Review: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD (Xbox Live)

By Wayne Webb

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was without a doubt one of my favourite games ever on the PlayStation. It got me hooked on modern gaming and showed me how natural and interactive games like this could be fantastic. This is one of the classics of the modern age of and it’s great to see it get the HD treatment as DLC on platforms like Xbox Live.

It hasn’t aged a day and within minutes I stopped having to remember what the button combinations were as my muscle memory kicked in – I was soon heel flipping over the quarter pipe with ease and flair. This is a remade version of the old game, and features many of the old levels and characters – but redrawn in HD versions of themselves. I struggle to recall exactly the modes that the old version had, but it feels a little lightweight in comparison.

However the basic game is still there, two minutes to aggregate your score and achieve set goals. Get enough and you unlock another level where you can do the same. From the warehouse level, the classic school yard though to the competition bowls of Marseilles, these recreations bring back the years and memories and are now accessible for a whole new generation of fans.

While 460MB was a lot of memory when this game was first out, it seems trifling now and ripe for the download market. A game like this cost near $100 back then, like the big disc games do now, but as a classic re-bought to life, the cheap cost and low space download is perfect for what this is. It’s also cool that they retained the kicking soundtrack that made the game that much better. It’s also easy to learn, as my three year old was playing it within a few minutes.

If you have played this before, get it again – you won’t regret it. If you’ve never played it then start now, you don’t know what you’re missing. I didn’t know who Tony Hawk was before this Pro Skater came along over 10 years ago, but I sure do now. I can recognise him by sight, read his autobiography (Occupation Skateboarder) and have played every incarnation of this game series since.  This is a retro game made good and I’m glad to see it back

Pros: Retro gaming that’s not too old, great soundtrack, addictive gaming, easy to learn, good value and fully downloadable.
Cons: Missing some elements of the original.

4.5 Shacks Out of 5