Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 Review – Obligatory Homage

It’s amazing what five years and an obligation to follow up on success rather than catering to fans’ desires can accomplish. When Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 was released, it was widely hailed as a return to form for the series. Even if it used the first two titles as a base, the revamped visuals, additional content, implementation of mechanics from later games, and, most importantly, the return of most of the soundtrack made it a winner. Memories of the horrendous fifth entry were finally gone. Tony Hawk is officially back…until Activision folded Vicarious Visions into Blizzard and (allegedly) rejected its patch for remaking the third and fourth titles.

All these years later, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is real. The bravado, the new skaters, the same revamped visuals, Bam Margera – all of it is here. And yet, it’s a big step down from its predecessor – a baffling proposition considering how much of a step up the originals were. You’ll have fun attempting to master each level, completing all the goals, ticking off challenges, viewing classic moments through the lens of improved visuals, and maybe creating your own skate parks. However, considering how much the previous remakes delivered, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 doesn’t quite deliver on the same potential.

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The positives should be most apparent as soon as you enter the tutorial. As a skating title, I don’t think any game can measure up to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in terms of feel and responsiveness. Pro Skater 3 marked the introduction of hidden combos for grinds, flips and Manuals – double kickflips, double heelflips, the works – and the Revert for transitioning from a quarter-pipe trick into a Manual, effectively revolutionizing combo extension. Pro Skater 4 tossed in the ability to skitch or grab onto moving cars, which also provided a speed boost upon release; the Spine Transfer for leaping over a quarter-pipe onto another just behind it or landing on top; and further improvements to combo extensions.

As with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, everything from Pro Skater 4 is carried over into 3, vastly expanding on the trick combinations and combo opportunities in its levels. Granted, as with the originals, hitting those score goals – from the entry-level High Score to the relative mastery of a Sick Score – requires practice and knowledge of the environment. Every misstep and mistake feels especially gruesome, even if runs last for only two minutes, but when everything seamlessly chains together, there’s nothing quite like it. Some of the revised goals also help challenge long-time fans, like figuring out how to douse the Foreman in Foundry or grind the molten bucket.

Then you have the usual collection of the SKATE letters, finding the secret tapes, and obtaining all stat points to customize your preferred skater build on the fly – whether it’s all-in on balance while grinding rails or more airtime. Pro Skater 3 + 4 also features an impressive array of post-game content. New Game+ provides new Pro Goals (like hitting new Platinum Scores, spelling COMBO and performing dedicated tricks) and Expert Challenges. You can even embark on Solo Tours, which involves completing career tours with all characters.

And make no mistake, it’s a tall ask, given the sheer number of playable skaters. Legends like Tony Hawk, Chad Muska, Steve Caballero and Rodney Mullen are here, alongside contemporary skaters like Aori Nishimura, Tyshawn Jones and Nyjah Huston. However, you also have newcomers to the series, like Chloe Covell, Margielyn Didal, and Rayssa Leal. With each skater specializing in different stats and a healthy number of unlockable characters (both familiar and new), it’s a pretty deep roster to choose from. It would have been nice if Create-A-Skater offered more options, especially after Pro Skater 1 + 2, but at least there’s an ample amount of clothing to unlock.

The revamped visuals are also downright stunning, and that’s even without considering the overhauled textures, character models, environment quality and improved animations. The lighting and shadows bring a more natural feel to levels such as Foundry and even completely change the atmosphere of Rio and San Francisco. It’s almost enough to make you want to stop and observe every little new detail. And yes, while some levels are gone, the additions – Movie Studio, Waterpark – are enjoyable, seamlessly slotting into the current line-up.

With so much going in its favor, it would seem like Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 + 4 is another winner like Pro Skater 1 + 2, but before you can dig into all the good stuff, there’s the revelation regarding Pro Skater 4’s Career Mode. As you probably already heard, it isn’t here, or rather, its levels have been converted to the same format as previous titles. Instead of exploring them freely, conversing with characters and obtaining goals, you have the standard list and a two-minute time limit, just like in Pro Skater 3. Can you have fun in these and admire the sheer fidelity?

Sure, but it’s not a remake of Pro Skater 4 by a long shot, even if you could extend the timer. The overall flow is simply different, and there’s little choice but to begrudgingly accept it. Regardless, considering the influence Career Mode had on subsequent titles and how much it made up the original game, it’s a shame that it didn’t receive the proper treatment.

It’s also simply impossible to reconcile with the soundtrack, which contains only ten songs from the original games. “Ace of Spaces” and “My Adidas” have been retained, thankfully, and some bands like Iron Maiden perform different tracks. But if you were hoping for The Offspring, System of a Down, AC/DC, Alien Ant Farm, Red Hot Chili Peppers and other iconic tracks, prepare to be disappointed. Tony Hawk has since claimed it was his idea to have new tracks by the returning artists, though I’m not sure if that also encompasses songs that are brand new to the series.

These new selections aren’t terrible (Alice in Chains for the win), but it further diminishes any semblance of the original games. If all this wasn’t enough, there are a few bugs in both games. I didn’t encounter frame drops in Pro Skater 4’s levels as some have reported, but there were cases of clipping through walls, going over quarter-pipes instead of back down (and ending up out of bounds or in the ocean). There’s also occasional screentearing in Performance Mode on PS5 (though Fidelity Mode seems mostly fine).

When looking back on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, it felt like a real labor of love, a desire to revive the original games for the current generation without compromising on their excellent gameplay. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is definitely in the same vein, especially when it comes to the roster, goals, post-game content, and visuals. However, whether it’s due to a mandate from management or simply because it lacked the resources, Iron Galaxy has pared down the experience in places where it counts the most. The results are complicated – you can still become embroiled in the thrill of completing goals and perfecting runs for the highest scores. The various bugs and screen-tearing issues will also doubtless be fixed, but it’s impossible to ignore just how much has been lost in the transition.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.