Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 Review – Skating It Safe
Reviewed on:
PlayStation 5
Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Publisher:
Activision
Developer:
Iron Galaxy Studios
Rating:
Teen
Just as the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series made skateboarding more approachable through gameplay, it also brought an at-the-time alternative culture into the homes of players around the world. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, which combines a remake of arguably the most beloved entry in the series with a follow-up that represented the first major deviation into one homogenized package, masterfully recreates the gameplay pleasures of these games. THPS 3 + 4 is going to please any fan of the series, and it will highlight for newcomers the amusement these games packed in 2001 and 2002. However, it struggles to convey the context of these games to anyone not already familiar with their history, erasing the aforementioned deviation in the process. Booting up THPS 3 + 4 feels like it did more than two decades ago on my PlayStation 2, and hopping into my first run was an evocative moment. It’s a cliche, but these games look as good as my rose-tinted glasses make the originals appear in my memories (and after watching some old gameplay videos, those rose-tinted glasses are doing a ton of heavy lifting). The same can’t be said for the NPCs, though; they still look ridiculous.
Part of the appeal of THPS has always been its ease of access into skateboarding culture, the way MTV and Jackass influences it and vice versa, and the way it shaped music and fashion sense for players around the world. Despite enjoying the gameplay of 3 + 4, I struggled throughout my time with the game to see that approachability. If you aren’t already aware of the series’ place in pop culture, this remake does nothing to bring you up to speed. I’d argue a remake, specifically, doesn’t need to do that, but given that Iron Galaxy has included additional, more modern songs, updated brands, new skaters, and more, it’s clear it wants 3 + 4 to fit into 2025. Crucially, though, despite including these touchstones of modern culture, they feel like inclusions built on brand deals and quick visits to stores like Vans and Zumiez rather than a deeper understanding of a once alt-culture’s rise into a worldwide phenomenon, or why these games were so impressionable in the early aughts. This became all the more apparent when I reached the back half of the package. THPS 4’s Career Mode had been sanded down to fit nicely within the rest of the original games rather than standing out as the series’ new direction. The open world-lite nature of THPS 4, which worked as both a foundational step to Tony Hawk’s later entries like Underground and American Wasteland and as an illuminating viewport into skate culture’s rise in society, is gone; in its place, a two-minute timer and a list of goals, just like in the first three games. It is, ultimately, a smart call and makes for a better game. But even as I was 100-percenting its levels, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Does it make for a better remake?” Though I prefer the remade version of 4 as it appears in this package, it inarguably loses much of its identity. Homogenizing THPS 4 strips away what made it different. While it is easily a better experience to play in the remake, with its more streamlined focus, it feels more like a THPS 3 add-on than a remake of a fourth game. This is not a modern way to play 4; it’s a different way to play 4. That said, turning THPS 4 into essentially a level pack for THPS 3, the best in the series, is incredibly satisfying from a pure gameplay standpoint. The two-minute run version of these games is the best way to explore and learn these levels, and new collectible placements, secret decks, secret shop unlocks, and skater stat boosts hidden throughout each breathe new life into these familiar hangs. I enjoyed that collecting cash and stats in each level directly affected my created-skater progression, allowing them to feel unique in a stacked roster of classic pros and series newcomers that make sense in a remake. Though there are welcome “game mods” that allow you to change how long a run is, alongside many others like perfect manual and grind balance or a never-bail setting, Iron Galaxy Studios makes it implicit that the two-minute run is the best way to play. Learning each level on a timer naturally quarters off spaces in a delightful way. “Okay, this run I’m going to focus on this half-pipe to reach the Sick Score, and my next run, I’ll focus on collecting the S-K-A-T-E letters,” are the kind of thoughts I had throughout my time with the game.
And just when I started to grow bored with a level after collecting everything and completing its goals, the next level was there waiting for me, ready to refresh my interest and enjoyment. That was especially the case in the three new levels Iron Galaxy Studios created for THPS 4, specifically. These are incredible achievements of creativity, fitting in with the classic levels you know and love, both as combo-creating arenas and easter egg-infused playgrounds. While the name implies a pro skateboarding experience, THPS is actually a rolling platformer collectathon atop a skateboard. There is a ton of meat on this goal-based collectathon, but save for a few shake-ups to the formula with competition levels, if you don’t like its flavor, you will walk away from the table starving.
Multiplayer provides the type of shake-up I was left wanting after poring through the single-player Career Modes, letting me challenge other players in a variety of arcade experiences. While the rules differ, each ultimately boils down to high scores and long combos on the same levels from Career Mode. I’ll be having a lot of fun in THPS 3 + 4’s multiplayer suite, but it’s not without its minor caveats. I’m bewildered that there is no level voting between rounds; you play on the level 3 + 4 randomly selects for you. I’m just as confused by the lack of playlist options; there is just one moshpit mode that randomly decides the next minigame you’ll play, with no player choice involved, and two more modes that are specifically new additions. The new H-A-W-K mode, which tasks you with hiding H-A-W-K letters around a level for other skaters to find, and the Free Skate option, which lets you hang out in a level with up to seven other skaters, are welcome additions, though. The Create-A-Park suite is easier to use and more streamlined than ever before, but it is something I look forward to exploring as more players get their hands on it (to create better parks than I ever could). The THPS series shaped my music taste, fashion sense, and more while also delivering an incredibly fun timesink on my PlayStation 2. A perfect remake of these games would do the same all these years later, or at least remind me why they were so impressionable when I was growing up. While Iron Galaxy has excellently modernized the gameplay and graphics of these classics to feel right in 2025, I wish it had done a better job of highlighting the influence these games once had in their heyday.
Score:
8
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