He is 52 years old, introduced us in 1999 as the world’s most famous ‘vertical’ skater with the famous ‘900’ and probably broke more bones than I know. I’m talking about Tony Hawk, of course, who – for the younger readers among us – isn’t just any dude who got his name from a skateboard game, but actually played all those antics once.
1999 and 2000 were the peak years for The Birdman and for us as virtual skateboarders, as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 were like a ‘vertical ramp’: start at the peak and rap down, which is called the low point Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 qualified as the ‘sloppiest landing’ ever. However, the franchise turns out to be a half pipe, because with the remaster of the first two parts, our Tony whizzes all the way to the heights where he once started.
The legend is back (and so is the liar)
He is 37 years old, introduced the Gamersnet supporters with slack bullshit and since 1999 has mostly broken his mother’s trust. I am talking about myself – Patrick Meurs – also referred to by his parents as Mister ‘I thought you said two minutes’. While Tony Hawk lived up to his nickname Birdman through his airtime, I did so by lying almost pathologically about the duration of my remaining time before I could turn off the PlayStation.
Anyone who came into contact with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in 1999 knows what I’m talking about. THPS technically lasted only two minutes per run, but turning off your console after those two minutes had passed was impossible. The game was outright hard drug that relied on your sense of victory and the urge to collect everything there was to collect. And now – just over two decades later – Activision is once again dealing with Vicarious Visions’ impeccable overhaul.
The fine line
Vicarious Visions knows how to walk the fine line that has stumbled many other developers. The line between ‘changed too little’ and ‘changing so much that it is unrecognizable mess’. This all sounds very simple, because you just throw the old game into a new engine and you’re done, but nothing could be further from the truth. There is nothing more difficult than changing nostalgia. A feeling of yesteryear cannot be rendered in a game engine.
With Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, Vicarious Visions has managed to manage to successfully drag that feeling of the first two games from 1999 and 2000 to the current generation, where they may have gone overboard with the implementation of current events. Even the sometimes frustrating controls have been successfully transferred, but that should not spoil the fun in general. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is rightfully the THPS game that old-school fans could only dream of in recent years.
Tony How Pro Wadding?
Of course, you may not be familiar with the franchise. Perhaps you did not have a game console at the time or you were even in the making. These paragraphs are especially for you. Are you paying attention? At the time, in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2, the goal was to achieve the highest score possible in two minutes by doing breakneck tricks on a skateboard, while also having to collect all kinds of things and complete challenges. The most famous tasks on the list were collecting the letters SKATE and finding the secret videotape (you know, one of the things you rented from the video store … what you watched for the DVD … Bluray … the Netflix of back in the days, good gracious!).
The thing was the two minutes the game gave you never was never enough to get it all unless you had a lot of practice. So that two minutes was the biggest lie ever and before you knew it, your food was stone cold. But it was worthy of your mother’s “I don’t cook for John with the short dick!” Searching for hidden items and mastering every conceivable combo took you a lot of time and eventually your thumbs up, but gosh, it was such a cool game. The fact that the games also had a great soundtrack was only tasty greasy gravy on the succulent meatball, which is still just as juicy today.
Hello muscle memory!
Anyway, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater caused the necessary cramped thumbs around the turn of the millennium, but you can benefit from that in 2020. Anyone who had mastered the proverbial combos at the time will not take long to find their way in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2. Before you know it ‘360 double kickflip + nose manual’ you again with two fingers in the nose through iconic locations such as Venice Beach, The Hangar and the famous schoolyards (which have been completely abandoned by COVID-19).
In that respect, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 will get you back into your rhythm in no time, and I think that’s what makes the game a very successful remaster. Vicarious Visions knows what has had to change and what not. The biggest changes are of course the graphics update – which one is real fingerlicking is -, the online components and the addition of some features and moves that technically only appeared in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, but otherwise Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is mainly Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2, and that’s something other remasters sometimes go wrong.
TL:DL
What I’m trying to tell with this long story is that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is one must play is for everyone who cares about the original games. I know, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is the umpteenth remaster to be thrown onto the shelves in 2020, but this one is just a must. The vibe that THPS managed to evoke twenty years ago and that the franchise just couldn’t seem to touch anymore, you will find it in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, all for a respectable price.
It must be said that microtransactions are completely absent. All items in the game (and there are tons of them!) Can only be unlocked with XP and in-game dollars that you earn simply by completing challenges. The fact that Activision has also managed to curb its cravings for piles of money is sometimes a relief. Goodness… a game without microtransactions… it looks like 1999 again.
Conclusion
It may be a bold statement, but Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 may well be the remaster of the remasters. Vicarious Visions has managed to strike the perfect balance between changing too little and too much, resulting in an absolute homage to the two games that have given Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise its cult status. That they have gone so far with modernization that COVID-19 has been given a place in the game (including an optional face mask in character creation) shouldn’t have been necessary, but I can’t do much with it.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 gives me, as a 37-year-old bran, the feeling that I am 16 again, including the cramped thumbs that belonged to that time period for me. The vibe, the soundtrack, the cold evening meal because I ‘really only need two more minutes’, it all comes back. Only this time it’s not my mother who gives me the full blame for this blatant lie, but my lovely girlfriend.
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