Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD

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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD
TonyHawkHDArt.jpg
Developer(s) Robomodo
Publisher(s) Activision
Series Tony Hawk's
Engine Unreal Engine 3
Platform(s)
ReleaseXbox 360
July 18, 2012 [1]
PlayStation 3
August 28, 2012 [2]
Windows
September 18, 2012 [3]
Genre(s) Sports
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD is a 2012 skateboarding video game in the Tony Hawk's series. Developed by Robomodo and published by Activision, Pro Skater HD is a high-definition remake of classic levels from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater , Pro Skater 2 , and, via download, Pro Skater 3 . It was released in 2012 for Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade on July 18, for PlayStation 3 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. [4]

Contents

Gameplay

Developer Robomodo worked closely with Tony Hawk to recreate both gameplay and visuals in a new, high-definition environment. Top: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD; bottom: The original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Thps comparison.jpg
Developer Robomodo worked closely with Tony Hawk to recreate both gameplay and visuals in a new, high-definition environment. Top: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD; bottom: The original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD is a skateboarding video game, with an arcade-style emphasis with regard to realism. The objective is to score points by successfully completing various skateboarding tricks such as grinds, flip tricks, 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 downloadable content (DLC) was added. [5] 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 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. [6]

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. [7] The selection of skaters consist of classic skaters such as Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen, as well as other professional skaters Eric Koston, Nyjah Huston, 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. [7] 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 (Airport, Canada, and Los Angeles) with extra playable characters including pros Geoff Rowley and Steve Caballero along with James Hetfield and Robert Trujillo 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 Video Game Awards show (VGAs) with a trailer demonstrating Tony Hawk 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 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. [8] [9] [10] Downloadable content from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 was confirmed on July 3, prior to the game's release, [5] featuring levels Airport, Los Angeles, and Canada, and ability to perform reverts on those levels. [11] Professional skaters Steve Caballero [12] and Geoff Rowley were added in the pack. [13]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack contains the songs from the first two Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games with the other half containing new songs. [14] 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. [15] 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". [15]

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. [16] [17] Review scores range from a 40% approval ratio from Lucas Sullivan of GamesRadar to a 90% approval from Alex Rubens of G4TV. [19] [18] The majority of scores at both GameRankings and Metacritic were at or above a 60% approval ratio.

IGN'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. [22] The reviewer from GameTrailers gave the game a score of 7.4 and said that Pro Skater HD "isn't flawless, but... it at least gets off on the right foot". [20] Lucas Sullivan of GamesRadar felt that old-school fans of the franchise will be disappointed by what the game lacks, and gamers who never played the original games on PS1 will find the mechanics and level design sparse. [19] Destructoid 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. [24] G4TV gave the game a 4.5/5 and praised the console versions' online multiplayer and soundtrack. [18] Official Xbox Magazine gave Pro Skater HD an 8/10. They praised the game's new big head mode. [23]

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<i>Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2x</i> 2001 video game

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x is a skateboarding video game in the Tony Hawk's series. Developed in a collaboration between Neversoft and Treyarch, and published by Activision under the Activision O2 label, Pro Skater 2x is a re-release featuring the 19 levels from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Pro Skater 2, as well as five original levels. Some elements from the then-recently released Pro Skater 3 were included, along with other new features. It was released in North America for Xbox on November 15, 2001 as a launch title for the system.

Tony Hawk's is a skateboarding video game series published by Activision and endorsed by the American professional skateboarder of the same name. The series was primarily developed for home consoles by Neversoft with an annual release schedule from launch to 2007, until Activision transferred the franchise to Robomodo in 2008, who developed the franchise on a non-annual release basis until 2015 when Activision and Hawk's license expired, leaving the future of the series uncertain. In 2020, the series returned under Activision with a remake of the original two games in the series, with development handled by Vicarious Visions. The series has spawned a total of 20 games.

<i>Tony Hawks Pro Skater 5</i> 2015 video game

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 is a 2015 skateboarding video game developed in a collaboration between Robomodo and Disruptive Games, and published by Activision. The tenth main installment in the Tony Hawk's series, the game is the first new title in the main series since 2007's Proving Ground and the first Pro Skater since 2002's Pro Skater 4, as the series had been put on hold following a lack of critical and commercial success with later games.

<i>Tony Hawks Proving Ground</i> 2007 video game

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 ninth installment in the Tony Hawk's series, and the last to be developed by Neversoft as the franchise was then transferred to Robomodo, and Neversoft was later shutdown after being merged into Infinity Ward in 2014.

<i>Tony Hawk: Ride</i> 2009 video game

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robomodo</span> American video game developer

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<i>Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 + 2</i> 2020 video game

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 is a 2020 skateboarding video game developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on September 4, 2020, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on March 26, 2021, and Nintendo Switch on June 25 of the same year. It is a remake of the first two games in the Tony Hawk's series: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (1999) and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (2000), which were originally developed by Neversoft. It is the first major console game in the series since Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 (2015) and is Vicarious Visions' final work as a subsidiary of Activision before it was merged into Blizzard Entertainment on January 22, 2021.

References

  1. ↑ Gilbert, Ben (June 19, 2012). "XBLA Summer of Arcade 2012 detailed, Tony Hawk kickflips it off on July 18". Joystiq. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  2. ↑ Ivan, Tom. "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD dated for PS3". Computer and Video Games.
  3. ↑ "Facebook Status Update". Activision via Facebook. September 17, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  4. ↑ Zergnet. "Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD will be removed from Steam next week". PC Gamer. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Hinkle, David (July 3, 2012). "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD 'THPS 3' DLC brings back the revert". Joystiq. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Hit Points - Flying Again". GameTrailers. May 21, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  7. 1 2 Plunkett, Luke (December 10, 2011). "Tony Hawk's New Game is Tony Hawk HD". Kotaku. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
  8. ↑ slateman (December 10, 2011). "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD!!". Planet Tony Hawk (GameSpy). Archived from the original on April 22, 2012. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
  9. ↑ Santalego, Nick (March 8, 2012). "Tony Hawk gets what Tony Hawk wants". XBLA Fans. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  10. ↑ Hinkle, David (May 8, 2012). "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD lands on Xbox Live and PSN in June". Joystiq. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Facebook Wall Photo". Activision via Facebook. May 16, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  12. ↑ "DLC Level Screenshots". Activision via Facebook. July 19, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  13. ↑ "THPS HD DLC Screens!". Activision via Facebook. September 7, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  14. ↑ Scoville, Max (March 10, 2012). "Max talks to TONY HAWK about Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD!". Destructoid. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  15. 1 2 Timothy J. Seppala. "Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD Soundtrack Revealed". The S+V Interview. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  16. 1 2 "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater for Xbox 360". GameRankings . Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  17. 1 2 "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater for Xbox 360". Metacritic . Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  18. 1 2 3 Rubens, Alex (July 18, 2012). "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD Review - Xbox 360". G4TV . Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  19. 1 2 3 Sullivan, Lucas (July 18, 2012). "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD review". GamesRadar . Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  20. 1 2 "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD - Review". July 19, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  21. ↑ Gerstmann, Jeff (July 18, 2012). "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD Review". Giant Bomb . Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  22. 1 2 Vargas, Nic (July 18, 2012). "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD Review". IGN. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  23. 1 2 Rudden, Dave (July 18, 2012). "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD review". Official Xbox Magazine . Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  24. ↑ Pinsof, Allistair (July 18, 2012). "Review: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD". Destructoid . Retrieved July 23, 2012.
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