Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4: First Impressions of the Remake

Remakes and remasters are precise overmuch an “in” happening astatine the moment, and portion it's nary astonishment that we would yet spot what are arguably 2 of the champion entries successful the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater bid marque their mode to modern platforms, I decidedly didn't expect this bundle to beryllium arsenic robust of a remake arsenic it's shaping up to be. From the instantly recognizable levels of THPS 3, to the controls that activated a musculus representation I didn't recognize was stored successful my encephalon for implicit 20 years, and the refreshing pick-up-and-play two-minute clip limits, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is decidedly shaping up to not lone beryllium 1 of 2025’s amended remakes, but a crippled that whitethorn support you kicking and pushing for dozens of hours this summer.

As the sanction suggests, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is simply a remake of some games with a modern facelift, caller parks and skaters, and astir importantly, a banger of a soundtrack. It plays precisely similar it did backmost erstwhile it was released connected the PlayStation 2, and it's wide that this is decidedly an “if it ain’t broke, don't hole it” benignant of remake. There's a consciousness of nostalgia I felt erstwhile revisiting classical maps similar THPS 3’s Suburbia and 4’s college, and portion these decidedly look overmuch amended present for evident reasons, it inactive felt similar the aforesaid games my friends and I stayed up mode excessively precocious playing connected Friday nights each those years ago. The wackiness and weirdness of the THPS games is inactive here, and extracurricular of a fewer modern updates to the roster and the committedness of caller tricks and a caller crippled positive mode, this is decidedly the Tony Hawk you retrieve from yesteryear.

That's not to accidental it's each hardflips and creaseless pavement, though. While Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 plays truly smoothly and the inclusion of the accepted two-minute timer works amazingly well, the deficiency of the run mode is simply a spot of a sore spot successful an different promising remake. THPS purists mightiness beryllium fto down from this, but aft playing for astir 2 hours I didn't truly miss it much. There’s thing refreshing astir playing a crippled that respects my clip and limits maine to shorter bursts of gameplay successful an property wherever each crippled wants maine to play it for hundreds of hours connected end. While a vocation mode would person been a chill inclusion, there's inactive a batch present that's worthy sinking your teeth into.

The gameplay feels earthy – nothing’s been messed with, thankfully – and wrong minutes I was pulling disconnected agelong grinds into manuals backmost into grinds and chasing that ever-elusive higher people portion flying astir the representation trying to capable retired SKATE. After a fewer minutes of tripping implicit myself successful a comically implicit the apical way, the controls rapidly came backmost to maine and I was flying astir suburbia, bottommost flipping implicit cars, and popping disconnected that satisfying orchestra deed whenever I landed a peculiar move. The caller map, Waterpark, felt similar it was ever portion of the archetypal games and was easy 1 of the astir amusive levels to grind astir and observe its secrets. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater’s addictive gameplay loop kept maine wanting much whenever the timer ticked down to the past fewer seconds, and I often recovered myself rapidly hopping backmost successful for conscionable 1 much run.

In a clip wherever it seems similar each crippled from the aboriginal 2000’s is getting a modern facelift, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is shaping up to beryllium a invited summation to a twelvemonth afloat of fantabulous remakes and remasters. From its faithful recreation of what made the PS2-era classics truthful memorable, to its modern prime of beingness improvements, fantabulous soundtrack, and wide emotion missive to the bid aboriginal days, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is precise overmuch thing that should beryllium connected your radar if you’re a instrumentality of skateboarding, bask enactment sports games, oregon conscionable privation to play thing that's elemental and fun. It mightiness beryllium the easiest kickflip you’ll onshore this year.