Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 (Series X): It Looks Just Like Tony Hawk

The Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series is nothing short of a sensation. Not only were these four original games critically acclaimed at their time, and hugely popular, they were deeply impactful on wider culture. The soundtracks shaped the musical taste of so many (myself included) and skateboarding itself was, to a large extent, revitalised. That time came and went, though; admittedly, the Underground series that directly followed remains popular, but the golden age of the series was Pro Skater – 1 through 4 specifically (you could even argue 1 through 3). After two limp attempts to resurrect the franchise (following a slew of disappointing sequels) – 2012's underwhelming THPS HD and 2015's utterly derided THPS 5 – the 2020 remake of the first two games (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2) was not only a return to form, if was one of the year's best game.

The core of those original titles was always timeless, putting them together (faithfully) in a new package with up to date visuals and some cool tweaks (including adding in the core gameplay iterations from 3 and 4) reminded you that, genuinely, no other games may be quite as good as Tony Hawk in their prime. Truly, the stage was set for another nostalgic return: a template created and a developer (Vicarious Visions) who had done what the HD and 5 team could not. Bring on 3 + 4! But then, the developer's parent company (Activision Blizzard) announced, only a few months later, that the studio would be folded into Blizzard and "fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives" (as reported by GamesIndustry.biz). The dream was dead. Now, a little under five years later, we finally have the remake of 3 and 4. This time, of course, from a new developer (Iron Galaxy – who worked on the Windows port of 1+2).

Certainly, this game would have felt stronger without such a wait. The 1 + 2 package was a really smart construction and this 3 + 4 remake doesn't stray away from its successes. This creates a somewhat unique situation where this new game feels like not only a remake of THPSs 3 and 4 but of the previous remake itself. It follows the exact template, continues the visual treatment, etc.. Obviously, 1 + 2 was built upon the aesthetic foundation of the original games but still made its own choices. Broadly, these choices are emulated in the new package. This may be the right decision but it's a touch stranger five years later rather than the repetition being more motivated by a more timely release. Though the package is great, there are presentational issues. When you're in the levels playing Tony Hawk, it feels exactly like you'd want it to and looks really damn good. It's mostly smooth as anything and the few times the frame rate takes a hit it's because you're pulling off some ridiculous trick and there's actually a kind of joy in that experience lining up with the game stuttering a bit (you feel like you're so good, you're breaking the game – and it never actually gets in the way). Around this, though, menus can be cumbersome and presentation isn't always logical. There's a lot of quitting out of things into new menus and, with five years to play with, there was certainly room to rethink the wrapper around the experience. To be blunt: what the previous game nailed was the playing of Tony Hawk levels, everything around that could have been spruced up. This plays it safe.

In a way, this game is more of a level pack for the previous remake. To get into the weeds a bit, Tony Hawk 3 and 4 added aspects to the central trick system that really completed it – 3 especially. These are skateboarding games where a key part is always tyring to get the highest score, and high scores are really to be found in big combos. Doing a kickflip is one thing, what you really want to do is a massive combo of several tricks. This was achieved through the manual, pressing up-down (or down-up) to do a wheelie on the skateboard that, if you can stay balanced, allows you to combine one trick to the next. You can of course do a spin trick and land on a rail to grind it – that's a combo – but the manual allows you to travel across a level while still maintaining a combo, meaning good players can start to create amazing opportunities taking in all the level has to offer. Combine this with the 'gap' system – how doing a trick in certain places will give you bonus points– and you can really rack up the points. Pro Skater 3 added to this with a move called the revert; previously, a trick on a vert ramp ended your combo. Tony Hawk has never been a skating sim but even it drew the line at landing on a half pipe into a manual. Therefore, chains of tricks had a definitive end and if you wanted to do big air tricks, that was ending your combo. The revert is s stance switch on landing that counts as a trick and can be transitioned into a manual, and also provides you a small grace period even without manualling so a tight half pipe can let you tie trick after trick together just by reverting on each landing. Pro Skater 4 adds the spine transfer, meaning you can control yourself more in the air and transfer to another vert ramp behind it. These additions mean not only the possibility of infinite combos with the revert, but really expansive and far reaching combos that give you such control over the space with the spine transfer. These additions don't just change how many points you can get, they literally alter how you read the level.

Applying these updates to the levels of 1 and 2 was fascinating. It took some incredible stages and breathed new, competitive life into them. The same can't be done for the stages from 3 and 4 – though, arguably adding the transfer into 3 does shake that up. An interesting point is that 3 + 4 is inarguably more challenging than 1 + 2. The approach of these remakes is to give you the levels and the goals you previously had and adding the updated combo system to the goals of levels that never had them means you can really break the game open. It also shifts the style of play, these combo connecters truly do complete the trick system but they also make the game about this completed trick system. Pro Skater 1 and 2 could be more about finding different set pieces to perfect and execute your skills in, prioritising singular tricks more. In 1 and 2, pulling a specific trick could really matter, and the vert tricks (as they were combo enders) felt designed with this in mind. Getting up enough speed to get enough rotation on a big air move was a huge deal. Now, that just isn't the same. This can still be done but, as long as you can keep connecting moves, it matters less what moves you are doing (especially as the way the multiplier works means that doing a greater number of tricks will always net you more points than doing a specific trick). With reverts and spine transfers, what you can do is awesome but there is a distinct, right way to play – even if there are a lot of possibilities within that. Where the last remake did give the new experience of playing 1 and 2 like they are 3 and 4, this game doesn't have that kind of uplift. You are playing 3 and 4 – with one major caveat – on their own terms. Taking advantage of the systems no longer breaks the game as the levels are built with the possibilities in mind. A more cohesive package but you certainly can make the point that it doesn't feel revitalised in the same way. This being said, there is still such a high baseline of quality. The parks are fantastic, the goals are great and the central feel of the game is nigh-on unmatched. Still, a part of me yearns for the more deliberate approach of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, which was still possible in the last remake even thought you had more tools at your fingertips.

The big change of the 3 +4 remake though is in how Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 has been remade into the template of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 – another way in which this game becomes as much of a remake of the previous game as it does the original games. These multiple game packages give you continuity across the games, treating them as two campaigns but one entity: your skater progression maps across them, for example. The thing is, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 is a different beast, the first game in the franchise to ditch the two minute timer for a run. 4 had larger levels and ad-hoc goals, a really divergent approach. That doesn't fit in the 1 + 2 template, though, so THPS4 is remade as a kind of THPS3+. Not every level from 4 returns and those that do are redesigned as smaller maps, with their previous goals reinterpreted to make the game conform to the 2 minute timer structure. It is the decision you have to make if you are continuing this approach, where you have a combined campaign and the game itself plays a certain way. It does mean, though, that this is definitively not a remaster of the fourth game, it is a re-adaptation of it through the lens of the third game – and through the secondary lens of the previous remake. The THPS3 campaign here just feels excellent (though I'd personally say that the Suburbs map isn't great); the 4 campaign does feel a touch incongruent. The levels make sense as two minute timer levels, smartly adapted, but they also feel like a bit of a step down. They can feel jumbled and just less evidently motivated; it's the one time where the game feels like it has to make a concession as opposed to just performing a kind of victory lap (which was the persistent feeling in the previous remake).

This being said, the 4 campaign does include three brand new levels from Iron Galaxy, and they are superb. The Pinball level is the flashiest (and is unlocked right at the end) but it is the waterpark level that is the best (the third is a competition stage but it's still strong). These levels really show the game at its best, and motivate it as a separate thing in a way the wider package can sometimes fall short of. The design of these maps evidence the understanding that Iron Galaxy have gained from painstakingly recreating the previous games, and this work has culminated in levels that just get why Tony Hawk works and benefit from actual decades of experience with these systems. Really, the path forward now would be for the studio to make their own Pro Skater game – let's just pretend 5 never happened and call it 5. It's not just the level design itself that's great, the goals are really strong and the feel is just of classic Tony Hawk. These aren't some wild sicko stages that demand a mastery that only twenty years of knowing a game can bring, these are just refined and deeply entertaining levels that offer some of the most fun in the package.

Outside of this, there are some other interesting decisions. One fun way in which this package diverges is that completing the conventional campaign now unlocks pro-goals. If you thought the game was already taking advantage of the possibilities of the trick system, these new goals show you that was nothing. Iron Galaxy are allowed to treat the original stages as their own playground, giving you new ways to interact with them in delightfully challenging ways. It's just awesome. Though, the progression system isn't always very logical. I personally like that in the campaign you have shared progression over multiple skaters now, you aren't just tied to playing as one character. Doing your own dedicated pro skater career made sense but nothing else in the game reinforced this – the Underground games motivated this better with their narrative focus. Being able to swap out other skaters, some of which are just silly skins, but keep stat point progression is worthwhile. It makes unlocking new skaters meaningful and it makes the sillier characters more fun. The solo tour option is still there, though, but it's locked behind completing the pro-goals. This is such a high barrier to entry for what is the original way of playing and does seem like padding. A better option would be to have the two approaches as choices from the start. In general, the amount of unlocks and extra challenges the game offers is awesome. There's so much to do beyond just the goals, but the critique of padding does somewhat re-occur.

In general, though, it's hard to be at all down on this package. It would have meant more a few years ago but that doesn't mean it's not still a winning formula. Changing up the presentation would have certainly helped; adding more to do is welcome but does add to the feeling that this is an expansion pack rather than a unique entry. Even as an expansion pack, though, it's utterly excellent. The levels are so damn good, the central systems are so damn good. The soundtrack is contentious, with few returning tracks and a lot of new ones (having a curated soundtrack is still very cool but you will miss the days of custom soundtrack support at a system level). It is a well put together list of songs, though, that understand the assignment and uphold the aesthetic. Simply, 3 + 4 gives you more of a good thing. It is by no means the revelation that 1 + 2 was but it is still just completely awesome. These are some of the best video games out there and, with this new coat of paint, they haven't aged at all.