions, the rest of the game still features all of the tricks from the first two and it is still easy to string together huge lines while still keeping the realistic challenge.
Unfortunately, that is where the realism ends. The tricks are less preposterous, but if they are not landed correctly, then the bails can become comically unrealistic. The game chooses ragdoll physics instead of predetermined animations when a skater eats it, but they sometimes are not executed correctly and send the skater flying high in the sky over a minor fall. The skater will also have a tendency to trail off a ramp in mid-air resulting in unavoidable crashes into the pavement. Along with this, there is no natural animation when preforming a grind. When the grind button is pushed the skater will just gravitate to the nearest rail or edge. Although, it is neat to watch your skater celebrate a perfect landing after preforming a huge line.
The multiplayer is enjoyable, even if it's only available online. There are the basic Trick Attack and Graffiti modes, but a new mode is added name Big Head Elimination, which features skaters with ever expanding heads, and they have to keep preforming tricks or else their heads will explode. These modes, along with the new single player modes, add some new life and replay value into the game when things become stale in the Career mode.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD reminds us all of the good and the bad of those early games in the series. Preforming tricks and creating outrageous lines to reach huge high scores is as fun as ever, but the technical problems and dated goals interrupt the enjoyment and sometimes cause frustration. This is a somewhat entertaining and decent looking look back at the Tony Hawk series, but doesn't give a good enough excuse to bring the series back.
Final Verdict: 7.75/10
If you played the first two games as obsessively as I did, how the game plays should feel second nature to you. I was a little surprised at how quick I remembered all of my favorite tricks and gaps and where all of the collectables were. But, if you're new to these games, there is a new map that shows you where every item and gap is. Some purists may prefer being tasked to exploring the levels on their own without a map since that was a main draw to all of the previous games, but the newbies might appreciate being spared the possible frustration.
Since this game only looks at the first two entries in the series, some notable features from later games are left out like the revert and the ability to get off the skateboard. These two features were important for keeping fluidity during lines and adding better control. It's strange to see these moves left out as they only helped each run more enjoyable and less frustrating. Aside from those weird exclusions, the rest of the game still features all of the tricks from the first two and it is still easy to string together huge lines while still keeping the realistic challenge.
Unfortunately, that is where the realism ends. The tricks are less preposterous, but if they are not landed correctly, then the bails can become comically unrealistic. The game chooses ragdoll physics instead of predetermined animations when a skater eats it, but they sometimes are not executed correctly and send the skater flying high in the sky over a minor fall. The skater will also have a tendency to trail off a ramp in mid-air resulting in unavoidable crashes into the pavement. Along with this, there is no natural animation when preforming a grind. When the grind button is pushed the skater will just gravitate to the nearest rail or edge. Although, it is neat to watch your skater celebrate a perfect landing after preforming a huge line.
The multiplayer is enjoyable, even if it's only available online. There are the basic Trick Attack and Graffiti modes, but a new mode is added name Big Head Elimination, which features skaters with ever expanding heads, and they have to keep preforming tricks or else their heads will explode. These modes, along with the new single player modes, add some new life and replay value into the game when things become stale in the Career mode.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD reminds us all of the good and the bad of those early games in the series. Preforming tricks and creating outrageous lines to reach huge high scores is as fun as ever, but the technical problems and dated goals interrupt the enjoyment and sometimes cause frustration. This is a somewhat entertaining and decent looking look back at the Tony Hawk series, but doesn't give a good enough excuse to bring the series back.
Final Verdict: 7.75/10
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