Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 + 4 Review

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Fast Facts

Kick, Push?

Tony Hawk’s is not only one of my favourite skateboarding game series, but it’s also a massive part of my video game history and is deeply ingrained in my consciousness. The music, the rewarding gameplay and moreish mechanics keep me coming back for more, year upon year.

After Vicarious Visions released the amazing Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 & 2 in 2020, everyone knew and even Tony himself confirmed that a remake of 3 & 4 was also in the works. Unfortunately, Vicarious went bust and it seemed like the remakes of 3 and 4 were dead. Luckily, Iron Galaxy stepped in and got those skating wheels rolling once again.

The form factor for THPS 3 & 4 will not surprise many, a shared trick selection, cash pot and trophies are shared between the two games and apart from a few glaring changes, mainly on THPS 4, things from the original games are mostly intact.

Some Glaring Changes

Let’s talk about the changes first. The main thing, the thing I think most will be bothered about, is the slight format change to THPS4. The levels and goals have been massaged and trimmed to fit the shorter time frame of the other games and made the whole package more uniform. While it did feel weird at the start and I did kind of miss the format of the original THPS4, I can see why they did it. I do miss the NPC interactions and some of the levels do feel a bit off.

Along with that, some of the levels from THPS4 have been dropped, mainly the larger, more open-world ones but luckily they have been replaced with some awesome levels. These levels fit the couple-minute timer better and are truly enjoyable levels to carve through. The pinball level is bright and neon-soaked and the waterpark is so much fun.

The part of this remake package that really bothered me, though, is the soundtrack for THPS4 and more so the tracks that are missing. After doing some research, it seems only 10 tracks made it from the original game and while some of the new ones are very good to skate around to, the lack of some of the classics bothered me. It certainly took some of the shine off this remake. The soundtrack is always a massive part of this series and not porting over all the music, which I know may be very difficult, is a massive disappointment.

Build a Better Park

The skate park builder has also had an overhaul. You can now set and design your own goals, making designing skate parks and skating other players’ parks a viable part of the game. In the originals, I rarely did it as the parks became boring quickly and were really just there to skate around, with very little in the way of goals or challenges.

All the changes aside, these games still feel like they did back in the day. The gameplay is so great and in this genre, it still has not been surpassed today. The closest thing to it, in my opinion anyway, was OlliOlli, and that was also a blast. After an hour or so, I was busting combos, gaining massive scores and my hands were doing things by themselves, without me even thinking; it was glorious.

Beautiful Presentation and Performance

The graphics have been improved massively, while still keeping that ‘classic’ Tony Hawks look. Everything is sharper, crisper and I did not really notice until putting them side by side, but the whole graphical presentation is massively overhauled. My rose-tinted nostalgic glasses did not initially notice how much of an upgrade it was. It’s substantial for sure.

From a performance standpoint, I had no issues at all. Everything ran smoothly, which in a game like THPS, is paramount. On my PS5Pro, I was getting 4K, 60FPS with HDR and it felt great. This remake is night and day from both a look and performance stance, compared to the originals.

A Few Weird Decisions Aside, It’s Still Tony Hawks!

I would say, if you’re a Tony Hawks fan, as long as you can get over a few weird design and sound decisions, you will enjoy this pair of remakes. I don’t fully understand the lack of original music but I do understand the change in the mission structure for THPS4. A few fans will be put off by minor changes. I personally, after a little re-adjustment, did not mind so much. Some of the new music is awesome, I just missed a few of the old classics.

Tony Hawks retains its combo-tastic, finger-twitching gameplay, which has always made the series so great. The games are still fun, still very addictive and the performance and graphical boosts are awesome! None of the magnificent gameplay has been lost and I think that’s the main thing. It’s still Tony Hawks and in an era with very little in the skateboarding department, that’s something to be happy about. Right, I am off to bust a triple-kickflip, laters gamers!

Rapid Reviews Rating

4 out of 5

4