By Sam Coles:
We once again return to the next instalment of returning the
comforting teat known as nostalgia, this time we dust off the old skateboards
with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2. After the disastrous release of the faecal
ridden game known as Pro Skater 5 all hope was lost for the series, that is
until the amazing people at Vicarious Visions who did the excellent N.Sane
Trilogy back in 2017 brings us this fantastic remake and it is a grand return
for the Bird Man in the video game space.
The game opens up with a nostalgic and excellent opening
video introducing each skater, while Rage Against The Machine’s Guerrilla Radio
plays. It got me all warm and fuzzy taking me back to a simple time, and yes I
was head banging as the opening track played it is that good. It is a simple
introduction to the game and gets you pumped and ready for the game, no
gimmicks just showing you that this is indeed a new Pro Skater well a remake of
a couple of classics.
Now let’s get to the gameplay and stop me if you have already
heard this, but this is easily one of if not the best controlling Tony Hawk
game I have played in years. It takes the foundation of the first two games as
well elements from the Underground games, and turns it into this hybrid of what
a modern Pro Skater game should be. It comes together with an engaging and additive
gameplay loop, where racking up ludicrous combos. The first time I pushed off it
immediately felt fantastic, very little to no input lack at all once you get going
it just works and is extremely easy to
pick up and play but hard to master.
The game is split up into three tours, you have Pro Skater 1
maps, Pro Skater 2 maps and a single session tour with the mix of the two to
rack up the best score you can. Like the original titles there are various
challenges and objects scattered across the maps, where you have to keep up
momentum and agility to get to secret areas. Now I know this may come across as
a strange comparison, but think of it as an N64 platformer but you are on a
skateboard. Yes this might sound a bit leftfield but think about it, you are in
an open somewhat hub based map where you have to collect various MacGuffins as
well complete various challenges to progress forward. I know you are probably
thinking I am a madman but the parallels are somewhat there.
You gain money and experience after completing various goals;
you can use money to unlock new clothes, skateboards and other cosmetics for
your custom skater or pre-existing skaters. Not only that you gain stat tokens
which are in hard to reach places, you can use these to upgrade abilities such
balance, ollie height and much more. This incentivises you to replay levels
over and over again, plus it just feels good to try and beat your own score.
Visually the game looks superb they have built everything
from the ground up, while it runs at a buttery smooth 60 frames per second with
no hitches. Each location looks spectacular, with the warm glow of the sun as
it sets in Venice Beach to the darkly lit streets of downtown. It all looks
modern and wonderful, but it is what you thought game looked like as child.
They did an outstanding job with the presentation; there is so much care and
attention with the detail.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 was a blast from the past, it
retains the feel of the older games while sprinkling in some needed modern
elements with graphics and controls. If you are looking for a fun injection of
nostalgia or you are playing it for the first time, then this game is a must
have. This is easily one of my favourite games of 2020!
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