Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 – PC Review

Twenty and a bit years since Tony Hawk Pro Skater was released,
and the following year Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. I’ll just halt here
and tell you that instead of writing Tony Hawk Pro Skater,
all the time, I will refer to the game as THPS from now.

20+ years later on a lot has changed in the gaming world,
we’ve gone from pixels, to polygons and now we’re almost at
photo realistic graphics.. oh yeah, and a ton of Tony Hawk named
games over the years.. If I am not mistaken, we’re up to 19 now.

Here is a little refresher on what THPS looked like originally above.

but one thing that seems unaffected by time is the core game play
of THPS, the grind, the tricks, the challenge.. and hey,
the music is pretty darn dope too and still works!

If you are new to Skate boarding games, don’t be afraid, the
game won’t bite and swallow you as a whole piece.. this was one
of the things I was a little bit skeptical about before starting
the game, was it going to be impossible to learn and master all
the tricks and what not skills you need to be actually able to
play the game and advance?

No worries THPS got you here, there is a great tutorial mode
in the beginning of the game, we’re you’ll go through short bits
of training before you head onto the real game to tackle the
challenges there, the tutorial covers all the basics from
movement, to tricks.. and even has a deeper tutorial with
advanced things if you fancy learning a lot at one go.

So what is included in THPS 1+2 ?

You have the original Tony Hawk Pro Skater game (Tour)
and the sequel THPS2 (Tour), the first game comes with all
the original levels or parks I should say, Warehouse being
most likely the most known one for a lot of people.
And THPS2 also features all the original levels.

On top of this you also have a Free Skate mode, which unlike
the “campaign / park” goals you have to unlock in each title
to advance for the next park, here you can enjoy all the parks
without time constraints, there are though no goals, medals
or collectibles in the free skate mode.. but this way you get
a feel for each and every level if you so wish.

Like I mentioned a bit above, THPS and THPS2 has goals set
for you to unlock the next park, be this by achieving trick
scores, collecting s-k-a-t-e letters or breaking wooden
boxes around the park, they wary so you can focus on the one’s
to your liking, and try a little bit of everything. But remember
these are all timed, and as you go a long, can be quite a
challenge to do. Achieving goals and completing challenges
will earn you XP to level up, and of course Cash to purchase
items in the shop for, there is a ton, and I mean a TON of
items you can purchase with your hard earnt in game currency
.. you name it, socks, shoes, pants, shirts, hats, helmets..
boards, customizing boards.. these all open up as you level up.

You also have Multiplayer matchmaking, with a quick playlist
to get into the game with 7 other players, and this consists
of Jams and Competitive playlists, Jams having 4 winners and
being more relaxed, while competitive only has 1 winner for that
ultimate bragging right, you know how to handle a skateboard.
And before you ask, yes there is also Local Multiplayer
for that split screen action, so you can duke it out with
your gaming buddy next to you.

More on the multiplayer modes featured in the game,
score challenge, combo challenge, trick attack to name a few.
There is definitely a mode that will fit your skill style
in here if you choose to duke it out over the internets.

Now to the ambitious Create-A-Park.. yes, there is an editor
for the game that let’s you create your own park within the game.
This of course requires a bit of patience, but is a fun addition
for sure, and will most likely add longevity to the title too.
You can also publish your own Parks, so other players have
access to them, and basically this way creating infinite numbers
of parks to play for all eternity, if you don’t feel like creating
your own parks, you can always just browse what others have made
and jump into the park instead.

The Game looks fabulous, and runs more than well on a 2060 (6GB)
at 1440p which I have played on, the frame rates depending on the
parks range from 80->144fps on my system (i5-9400 / 16GB).
The loading times for the game, even from a regular HDD are
surprisingly short in my opinion, so it feels overall well
optimized and fine tuned. My only complaint is that when you
are doing some tricks, and your finger slips on the controller
to the right con, this is the camera movement.. and sometimes
it’s a bit wonky.. and surely something that will be addressed
if needed to in the future.

I always say that I am not an audiophile.. and in this game
in particular, I cannot say anything else than the skateboarding
action sounds like it used to sound when I was around friends
who boarded and did tricks, hitting those grinds and everything
just seem like the sounds it should be, so there are absolutely
no complaints on the audio side either of the game.

The Soundtrack, what else can I say? it’s filled with legendary
songs from the beginning of the millennium, and here is the Spotify
playlist, so you can take a listen for yourself.

THPS Soundtrack

Final word

THPS 1+2 comes with a ton of content, modes, parks, and a lot
of grinding to do. It’s not a easy game to master, but it’s made
accessible enough with it’s tutorials that anyone can get into it
easily, the game features some great music and for those who played
the original games almost 20 years ago, this is a must buy. For new
players curious, I say.. grab the board.. hit the park.. you’ll
have a title to play for a long time coming, with everything there
is to do and learn in this game.