Info
- Title:: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
- Platform:: Multiple
- Developer:: Neversoft
- Publisher:: Activision
- Year:: 1999–2015
Notes
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
- it’s interesting how the 900 became progressively easier with each game in the series, and i sorta kinda like how closely this one matches the real life 900 as something of a freak event. until you have max stat boosts, pulling off the 900 requires an incredibly lucky opportunity—a lot of speed, perfect alignment, and the ability to execute the trick as soon as you jump. and even once you have max stats, you need to get all the vert air you can (and probably use the speed boost you get after previously performing a special trick) to execute it consistently.
- although the physics can feel a bit weird here. that chuggin up that hill.
Levels
- warehouse: the classic. it feels iconic in the same way that like 1–1 in super mario bros is.
- school: a sorta bland level. if i remember right, thug2 really improves on it.
- mall: a p fun downhill-ish. i definitely enjoy the secret tape line.
- indoor comp: purely functional.
- city: being able to ramp walljump to the roof of those buildings is great.
- downhill: this level would probably be a ton of fun to do in a clean line if it wasn’t so clunky. i think i only got all tapes in one run once, except technically i didn’t since i triggered the high score tape before retrying.
- burnside comp: annoying.
- sf: kind of a pain to navigate. that secret tape is a nightmare.
- roswell comp: really hard to gold in until you learn a good opening line. but otherwise i definitely like this comp the most.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 ⭐
- i think this is the game with the least assumed male heterosexuality, assuming you never enter the create-a-skater mode with ambitions. at the very least it’s tied with disney’s extreme skate adventure, yet even that one manages to throw in a “hey man” regardless of who you’re playing as.
- the 900 is now within the realm of consistency, although it still takes skill (and perhaps a bit of a stat boost).
- skate heaven is a substantially good reward for the compulsive. maybe too good of a reward though…
- i get the feeling that the physics are kinda arcane. aside from the stat boost when special is active, it seems like you get a speed boost for activating special, as well as one for landing a more valuable trick? plus there’s the perfect landing boost.
- normally i wouldn’t complain about this but you do need to know these things to even get the drain the fountain goal consistently. during my second playthrough, i forgot how to get up there, and it took a solid ten minutes before i could, and plenty more before i remembered exactly what you need to do.
Levels
- hangar: great intro level, with neat secrets and a lot to do.
- school ii: ★ people really, really, really love this level. i can see why, and having like four viable lines the instant you start the level isn’t a bad design choice, especially when you telegraph them in-game too (the s-k-a-t-e rail, the bell wallride up to the top, the nightmare rail, the rail next to the nightmare rail, and the secret fifth option where you just say fuck it and attempt the leap of faith. also the ledge to the left of the leap to grab the cash. ok yeah i see why people love this one) (oh yeah and i forgot about the trick to open the gym!) (oh yeah and the other hidden area over the secret tape) (god they put a lot into this one)
- marseille comp: i enjoy the hidden area, though i’m not sure how you were supposed to discover that. it isn’t terribly obvious!
- ny: i think this one really shows off how dynamic they wanted to make the levels. get the tokens to open the subway to unlock a whole new side of the map. thps3 definitely includes cutscene triggers to open stuff but i don’t think they were ever integrated into goals as ambitiously as this (the earthquake comes close) (actually the earthquake totally counts)
- venice beach: i don’t know if this one is annoying or just if its goals are annoying. ollie’s got some magic hitboxes.
- skate street comp: has some fun light fixture lines. i think i’m a fan of those.
- philly: an ok city level, though the ledges are a mess, and a lot of the city outside of the skatepark is a mess to navigate (lots of right angles and stairs to bump into). the people placement on the thug2 version feels like the end of evangelion.
- bullring comp: it feels like a proper final level, though it has some really weird design decisions (what are you supposed to do on those boob ramps? why is grinding alongside the perimeter such an obviously easy way to rack up points?). also the highwires are hard to get up onto, especially if you’re trying to snag the cash and win the comp in the same sessions.
Game Boy Advance Port
- holy shit this is so well made. at least, considering the studio’s now-legacy as a mobile shovelware developer. but dang the physics are pretty much spot-on!
- it seems the biggest change is that the design really encourages you to use delayed jumps off ramps. you basically need it to get a lot of objectives without stat upgrades (the chopper gap and cash in hangar, the secret tape in school ii, the spine transfer gap and secret tape in warehouse). and you’re given a lot of time to perform them, which is also weird.
- also for some reason it seems like stat upgrades are required if you want to 100% the game, or even get all major goals. it’s kinda unfortunate to be unable to get that last cash in hangar until you’ve upgraded your stats, or unless you use a perfect delayed jump with max speed and special (and even that might not give you enough height).
- best new thing: the cow
- worst new thing: actually getting the cow goal
- isometrics make lining up jumps really hard. i can get that ridiculous secret tape in ny pretty consistently, but so help me god i cannot figure out where to jump to grind on that cow. i can’t even line up the 50-50 joey’s sculpture goal consistently, and that’s pretty much a gimme on the ps1 version!
- having the reward for any% be a solicitation to work for them is kinda funny / pathetic, but apparently somebody ended up responding to it.
- favorite song: the rock song that ends with a toot sound when it loops
- average time to complete a career is 45 minutes, which makes it nice and breezy
- you can do the 900 pretty easily as stock honk.
Levels
- hangar: just as good imo
- school ii: solid conversion
- marseille: ok but i thought the original was just ok too
- warehouse: a quite good port of the thps1 original.
- ny: pales in comparison to the original, and generally has some annoying design decisions (what is up with that secret tape?)
- skate street: i honestly forget what the original was like half the time, but i guess it lives up to the original in that way.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 🌟
- since i started this note i 100%ed it for a second time and have started playing the ps1 version too. i’m pretty sure it’s my favorite.
- the engine feels updated from the thps2 one, and made significantly smoother. like 2, the characters feel tall and heights feel big. it plays great for the type of skateboarding it’s going for, and it runs at 60fps!
- although the ps1 version almost feels like it was adapted from the thps1 engine.
- i can understand the criticism that the level design is a bit spotty. like suburbia is definitely the weak point here, but on the other hand, it has airport, which is an ambitious adaption of the downhill format and maybe my favorite level in all of thps. that highwire combo from the light above the first escalator is inspired.
- the fade-in text messages on the ui are weird and make the game feel unfinished. like the “who’s your daddy” that shows up for reasons you cannot explain.
- the ps1 version feels like you have to do a lot of walljumping to get around though. it’s generally not good (and the physics feel more like thps1 honestly), although its version of tokyo is my aesthetic.
- after 18 hours, i learned that the ps1 version ends with one character still locked, and no real indication that you’re supposed to unlock the last character by completing all gaps. i feel cheated.
- oh, thps2 does this too, except it gives you skate heaven which provides enough closure that you don’t feel too bad.
Levels
- foundry: maybe my favorite intro level? compact but very vertical and it’s easy to plow through objectives if you know what you’re doing.
- canada: i like this one well enough too. its color palette feels unique and helps set it apart from the other games (like foundry looks like warehouse, rio looks like marseille etc).
- rio comp: kinda disappointing, and everything is immediately there. unless you’re playing the ps1 version, which hides a stat point in a secret area that’s both ridiculously hard to find and ridiculously fleshed out.
- suburbia: i can see the complaint about the empty cul de sac where the ice cream van drives around being a bit pointless.
- airport: ★ that line on the light fixtures! the fact that you can combo from top to bottom, and it’s recognized! and it’s so big too!
- skater island comp: yeah the comp levels are kinda bland…
- la: Yo. Let’s see you “bust something out.”
i feel like this is how you design a city level well: only a couple buildings obstructing vision, wires and high lines to add a bit of verticality, and unique combo opportunities for those who climb the buildings. it takes a lot of cues from philly that way. - tokyo comp: ★ …except for this comp. it’s really fun to play and looks futuristic and cool too.
- cruise ship: i think this level is a ton of fun. the multiple layers works really well and it’s not too hard to chain combos between decks. i’m starting to think that there’s an inherent design tension in thawk level design between verticality (fun) and obstructed vision (bad), and this hits that balance perfectly. perhaps it also helps that cruise ships are oblong, so it’s easy to remember where you are on it.
- downhill (ps1): not nearly as fun as cruise ship but what can you do. the highwire line is fun but also a pain to get onto and also to continue into the final three stat points.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4
- the first of the “new engine” games, and i think they carried this engine all the way through to at least american wasteland.
- in comparison to the previous engine, this one feels more slick and fluid, but sacrifices some weightiness as a result. this makes it tough to say which engine style is strictly “better,” though i have a bit of a soft spot for 2 and especially 3’s feel.
- gaps for 100% is silly, so i didn’t. plus i already know what you get, since as a kid i unlocked it using the cheat code “(o)(o)”. i didn’t know what that meant, and i never used her because my ps2 was set up in the family room.
Levels
- college: this is weird for an opening level. the grassy parts feel a bit sparse, and it’s kinda easy to get tripped up near the tennis court.
- sf: cities are bland.
- alcatraz: i love this one’s level design, and the warps do a good job of making the verticality work. i could see this being an adaption of the downhill format and i think this might be the best level in the game.
- kona: this is actually the level that comes to mind when i think of levels that are easy to survey.
- shipyard: it’s probably good. in terms of design it sorta reminds me of cruise ship, but instead of the bikini girls we have laborers.
- london: cities are bland pt. 2.
- zoo: animals are ok, though it feels hard to put together coherent lines here.
- carnival: i genuinely like this one. the coaster is a nice touch, there’s a fun grind line around the perimeter, and the level itself looks p cool in disco mode.
- chicago: thanks mat. (god this level comparatively looks so bland though). at least i remember a few of the goals being pretty fun, and it takes some thinking to get a few of the cash icons.
Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure
- ok i am not 100%ing this one. did they really need to make that many scavenger hunt levels? i don’t think it adds much.
- and it’s upsetting that there are so few tricks, even with pro mode enabled. but maybe that’s the price you pay for creating entirely new tricks for each new model.
- not-pro mode is an interesting choice, though it makes some things (like manuals) really hard to consistently execute. but it’s neat how it makes bailing inconsequential.
Tony Hawk’s Underground
- for some reason they decided to start setting the levels in cities, which i think is definitely a move for the worse. [explain why].
- (i wrote that in january and never explained why). it’s because 1) grids make for boring level design. 2) buildings make it difficult to survey the environment, since they impede your line of sight. there’s a reason why so many classic thps levels start on some sort of roll-in overlooking the rest of the map.
- although apparently the level design from thug on was influenced by andythps, a legendary improv player who was so good at thps4 online that neversoft outright hired him. and maybe these levels are great for high-level play, since they let you cleanly transition between elevations if you know what you’re doing. but when you’re coming in blind, you don’t know what you’re doing!
- the wallplant / sticker slap is a very useful mechanic.
- also i don’t think i ever 100%ed sick mode. it is genuinely challenging!
Tony Hawk’s Underground 2
- i’d feel confident in saying that this is the best new engine game, purely in terms of gamefeel. it feels lubed up and responsive to the point where racking up multi-million combos feels almost easy.
- unfortunately, this comes at the cost of having to endure significantly more bam. perhaps you’ll grow to love him, but those odds are slim.
- and the level design here feels significantly worse (at least those made for the story mode). so many grids with buildings!
- i think sick was toned down from thug1, but still a decent challenge. i 100%ed it, but i think the only goals i had trouble on were the ones that were more unintuitive than challenging. or, in the case of the skatopia lighting the roof on fire goal, somewhat mechanically broken. or, in the case of the skatopia manual goal, actually really challenging. still, i managed to eventually complete this one’s absurd manual goal, whereas i don’t think i ever did thug1’s.
Levels
nawlins is definitely the worst of the city level designs and it’s way too easy to get turned around in there.
Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland
- and somehow, they broke the engine again. like sometimes bails just send you flying around the corners of the screen and stuff!
- really it feels like, in their pursuit to add stuff, they added too much stuff for the controls and engine to handle. the parkour mode feels really inconsistent, and somehow happens to hamper the usefulness of the already-janky walking mode in the process. also, bikes.
- also wow this game looks especially eurotrash, at least on the gamecube. that dialogue font is 100% vicarious visions.
- and i played this on sick difficulty and only maybe two of the challenges felt up to that par (aside from the vs. skating challenges, though i think those ones always try to match your score but a little more, to make it look close) (yep i learned that those are glorified autoscrollers).
- i am incensed that they make you pick a character (mandated male), and so you pick the one with the fro, and then they make you shave your fro as your very first objective.
- this sort of objective-mandated sycophancy always irks me. having to tat up and join a gang is also kinda gross.
- i do however like how, as soon as you ruin everything at the am jam, you waltz in wearing an am jam t-shirt.
in general…
- there’s a discrepancy between the game’s skill ceiling and what it expects from players.
with the online play and speedrunning, we see people who are able to rack up tens of millions of points in just one combo, and people who are able to complete all the goals in every stage in one go. however, i think thps4’s highest point goal was 900,000, and thug2’s was 3mil on sick difficulty. - grinding is op, and even after the introduction of the revert, a long grind is still one of the best ways to put a ton of points on the base score.