We got what was probably one of the best remakes in years in 2020 with the release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, and hopes of further remakes for games in the series were dashed when Vicarious Visions was merged into Blizzard, and the initial version of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 was cancelled. A few years later, however, Iron Galaxy picked up the reins and delivered those same skateboarding thrills, though it wasn’t without some losses.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4
Developer: Iron Galaxy
Price: $49.99
Platform: Nintendo Switch 2, PC (reviewed), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for review
Few franchises bring the quite the same, unadulterated joy that the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series does for me, so it’s been an absolute delight not only being able to play the four mainline games without the need of an emulator, but that they (for the most part) surpass the originals which is the mark of a great remake. THPS 1+2 crossed that line, and while THPS 3+4 sort of puts a foot over while holding the other back, there’s a lot to love here still.
Iron Galaxy has thankfully kept things cohesive with THPS 1+2 for the most part, with the realistic but colorful aesthetics of the gameplay to the graffiti inspired menu design. It makes this feel less like an individual release and more of a unified package with THPS 1+2. And continuing from those two games, all the skating techniques that were in THPS 4 but not 3 have been included in 3 to help modernize it. Iron Galaxy successfully did what all great remakes should do, and that’s make the game play and look like your rose-tinted memories of the original do. Just like THPS 1+2 before it, THPS 3+4 feels like a dream to play as I immediately got back into the rhythm of spine transferring between floats in College, or chaining grinds in the Airport. You can still kit out your chosen skater (with an updated roster of new and returning pros) with a litany of moves, customize their skills, unlock new boards or clothing through completing challenges, and basically anything else you remember from THPS 1+2 returns here.
Now, the next thing will potentially upset die-hard THPS4 fans, but Iron Galaxy has opted to remove THPS4’s free skate structure to be more in line with THPS 1-3’s two-minute timer format. The levels in 4 remain relatively the same (save for a few slight changes) and lots of the goals are still there (you’ll still be skitching the dean’s car in College), but they all operate under the same two-minute timer that the previous games operate on. On one hand, I get the logic behind keeping all four games cohesive, but it’s still a slight bummer, especially for someone who really loved THPS4 growing up. Thankfully, however, there’s a “cheat” you can activate to increase the game’s timer (across both titles, not just THPS4) so you can kind of recreate the free skate feeling from THPS4 this way.
In terms of notable new changes, the levels Chicago and Carnival have been replaced in THPS4’s level roster with Movie Studio, Waterpark, and Pinball; the latter two, which are refreshingly novel inclusions to the franchise and might be two of my new favorite levels. Waterpark tosses you in (you guessed it) a waterpark filled with empty pools and slides for you to skate across with some really fun level effects like smashing pipes to spray water everywhere. Pinball, however, is one of the most high-concept levels the series has had, with you skating inside a pinball machine while Tony Hawk himself is playing pinball. It’s a really out-there level, and I honestly hope that if this franchise continues, they try their hand at more stuff like this that isn’t grounded in realism.
Here’s where we talk about the most glaring issue with this game, and I want to preface this that it’s not like this ruins the game, but it’s an issue nonetheless. Activision has absolutely gutted the soundtracks from the original two games and replaced them almost entirely with either new music or new songs from artists on the original soundtrack. From the initial 55 total songs from both original games, only ten have returned; this means that in a soundtrack of 59 tracks in this remake, only a measly ten original songs have returned, with 49 new ones making up more than the bulk.
Initially, this choice was assumed to be a money situation; I’d understand if Activision wanted to be cheap and not license songs that are significantly pricier than they were twenty years ago, but we’ve come to learn this isn’t the case. They actively chose not to include most of the original soundtracks, and as someone who intimately played those two original games, you can feel their loss. Songs like AC/DC’s TNT, or The Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop, were staples, and not having them just feels off.
That’s not to say the new stuff is terrible; I actually think the new additions were really smartly chosen. New inclusions like King Gizzard, Turnstile, Run the Jewels, and 100 gecs are great additions that perfectly fit the vibe, but I would’ve preferred it if it were a more even split between old and new as opposed to the crumbs we got.
The Final Word
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 is an unfortunate monkey paw situation; we got what we wanted, which was a great remake of 3+4, albeit at the cost of most of the original soundtrack and the removal of 4’s free skate.
MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good