What Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was able to do for both video games and skateboarding is incredible. Even though the fad had died down, the sport continued to grow while the game found more than a cult following along with it. It eventually ran its course, but make no mistake about it—the majority of the series was superb, and that includes the remake of the first two games that came out during the pandemic.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is right off the heels of the fantastic Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2. It was a remake that worked its magic to become appreciated by both its series OGs and new fans. 3 + 4 follows that same formula while also bringing in new material, and the result is another winner, though it will have its share of caveats from hardcore fans of the original releases.
If you haven’t played a Tony Hawk game, THPS3+4 is a fine place to start. Everybody has their favorites, but both these games were well regarded during their initial releases. As far as gameplay goes, the games are more or less what they were without many changes to speak of, even dating back to both the original THPS and 1+2 remake. Both Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4 feature the same roster that you can use for either game consisting of pro skaters of yesteryear and now. Maybe you aren’t much of a vert person and don’t want to use the bird man himself. No worries! The likes of Rodney Mullen and Bob Burnquist are there for you to rough up the streets. Don’t wanna use these old guys? Today’s greats like Jamie Foy and Yuto Horigome are also there for your grinding pleasure. I’ve personally been rolling with Margielyn Didal because I just feel the need to represent my Filipino roots. Don’t care for the pros? Doom guy is in here too. It’s all for fun.
Margielyn Didal was the first Filipino to join the X-Games in 2018, winning a gold medal in the Asian Games that year and two more in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games (per the official THPS website).
Once you’ve selected a skater, it’s time to go on a run. For better or for worse, both 3 and 4 leave you with the first levels to go on runs at. Each level has a checklist of tasks to complete and earn points to open up the next level. Some are pretty straightforward, like scoring tens of thousands of points or finding the S-K-A-T-E letters laid out in each level. Some get a little more out there, like knocking the Foreman into the water at The Foundry. To newcomers, some of these tasks can be a little archaic. The tasks are fairly simple, but what makes them a little difficult is the fact that each run lasts two minutes. On top of that, it’s really easy to get discouraged when you bail a lot, and that’s bound to happen early on. Like skating itself, THPS is all about repetition and figuring things out. The act of learning how to do flips, grabs, and grinds both on the street and on the halfpipes takes a lot of getting used to, and if you’ve already immersed yourself in a Tony Hawk game, it probably won’t be long before it comes back to you again.
Probably the most unappreciated part of unlocking everything is that the more money you make, the more you can progress your skater by upgrading his or her stats. Before long, pulling off 900s and Kickflip McTwists will be second nature with whichever skater you use.
I personally think the level demands haven’t particularly aged well, and it would do the games some good to have a free skate mode that would allow you to perform these tasks without a time limit. While Free Skate is a thing, it’s typically just meant to practice signature tricks for different skaters, or to get the feel of a level. Not having the ability to pursue the checklist objectives just seems like a missed opportunity. Since not every level and/or skatepark is available from the get-go, I can envision newcomers giving up on the games having not even ridden in every map in the game, and that’s unfortunate because the levels in both games are a lot of fun and offer a lot of personality both creative and hilarious. Burying the bully in a mini avalanche in THPS3‘s Canada level, for example, was definitely memorable.
While I consider myself a fan of the series, I’ve never played either of the original releases of 3 or 4, so while my nostalgia is definitely there from 1+2, this new package still felt new enough for me to have fun with it. As far as triggering my muscle memory, that part was a little hard for me. Obviously, I didn’t have much money in middle school. I had to pick and choose the games I could play based on how much I had or what my parents could get me, so that said, the THPS game I had the fondest memories with was Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2… for the Game Boy Advance. I know I’m aging myself here, but for those of you that actually spent time with that one, the GBA version of THPS2 was tight. That said, I was used to flipping with L and grabbing with R. Changing that up to square and circle (on the PS5) is like wiping yourself with your non-dominant hand—it’s something you can do, but it’s more difficult than you’d both think and hope. I eventually got it, but I do wish the game had customizable controls so I could get back to what my fingers and thumbs were really used to.
Part of the allure of 1+2 was because I played both those games to death, and it really gave me a stronger sense of appreciation for how they feel in the modern day vs. how they felt back then, but since I’ve never played 3 or 4, I didn’t have that this time. Is that to say it’s worse? Of course not.
A lot of others will say it’s undoubtedly worse because of one key reason: the soundtrack. Not every song came back, and that definitely robs people of the nostalgia they could be expecting when picking this game up. I totally get that licensing is extremely difficult business, but they pulled it off with 1+2 and after bringing back Bam Margera despite all the controversy—I would think a company the size of Activision (with Microsoft money, no less) would be able to figure this out. Again, I don’t have a horse in this race, but if I played 1+2 and it didn’t have Goldfinger’s “Superman,” I know I’d be pissed too.
Nothing like grinding on tentacles. Ugh, maybe that caption wasn’t the best for SEO.
It’s tough to say whether this alleviates the shortcomings, but the package comes with brand new levels that are also a joy to skate at. Pinball is all kinds of creative, while the the Movie Studio level sets up a fun place to skate at–I mean, check out the tentacles above. Waterpark is pretty much what you’d expect, but I would’ve liked it to see it open for vs. abandoned, as that could really lead to zany moments.
And that’s really what the series has always been about. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater has always been fun, and these remakes are the perfect example of “if it’s not broke, why fix it?” Of course, it’s 2025 now and preferences have changed especially when it comes to both quality of life and accessibility, so it definitely would’ve been nice for those to be more of a focus. Either way, Iron Galaxy did an amazing job taking over for Vicarious Visions and Neversoft, and if they decide to take it back to the wastelands or even decide to try to “improve” Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, hopefully they consider a lot of the pain points that these remakes now have and iterate on them.
What Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was able to do for both video games and skateboarding is incredible. Even though the fad had died down, the sport continued to grow while the game found more than a cult following along with…
What Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was able to do for both video games and skateboarding is incredible. Even though the fad had died down, the sport continued to grow while the game found more than a cult following along with it. It eventually ran its course, but make no mistake about it—the majority of the series was superb, and that includes the remake of the first two games that came out during the pandemic.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is right off the heels of the fantastic Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2. It was a remake that worked its magic to become appreciated by both its series OGs and new fans. 3 + 4 follows that same formula while also bringing in new material, and the result is another winner, though it will have its share of caveats from hardcore fans of the original releases.
If you haven’t played a Tony Hawk game, THPS3+4 is a fine place to start. Everybody has their favorites, but both these games were well regarded during their initial releases. As far as gameplay goes, the games are more or less what they were without many changes to speak of, even dating back to both the original THPS and 1+2 remake. Both Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4 feature the same roster that you can use for either game consisting of pro skaters of yesteryear and now. Maybe you aren’t much of a vert person and don’t want to use the bird man himself. No worries! The likes of Rodney Mullen and Bob Burnquist are there for you to rough up the streets. Don’t wanna use these old guys? Today’s greats like Jamie Foy and Yuto Horigome are also there for your grinding pleasure. I’ve personally been rolling with Margielyn Didal because I just feel the need to represent my Filipino roots. Don’t care for the pros? Doom guy is in here too. It’s all for fun.
Margielyn Didal was the first Filipino to join the X-Games in 2018, winning a gold medal in the Asian Games that year and two more in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games (per the official THPS website).
Once you’ve selected a skater, it’s time to go on a run. For better or for worse, both 3 and 4 leave you with the first levels to go on runs at. Each level has a checklist of tasks to complete and earn points to open up the next level. Some are pretty straightforward, like scoring tens of thousands of points or finding the S-K-A-T-E letters laid out in each level. Some get a little more out there, like knocking the Foreman into the water at The Foundry. To newcomers, some of these tasks can be a little archaic. The tasks are fairly simple, but what makes them a little difficult is the fact that each run lasts two minutes. On top of that, it’s really easy to get discouraged when you bail a lot, and that’s bound to happen early on. Like skating itself, THPS is all about repetition and figuring things out. The act of learning how to do flips, grabs, and grinds both on the street and on the halfpipes takes a lot of getting used to, and if you’ve already immersed yourself in a Tony Hawk game, it probably won’t be long before it comes back to you again.
Probably the most unappreciated part of unlocking everything is that the more money you make, the more you can progress your skater by upgrading his or her stats. Before long, pulling off 900s and Kickflip McTwists will be second nature with whichever skater you use.
I personally think the level demands haven’t particularly aged well, and it would do the games some good to have a free skate mode that would allow you to perform these tasks without a time limit. While Free Skate is a thing, it’s typically just meant to practice signature tricks for different skaters, or to get the feel of a level. Not having the ability to pursue the checklist objectives just seems like a missed opportunity. Since not every level and/or skatepark is available from the get-go, I can envision newcomers giving up on the games having not even ridden in every map in the game, and that’s unfortunate because the levels in both games are a lot of fun and offer a lot of personality both creative and hilarious. Burying the bully in a mini avalanche in THPS3‘s Canada level, for example, was definitely memorable.
While I consider myself a fan of the series, I’ve never played either of the original releases of 3 or 4, so while my nostalgia is definitely there from 1+2, this new package still felt new enough for me to have fun with it. As far as triggering my muscle memory, that part was a little hard for me. Obviously, I didn’t have much money in middle school. I had to pick and choose the games I could play based on how much I had or what my parents could get me, so that said, the THPS game I had the fondest memories with was Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2… for the Game Boy Advance. I know I’m aging myself here, but for those of you that actually spent time with that one, the GBA version of THPS2 was tight. That said, I was used to flipping with L and grabbing with R. Changing that up to square and circle (on the PS5) is like wiping yourself with your non-dominant hand—it’s something you can do, but it’s more difficult than you’d both think and hope. I eventually got it, but I do wish the game had customizable controls so I could get back to what my fingers and thumbs were really used to.
Part of the allure of 1+2 was because I played both those games to death, and it really gave me a stronger sense of appreciation for how they feel in the modern day vs. how they felt back then, but since I’ve never played 3 or 4, I didn’t have that this time. Is that to say it’s worse? Of course not.
A lot of others will say it’s undoubtedly worse because of one key reason: the soundtrack. Not every song came back, and that definitely robs people of the nostalgia they could be expecting when picking this game up. I totally get that licensing is extremely difficult business, but they pulled it off with 1+2 and after bringing back Bam Margera despite all the controversy—I would think a company the size of Activision (with Microsoft money, no less) would be able to figure this out. Again, I don’t have a horse in this race, but if I played 1+2 and it didn’t have Goldfinger’s “Superman,” I know I’d be pissed too.
Nothing like grinding on tentacles. Ugh, maybe that caption wasn’t the best for SEO.
It’s tough to say whether this alleviates the shortcomings, but the package comes with brand new levels that are also a joy to skate at. Pinball is all kinds of creative, while the the Movie Studio level sets up a fun place to skate at–I mean, check out the tentacles above. Waterpark is pretty much what you’d expect, but I would’ve liked it to see it open for vs. abandoned, as that could really lead to zany moments.
And that’s really what the series has always been about. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater has always been fun, and these remakes are the perfect example of “if it’s not broke, why fix it?” Of course, it’s 2025 now and preferences have changed especially when it comes to both quality of life and accessibility, so it definitely would’ve been nice for those to be more of a focus. Either way, Iron Galaxy did an amazing job taking over for Vicarious Visions and Neversoft, and if they decide to take it back to the wastelands or even decide to try to “improve” Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, hopefully they consider a lot of the pain points that these remakes now have and iterate on them.
by Danreb Victorio
