Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD
Producer: Activision
Release Date: July 18, 2012
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, Windows
Rating: Teen
Genre: Extreme Sports
Skate or Die!
Written by Jesse Seilhan
Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD is a remake in a series that has nearly two dozen releases but without a true sequel in years. If you grew up in the 90’s and played sports games, chances are that the Tony Hawk franchise holds a special place in your heart. Coming home from school was a thing of joy when pro skaters from around the world were pulling off sick maneuvers and complicated grinds with a simple press of the finger and flick of the wrist. For nearly a decade, nobody could dethrone the king of extreme sports videogames, until EA released Skate and showed what innovative controls and a new camera angle could do. Flash-forward to 2012 and now we have really zero skateboarding franchises, barely any extreme sports games, and little hope for the future. This title brings back the old memories, but seems to tamper with them just enough to still yearn for the good old days.
Two things make a skateboarding game great: controls and level design. While it is not the job of Robomodo to redo the locales of past games, it is their job to pick quality levels. With Warehouse, School 2, and Mall, they nailed it. With some of the others, however, the frustration of completing difficult tasks rises after years of dormancy. But with only seven levels to choose from, replayability is not extremely high. As for the controls, they, at least, feel nearly spot-on. Anyone without a proper d-pad on their controller may disagree, but pulling off 1080s and Darkslides was as easy (or difficult) as it was ten years ago. Some of the timing-sensitive moments can be a bit frustrating, but that’s the whole point of a sports game: risk versus reward. The graphics were given a slight upgrade, but not quite on the level of some other HD remakes. The meat of the game is the same as it always is, so enjoy collecting the letters in SKATE, hidden DVDs, and jumping over magic homeless folk.
Music and community are as fundamental to the skateboarding culture as wheels and wood. The Tony Hawk series featured one of most robust and renowned soundtracks of all-time, including the very best of punk, metal, and hip-hop from years gone by. Due to licensing issues, not all of the original soundtracks could be restored, but with only a dozen tracks to listen to, it feels like a sliver of the potential output. The lack of original music isn’t as much of a bummer as the just lack of overall music. When you dive deep and give this game a spin for two hours or more, you’re bound to hear the entire soundtrack three or four times. As for community, the time-honored split-screen gameplay has vanished and four-player online multiplayer has filled the gap. Online modes gives players a run at graffiti and trick attack, staples of the series, but without a buddy sitting next to you that you’re able to punch right before they pull off a special move, the charm is a bit lost. With paid DLC on the horizon, maybe the added levels and revert move will give this game more life, but until then, I’d suggest dusting off a copy of the originals and giving those a spin.