''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD'' is a
skateboarding video game in the ''
Tony Hawk's'' series. Developed by
Robomodo and published by
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...
, ''Pro Skater HD'' is a high-definition remake of classic levels from ''
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'', released as ''Tony Hawk's Skateboarding'' in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe, is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It was released for the PlayStation o ...
'', ''
Pro Skater 2'', and, via download, ''
Pro Skater 3''. It was released in 2012 for
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...
through
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is a digital video game download service available through the Xbox Games Store, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360. It focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent ...
on July 18, for
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...
through
PlayStation Network on August 28 and
Steam on September 18. The game was delisted from Steam and all other digital marketplaces on July 17, 2017.
Gameplay
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD'' is a skateboarding video game, with an
arcade
Arcade most often refers to:
* Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine
** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware
** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board
* Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games
* ...
-style emphasis with regard to realism. The objective is to score points by successfully completing various
skateboarding tricks such as
grinds,
flip trick
A flip trick is a type of skateboarding trick in which the skateboard rotates around its vertical axis, or its vertical axis and its horizontal axis simultaneously. The first flip trick, called a kickflip but originally known as a "magic flip", ...
s, and
aerials. Performing several moves in succession without any pause results in a combo. The player's score is multiplied by the number of tricks in the combo. If the player successfully lands the final trick the score is then banked, otherwise all points in that combo are lost.
''Pro Skater HD'' is an amalgam of ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'' and ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'', and as such the game does not feature any additional tricks or moves added to later games in the series. ''
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3'' is a 2001 skateboarding video game and the third installment in the '' Tony Hawk's'' series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision under the Activision O2 label in 2001 for the PlayStation, Pl ...
''
downloadable content
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...
(DLC) was added.
Included in the content is the ability to perform a revert, a trick which involves changing the direction of the board while keeping forward momentum. Originally this ability was only going to be limited for use in the levels that came with the DLC but due to the protracted release schedule, Robomodo released an update for the game that added the revert in all levels.
Players are also tasked with completing objectives in each level. In exchange for completion of these objectives players are rewarded with points that can be spent to upgrade a character's attributes. These include achieving a set high score, collecting the letters S-K-A-T-E, and finding a hidden DVD (in the same vein of the "Secret Tapes" from the first three games) within each level. In addition to the main gameplay mode other single and multiplayer modes are included. Big Head Survival is a new game mode in which the player character skates with their head becoming gradually inflated. In the case of Xbox 360 avatars the head is represented by a balloon in tow. If the player's head or balloon becomes too large it pops, ending the game. To keep the size down players must complete combos. Higher scores have a greater impact on decreasing the player character's head or balloon size.
Returning from ''
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
''Tony Hawk's Proving Ground'' is a 2007 skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Vicarious Visions for the Nintendo DS, and by Page 44 Studios for the PlayStation 2 and Wii. ''Proving Ground'' is the n ...
'' is Hawkman, where the player must skate around the level collecting colored pellets with specific moves: yellow pellets must be collected during grinds, red during jumps, green during manuals, and blue while wallriding. When the player collects all pellets, or fails to collect them within the time limit for a high score, the game ends. Graffiti mode returns, and involves performing tricks on a series of objects. If a player successfully lands their trick(s), all objects the player touched will change to the player's designated color. If a second player achieves a higher score any objects that the second player touched, including any claimed by the first player, will change to the second player's color. The object is to claim the most objects by the end of the game. Online leaderboards are included for all modes, but online play is limited to the console versions.
Seven levels were selected from the original ''Pro Skater'' and ''Pro Skater 2'', and include series staples such as Warehouse and School II. Mall, Hangar, Marseille, Downhill Jam, and Venice Beach are also included.
The selection of skaters consist of classic skaters such as
Tony Hawk
Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...
and
Rodney Mullen, as well as other professional skaters
Eric Koston
Eric Koston (born April 29, 1975) is an American professional skateboarder and company owner. He has been featured in the '' Tony Hawk's'' video game series and the Electronic Arts (EA) video games ''Skate 2'' and ''Skate 3''. Koston co-owns bot ...
,
Nyjah Huston
Nyjah Imani Huston (born November 30, 1994) is an American professional skateboarder. With numerous sponsorships and competition prize winnings, Huston is one of the highest paid skateboarders in the world. Huston won gold medals at the SLS Supe ...
,
Andrew Reynolds,
Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins Pastrana,
Chris Cole and Riley Hawk, son of Tony Hawk. The first update of the game also adds Jake Harrison and Emily Westlund to the initial roster. Two fictional bonus characters return, Officer Dick and Ollie the Magic Bum, who have appeared several times in the series. A new bonus character, a robot named Roberta, is also included.
The Xbox 360 version also allows players to play with their avatars. Downloadable content has been released featuring three levels from ''
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3'' is a 2001 skateboarding video game and the third installment in the '' Tony Hawk's'' series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision under the Activision O2 label in 2001 for the PlayStation, Pl ...
'' (Airport, Canada, and Los Angeles) with extra playable characters including pros
Geoff Rowley
Geoffrey Joseph Rowley Jr. (born 6 June 1976) is an English professional skateboarder, former co-owner of Flip Skateboards and owner of the Civilware Service Corporation. He received ''Thrasher Magazine'' "Skater of the Year" award in 2000.
Ea ...
and
Steve Caballero
Steve Caballero (born November 8, 1964) is an American professional skateboarder. He is known for the difficult tricks and air variations he invented for vertical skating and for setting the long-standing record for the highest air achieved on a ...
along with
James Hetfield and
Robert Trujillo
Roberto Agustín Miguel Santiago Samuel Trujillo Veracruz (; born October 23, 1964) is an American musician, best known as the bassist for heavy metal band Metallica since 2003. He first rose to prominence as the bassist of crossover thrash ban ...
from
Metallica. The pack also includes one new song from the band, "All Nightmare Long".
Development
The game was first announced at the 2011
Spike
Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Books
* ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave
* ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick
* ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...
Video Game Awards show (VGAs) with a trailer demonstrating
Tony Hawk
Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...
skating around the
Woodland Hills Warehouse (the first stage of the
original game). It is the first ''Tony Hawk's'' game on consoles that was offered exclusively as a downloadable game. It is a return to the gameplay of the original games in the series, predating ''
Tony Hawk: Ride'', and as such could only be played using a standard controller. The game is not a high-definition port of the original ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'', but rather an amalgamation of levels collected from the first two installments, remade using
Unreal Engine 3
Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genre ...
for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Downloadable content from ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3'' was announced on July 3, prior to the game's release.
The levels Airport, Los Angeles, and Canada have been confirmed, and players are able to perform reverts on those levels.
Professional skaters
Steve Caballero
Steve Caballero (born November 8, 1964) is an American professional skateboarder. He is known for the difficult tricks and air variations he invented for vertical skating and for setting the long-standing record for the highest air achieved on a ...
and
Geoff Rowley
Geoffrey Joseph Rowley Jr. (born 6 June 1976) is an English professional skateboarder, former co-owner of Flip Skateboards and owner of the Civilware Service Corporation. He received ''Thrasher Magazine'' "Skater of the Year" award in 2000.
Ea ...
were added in the pack.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack contains the songs from the first two ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'' games with the other half containing new songs.
Seven are new ones, while other seven are taken from the first two ''Pro Skater'' games; one from ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'', and six from ''Pro Skater 2''.
Developer Robomodo was given charge of the soundtrack. In regards to the choice of new songs, lead designer Patrick Dwyer explained that choice: "We wanted to pick new songs that had that potential where, five years from now, people hear the songs and they think of this game".
Reception
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD'' has received mixed reviews upon release. It currently holds aggregates scores of 67.61% at
GameRankings and 66 out of 100 at
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
.
Review scores range from a 40% approval ratio from Lucas Sullivan of
GamesRadar to a 90% approval from Alex Rubens of
G4TV
G4 (also known as G4TV) was an American pay television and digital network owned by Comcast Spectacor that primarily focused on video games.
The network was originally owned by G4 Media, a joint venture between the NBCUniversal Cable division ...
.
The majority of scores at both GameRankings and Metacritic were at or above a 60% approval ratio.
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
's Nic Vargas gave the game a score of 8/10, praising its purist gameplay whilst lamenting the lack of certain modes such as park creator and split screen multiplayer.
The reviewer from
GameTrailers gave the game a score of 7.4 and stated that ''Pro Skater HD'' "isn't flawless, but... it at least gets off on the right foot".
Lucas Sullivan of
GamesRadar felt that "old-school fans of the franchise will be disappointed by what the game lacks, and gamers who’ve never laid eyes on a PS1 will find the mechanics and level design sparse".
Destructoid
''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022.
History
...
gave the game 4.5/10, stating that the execution isn't handled as well as the original titles, as well as some of the design choices the developer made.
G4TV
G4 (also known as G4TV) was an American pay television and digital network owned by Comcast Spectacor that primarily focused on video games.
The network was originally owned by G4 Media, a joint venture between the NBCUniversal Cable division ...
gave the game a 4.5/5 and praised the console versions' online multiplayer and soundtrack.
''
Official Xbox Magazine'' gave ''Pro Skater HD'' an 8/10. They praised the game's new big head mode.
References
{{Tony Hawk games
2012 video games
Activision games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
PlayStation Network games
Skateboarding video games
Pro Skater HD
Unreal Engine games
Video game remakes
Windows games
Xbox 360 Live Arcade games
Video games developed in the United States