Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 Series In The

Instead, remember the glory days of the late 90s and early 00s, because thats where youre going with Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 and 2.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 Series In The

By returning to the first two games in the franchise and modernizing them with changes large and small, developer Vicarious Visions reminds us why we fell in love with this series in the first place.

Vicarious Visions keeps the best parts of the game largely intact, but various enhancements, including a larger arsenal of tricks, lifts these classics to new heights.

Stringing together tricks feels amazing thanks to smoother controls, and the modern visuals look great in motion.

Featuring every single real-life skater from those first two games, an enhanced create-a-skater mode, and nearly every song from the classic soundtracks, this is a crowd-pleasing remaster bundle.

Stepping back into the shoes of Tony Hawk and crushing a halfpipe as Goldfingers Superman comes over my speakers brought a smile to my face.

However, this bundle also adds several current-day skaters and a huge selection of new songs.

By masterfully blending old with new, Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 and 2 lands on a sweet spot.

I was continually impressed by how gorgeous these new environments look.

Perhaps most surprising is how well the levels hold up today; skating through the streets of San Francisco and New York still feels great, and the timeless designs of Warehouse, Hangar, and the Chicago Skatepark have me returning time and again.

The levels feature fun paths on which you can chain together massive combos, as well as enormous ramps to launch off, countless rails and edges to grind on, and plenty of objects to smash through.

The only downside to these stages is that some of the objects youre supposed to destroy, like the schools bells or the No Skating signs in Minneapolis can be more difficult to spot since theres a lot more going on with the visuals now.

Once you finish, you can upload your creation to share with other players.

I loved exploring the community feature; my favorite created parks ended up being the zany ideas, like an automated rollercoaster for you to grind along, rather than the more traditional skateparks.

Unfortunately, I sometimes got stuck inside of objects in created parks as the pieces dont fit together as perfectly as they do in the developer-created levels.

In the frantic and fun online sessions, you compete in a randomized objective playlist of quick-hit matches where eight players vie for the top spot.

These objectives are as simple as getting the best score within the time limit or landing the best single combo, or as off-the-wall as graffiti mode, where you try to tag as many of the objects as possible by performing tricks on them.

I love how youre essentially into the next match as soon as you finish the one before it, with players able to seamlessly join and drop out without everyone else needing to return to a lobby.

Despite earning cash to spend on cosmetics in the skate shop, I didnt feel motivated to stick around for more than a few rounds at a time.

With contemporary visuals, smooth gameplay, and the iconic soundtrack you remember, the Tony Hawks Pro Skater franchise may once again have a bright future thanks to this terrific blast from the past.

When hes not writing or gaming, hes usually listening to music, watching UFC, or hopelessly rooting for a Baltimore or D.C.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 Full Version