“So here I am, growing older all the time, Looking older all the time, Feeling younger in my mind”

By Logan Corkins
@LoganCorkins
Reviewed on PlayStation 4

Close your eyes and picture this, you’re a young kid eating a fruit roll-up after a long day in school. You go downstairs and turn on your tv onto channel 2 and push up on the power button on your Nintendo 64 but nothing happens. You take the cartridge out of the system and blow all the “dust” that somehow got there in the 10 hours since you got a quick game in before school. Life is good as you head down the big ramp in the warehouse. For many of us, this was the first memory of Tony Hawk Pro Skater and those memories came flooding back as I headed down to the big ramp and began my journey into the remastered Tony Hawk Pro Skater.

Neversoft’s classic skateboarding game Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 & 2 has been remastered for PlayStation 4, XBOX One, and PC. At first look, the updated graphics and remastered lighting bring the initial nostalgia back but down deep this game is absolutely incredible. As someone who hasn’t played a Tony Hawk game since the early part of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 (Fall of 2015), I found it so easy to pull big tricks with the easy control setup. As I skated around the Warehouse first and then the first school layout I was nailing the long grind rails and then progressing straight into the big jumps. The flow and rhythm of this game is something that has only been enhanced with this remaster.

Of course, Activision did bring back the classic challenges like collecting the letters “S-K-A-T-E”, hitting various tricks over landmarks in the map, and big score challenges pushing even the most veteran of players to pull out their biggest tricks to hit some of the goals. I thought that the unique challenges from the original games held their levels of difficulty and are still awesome challenges. “Secret Tapes” is a challenge I am absolutely awful at but each one is in a very unique position and its the perfect mixture of frustrating and fun to get in each level.

I can’t go much further without mentioning the music of Tony Hawk and the memories it brings back. Lagwagon, Papa Roach, and Rage Against the Machine are just a few of the bands brought back from the classics. One thing that really stands out though is the new additions to the soundtrack from artists like A Tribe Called Quest and Machine Gun Kelly. The new songs that have been added fit seamlessly into an already stellar lineup.

Multiplayer both online and local is outstanding. Playing with a friend next to you on the couch will feel exactly like it did in your younger days as you get competitive with Horse, and graffiti. I was particularly impressed with the online play. At the time of this article, I have played roughly 3 hours online and have yet to experience any major lag issues. I love the fact that they used playlists for online play so that you can have a fun assortment of mini-games while you compete online.

The Verdict

Overall this game is an absolutely perfect remaster, I have yet to find anything that is a disappointment from how I remember the originals. If I had to give this game a grade I would say its an A+….not many remasters are as spot-on as this one is. Credit to everyone in the development team that made this masterpiece an incredible remaster.

What did you think of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2? Let us know in the comments!