Keyed in for the kick flip – Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 review

In a continuing trend of bringing back the classics (TM), Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 joins the other releases of the year. As the name suggests, the first and second games are included in one neat package, rebuilt from the ground up by Vicarious Visions and Activision Blizzard. Play your favourite pro skaters, levels and tricks in this fully remastered title. So, does it have the moves?

BACK TO BASICS

Throw yourself into the tutorial if you’re a newbie, or just want a refresher to the controls. It’s skippable and also readily accessible through the Extras on the main menu, so fret not. As mentioned, it’s basically the levels, moves, pros, songs and so much more of the original game, but updated for the 2020 audience. There are three main modes you can dive into:

• Skate Tours
• Multiplayer
• Create a Park

THE GRAND TOUR

Skate Tours is the meat of the game, the remaster of the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2. Here is also where you can find the Rank and Free Skates. There are nine levels in the former game, and ten in the latter, with a secret, unlockable “Skate Heaven” that requires you to 100% clear all the other levels. A Skate-halla, one could say. Here are the levels you can find in the respective titles:

THPS 1: 

• Warehouse
• School
• Mall
• Chicago
• Downtown
• Downhill Jam
• Burnside
• Streets
• Roswell

THPS2:

• Hangar
• School II
• Marseille
• New York
• Venice
• Skatestreet
• Philadelphia
• Bullring
• Chopper Drop
• Skate Heaven

There will be Goals that you can clear within a given timer in a level, but you do not have to clear all in one go, so you can familiarize yourself with the gameplay first, along with wrangling with the combo system. You’d typically have to at least clear a number of necessary Goals in order to unlock the next map. You’d have to go round the map for the Goals as you would expect, like finding the letters to spell out S-K-A-T-E, and exploring can nab you the secret tapes too. Managing to master the combo system of the game can see you rack up to 100,000 or you could even just non-stop grind on those rails. The game will always save your progress, so you can just restart once you complete a Goal to move on to the next one.

Rank will see you make your highest combo to see where you stand against the other players on the online ladder. Free Skates is, well, free, letting you nyoom around to locations and areas you select. Once you’re done with a map, you’ll gain some XP points and rewards like Money with which you can buy stuff in the shop. There’ll also be every day challenges you can do for even more goodies, shown on the right of the screen.

SKILLS CHEAT SHEET

To get those high scores, you’ll be wanting to use many of these in combination:

DREAM BUILD

One of the touted features for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is the ability to create your own park. You can train on it, then share it online. Start with a blank canvas from the moment you launch the game, then let your creativity fly!

To obtain more elements for the park, you can earn them from completing story maps and challenges, while others will be available from the store. You can also easily browse through the creations of others with a quick download, and try em out. Seek out the maps that help you hone your skills, or barrel into some of the most professionally made, and challenging maps, to test yourself.

CHARACTER CREATION

Create your own skater avatar, with the basic info:

• Name
• Hometown
• Skater Style
  • Street to specialize in ground level stunts
  • Vert for big air
  • Park as a mix between the two
• Stance
  • Goofy
  • Regular
• Push Style
  • Never mongo
  • Always mong
  • Mongo when switch

Play around with the settings, from face to hair, gear and board, with tattoos and makeup options also available.

THE OTHER SKATERS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

Be it local or online, pick and choose who you want to play:

• Local
  • Two player split screen on the couch
• Quick Playlist
  • Curated set of Game Modes and Skate Parks, then matched up with seven other players
    • Jams playlist for casual competition to be in the top 4
    • Competitive playlist for only the top Skater to win

Then, pick a game mode:

• Free Skate: No win condition, just skate freely. If you’re in a lobby, you start here as you wait for people to fill in
• Score Challenge: The first player to reach a predetermined score wins.
• Combo Challenge: The first player to perform a combo that meets or surpasses the predetermined score wins.
• Trick Attack: The player with the highest score at the end of the time limit wins.
• Combo Mambo: The player with the highest combo score at the end of the time limit wins.
• Graffiti: Tag any object in a Park by performing a trick/combo on it, turning the object to a color unique to each player. If another player performs a higher-scoring trick/combo on that object, they steal that object from the original tagger and Tag it with their unique color. The player with the most Tags at the end of the time limit wins.
• Tag: One player is “It” to begin the round. Each player has their own timer, and when they are “It”, the timer counts down. The “It” player must tag any opponent to make them “It” and pause their own timer. If the timer hits zero while you’re “It”, you lose. The “It” player can perform tricks/combos to make their opponent easier to catch. The player who is “It” for the least amount of time wins.
• H-O-R-S-E (Local Multiplayer only): Players challenge each other for the highest combo score. One player performs a combo, and their opponent attempts to exceed that Combo score. Players earn a letter by failing to exceed their opponent’s previous score. The first player to earn the letters H-O-R-S-E loses. (You can customize the word/letters to play. For example, you can change HORSE to SKATE.)

LOOKER OF THE TOWN

Most levels have been given a visual overhaul, with an outstanding improvement in graphics, with an excruciating amount of work put into the details to differentiate the levels between each other. School 1 and 2 now look vastly different, Venice Beach has lots of graffiti, and the like. The world also feels more alive now, like how road vehicles will block your path. Show that your four wheels are superior to theirs!

As advertised, the soundtrack is equally robust, with new additions into the mix. Even things like dropping your combo or falling on mistake makes the record screech and adds to the pain for that extra touch to the whole gameplay experience.

Verdict

The developer handled the remake of this games with the right amount of reverence while still leaving their own signature on the work. THPS 1 + 2 combines awesome gameplay mechanics, impressive graphics, and an outstanding soundtrack in a complete package of skateboarding greatness. 

Revisit your childhood with Tony Hawk, or see the new generation of skaters, including Tony’s son, Riley Hawk, show off their moves.

FINAL SCORE

9/10

Available Now

On Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, PS4 & Steam

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