BIRDMAN FLYING

Just like eventually landing that famous 900, TONY HAWK’S PRO SKATER 1 + 2 shines after so many failures.

Justin Towell

NEED TO KNOW

WHAT IS IT? Remade, modern versions of the first two Tony Hawk games from 1999 and 2000

EXPECT TO PAY $50

DEVELOPER Vicarious Visions

PUBLISHER Activision

REVIEWED ON Windows 10 64-bit Home, Intel Core i7 10th Gen, 16GB RAM, NVidia GeForce RTX 2070

MULTIPLAYER Yes

LINK tonyhawkthegame.com/uk/en

After the disastrous Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, trepidation is understandable. But this starts so teasingly, with the right font, the right music, and the right menu style. And then the final barrier between hoping and believing is literally smashed down as you careen through that first wall and into the iconic warehouse level. It looks great—and damn, it plays so well.

Crucially, the game feels like the series did in its heyday, though not exactly like the two games in question. THPS1 has been improved so much here in terms of fluidity, visuals and its trick system, it’s more like an expansion pack for THPS3. Best of all, actual modernity is shunned entirely as you snap onto grind rails regardless of your approach angle and perform tricks with digital button combos instead of analog stick waggling. The movement is rudimentary, but it still provides some of the finest risk versus reward gameplay ever seen as you chain trick combos and grapple with balance meters at risk of losing everything with one mistake.