Skateboard was such a huge thing. Back in the late 90’s there weren’t many PS1 owners who didn’t have or hadn’t played the Tony Hawk’s gaming series. Achieving its peak with Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2, the franchise in recent years has struggled. An HD PC release of the original (with some tweaks) was launched on the PC in 2012 to a fairly lukewarm response. Well, if you want it, it’s time to buy it as by this time next week, it will be gone from Steam forever!
Tony Hawks Pro Skater HD – Not as good as you remember!
Before you go running off to buy this slice of nostalgia, be warned. Tony Hawks Pro Skater HD is not as good as you remember, simply because, it doesn’t feel the same in the slightest. Since the report of the discontinuation of Tony Hawks Pro Skater HD started spreading people have been rushing in their droves to get it. Even better it’s currently at an 80% discount making it just £1.99 to buy. Now a Tony Hawks game for £1.99, how can I possibly lose here right? Well, take the time to visit the Steam page. In addition, take my work for it, this isn’t a good game.
What’s wrong with it?
Nothing feels quite right. Yes, I know that thing are never as good as you remember them, but in this instance, nothing feels right. It’s hard to explain, but for example, let’s say Nintendo re-released Mario World as an HD game (oh yes please). However, in this, they tweaked the Mario physics so he jumped 4 pixels higher than before. On the surface, it would appear the same, but in practice, it would just feel entirely wrong. THAT is Tony Hawks Pro Skater HD.
Now of course, if you’re not familiar with the older games in the series, go for it. For £1.99 you’re bound to get some entertainment from it, but, without meaning to sound like an old man, it isn’t anywhere near as good as the older ones.
Why is it being removed from Steam?
Hard to say, but usually, in these circumstances, it’s due to the skater music they fill it up with. A game of this type is usually only legally valid or licensed for a specific period. When the pre-arranged date expires, they have to stop officially selling the game.
It was a similar issue which led popular peripheral manufacturer MadCatz to eventually go bankrupt. They published far more copies of the instrument kits than sold and eventually, after their own fire sale, went under with about 500,000 units of Rock Band stock that they couldn’t legally sell.
Tony Hawk, although nowhere near as relevant today, still is a popular figure. There is a documentary in production at the moment regarding this although ironically that failed to meet a crowd-funding figure.
Will you be getting Tony Hawks Pro Skater HD? Do the reviews scare you too much? Or have you simply had your fill of skating games? Personally, I fall into the latter category.
I have had this game since around 2013, fell flat on its face, I hate it, played around 9 hours and i’m done.