A Breath of Arcade Air – Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 review

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 (THPS) continues the ongoing trend of remastering old classics. The legendary skateboarding series goes back to its roots, when games were made to be fun, rather than be realistic, but adds something new to the mix too. All the levels from the first two THPS games are there, but this time there’s more playable characters, customization, online multiplayer, and a soundtrack that features a whopping 37 new songs in addition to the 22 that the original games had.

Player balancing while doing a grind trick.

Balancing on rails can get really tough if you have a big combo going

Gameplay is what you’d expect from a classic THPS game: arcadey and simple, but smoother and with better graphics. Pick a level, try to complete as many objectives, such as high score or collect the S-K-A-T-E -letters, as you can in the 2-minute time limit. Once you complete enough objectives, you unlock a new level. Some levels are competition levels, where you do tricks to get a good score while trying not to bail. Judges score your performance and give you points based on that. There’s also a free skate option, where you can just skate around and have fun in a level of your choosing without a time limit. You have different options that you can change from the menu from cheats like Perfect Rail Balance to changing the moveset to the original THPS1 games’ one, where you can’t manual, which is a huge part of racking up combos.

Player doing an Airwalk trick in the air.

I wish I had three hands when doing a trick and at the same time pressing the Share button on my PS4 controller to take a screenshot.

THPS has always been a game series where you don’t really know what tricks you’re doing; you just mash the buttons and watch the score and multiplier increase. Kind of like playing Street Fighter for the first, or in my case, for the n:th time. Sure, you may remember a few of your favorite special tricks but other than that you just pretty much wing it. That’s what makes it so approachable and fun.

Player in customization menu wearing a face mask.

Gotta be safe while you’re skating

You get money by doing objectives and challenges, which can then be used to buy new clothes, customize your skateboard, or get a tattoo for your character. I love the customization in this game, from creating your character to customizing it. There are a handful of options for your hair and your face, for example, but not too many, so you don’t get stuck trying to decide between two options. Everything looks polished and well done, from the levels to the characters and it’s overall a very enjoyable experience.

Whether you’re new to skateboarding games or a seasoned veteran looking for a dose of nostalgia, THPS1+2 is a great choice. It has a very small learning curve, and it can get you instantly hooked with its fast gameplay and fitting soundtrack.

Photos are screenshots from the game.

Publisher: Activision
Developer: Vicarious Visions
Platforms: Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release date: August 14^th 2020
Genre: Sports
PEGI: 12