After 20 years, Activision has announced Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, a new 4k reconstruction of the classic video game franchise progenitors. As if this news wasn’t exciting enough, the man himself recently spilled the beans to actor Jack Black on his Jablinksi Games YouTube channel.
In the video, Black and Hawk showed off gameplay footage of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 before deciding to try out some real tricks with some of the skateboarding legends featured in the original game. The game has been completely rebuilt with all the skaters getting new 3D models along with redone versions of the classic skate levels.
Around three minutes into the video, Black and his two sons sit down to demo the game and see the improvements that Vicarious Visions is bringing to the two classic games. While the titles will largely be the same as they were two decades ago, the studio behind the recent Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy will be including some features from later THPS entries such as reverts, an enhanced create-a-park mode, and finally online multiplayer. The roster for the games remains intact and Black meets up with Chad Muska, Kareem Campbell, Rodney Mullen, and Elissa Steamer among others to get some first-class skating tips. During a discussion about Hawk’s legendary 900, the skating legend even manages to land the trick in game.
Those looking for a return to late 20th century punk music will be excited that the iconic music will also be making a comeback with a few exceptions. While some licensing deals have come and gone, the soundtrack for the two Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games is also close to complete. The guys even manage to spend a bit of time with Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo and perform an excellent rendition of “Freedom of Choice.”
While redesigning games that conjure up a lot of nostalgia for many millennial gamers could lead to disaster, the early skateboard gameplay shown to Jablinski shows that the game is seemingly headed in the right direction and does an excellent job of capturing the original feel of the early games. At the same time, it looks like enough is being adjusted to ensure that the gameplay feels modern so a new generation of would-be X-Game legends can join in on the fun.
While rehashing the past is always nice, there is hope that the success of this Tony Hawk's Pro Skater re-release will lead to new games being designed for the franchise. Seeing a string of remakes for the next ten years doesn’t exactly whet the appetite for innovation. All the same, it’s nice to sit back and remember the good days every now and then.
The Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 remastered collection is set to drop on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on September 4.
