The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series was the pinnacle of skateboarding games from 1999 to 2002. They had a massive impact on budding skaters and gamers alike. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 is a completely remade version of the 3rd and 4th games, lovingly recreated by Iron Galaxy, published by Activision, a company that loves nostalgia. I didn’t realise the full impact the Pro Skater series had on me until I got back on the board. All the feelings of absolute joy came flooding back.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 in 2020 was a great kick-off point back into the series. I didn’t feel the same momentum until I picked up the controller to play Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 on PlayStation 5. The game brings back everything we know and love about the series, featuring slick new visuals and refined gameplay, along with returning classic parks and three brand-new parks designed by Iron Galaxy. To top off an already stacked package, a Photo Mode has been added, a Secret Shop, bonus end-game content, a park creation mode, and Public Free Skate.

From the moment I got through the splash screen, I was already met with certified banger, Lupe Fiasco’s Kick Push, geeing me up before I had even selected my skater. The roster is massive, featuring 31 real-life professional skaters and a few bonus pop culture icons. The deluxe edition features special guests, including the Doom Slayer and a Revenant enemy, both from the more recent Doom games. It also includes songs from the Doom soundtrack, as well as themed skate decks and customisation options. 

Once you pick a skater, it’s a good idea to pop into the incredibly helpful tutorial to practice your moves by the San Francisco waterside. It can feel like information overload. Learning by doing is the most effective way to achieve pro-skater status. Every time I fell, I got back up and back on the board, no problems. Pulling off a combo is crazy satisfying once I got the hang of it. For those of us who need some help, “Game Mods” adjust gameplay difficulty to suit your preferences.

I found the 2-minute time-limited runs too restrictive, and they didn’t leave it timeless, like the original games. Being able to adjust the time limit up to 60 minutes allows much more freedom to skate and play. With mods, those looking for a chill time can toggle Perfect Balance, No Bails, and more, making the elusive high scores much more achievable. The controls on the PS5’s DualSense controller are intuitive, featuring various button combinations that allow for executing tricks. I found it strange that the default X and Y axis controls were inverted; that said, it’s a quick fix in the settings.

Career mode is where I spent most of my time, with 9 parks and 3 competition maps in both Pro Skater 3 and 4, there’s plenty to keep a budding skater occupied. Objectives range from scoring combos by getting tricky on ramps, grinding on rails, and generally skating in style to netting massive points. Each park has different Goals, with stacks of new and returning objectives. Of course, the classics include collecting S-K-A-T-E letters, performing certain tricks in the environment, and causing general chaos across the park.

Meeting several objectives within the 2-minute time limit is darn near impossible. Sure, the time pressure adds an extra challenge to the “Pro” skater element. It removes some accessibility for those of us who are less graceful skaters. Iron Galaxy alleviated some of this with the mods. As a default, I was surprised the timing wasn’t more generous. 

With 18 parks, there are heaps of areas to explore. With collectables including Stat Points, Secret Tapes, Skateboards, and Iron Galaxy Logos to add goodies to the Secret Shop, which just gave even more replayability to an already addictive gameplay loop. 

Parks look incredibly gorgeous, from the original, including the starter stage, Foundry. A great deal of love has gone into recreating the original with modern-day updates. There’s a significant step up in visuals, with more saturated colours, particle effects such as sparks from various gears and steam from multiple heat sources, and incredible lighting. Maps feel much more dynamic than the original, which looks much more washed out.

Parks like The Cruise Ship feel much more impressive with a vibrant palette while cruising along the upper and lower decks of a massive ship. The new parks, Waterpark, Movie Studio, and the final park (avoiding spoilers) don’t feel out of place, while in Pro Skater 3, I was looking forward to seeing what was next, with quirky themes and goals. Pro Skater 4, however, felt underwhelming in comparison to the Park quality.

The most disappointing component is Competition Parks, which feature extremely short time limits to beat bots in a test of racking up the highest score. This is especially true since some of those stages, including Tokyo and Movie Studio, seemed ideally suited for a fully explorable park and had potential for more interactive set-pieces and quirky challenges. Some previously open Parks have been downsized to the Competition Parks, which seemed like an odd change.

Full parks that could be explored, however, were highlights, such as Cruise Ship and Airport from the original games; the new full park, Waterpark, fits in perfectly with drained pools and abandoned slides to take advantage of. Reaching Pro Skater status upon completing the career mode does feel rewarding. There was a slight underwhelming element to completion, as the game lacked story content and cutscenes to seal the deal, which, while true to the Pro Skater originals, feels like a missed opportunity for improvement.

The fun doesn’t stop at touring. For completionists, a brand-new bonus park is available upon completing the skate tour, along with opportunities to try pro goals and expert challenges. Speedrun puts players back into parks to complete goals within a limited time frame. Public Free Skate invites skaters to test their skills against the world leaderboards. This is just one of the many ways Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3+4 has brought a community feel into the game.

Local multiplayer remains from the original games, but online multiplayer has been introduced, featuring cross-play between PlayStation, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox. This includes an integrated voice chat system and additional multiplayer modes, making for a great time. The enhanced Create-A-Park mode allows players to create a park from scratch, including Create-A-Goal options. If you’re feeling generous, parks can be marked as “Remixable” so others can experience your skate park in the way they like.

In-game currency and unlocks can be used to unlock new skateboards, including the deck, grips, wheels, and tracks. I had a massive collection of decks before I even bought anything with the in-game currency, Skater Bucks, by completing challenges throughout the game, which unlocks some items in the shop and the Secret Shop. Create-A-Skater allows users to create a skater from scratch, from the basics, such as their identity, all the way to their skating style. Stats can be modified to better reflect your preferences, in addition to the stats earned during skating, and to equip extra tricks by earning slots with the Pro Combo challenge.

The visual customisation is expansive in apparel, with options for hairstyles, caps, shirts, pants, and shoes, allowing users to alter colourways and add different graphics. Brand names like Dickies, Vans, and even Red Bull make an appearance, giving that little extra oomph for that legit skater feel. What I miss most in the remakes is the move away from some sillier outfit options and challenges, such as skating downhill in a shopping cart in Alcatraz or having proper challenges handed out directly by NPCs while hanging out in the parks. 

Tony Hawk’s voice talent returns alongside other celebrity skaters and the bonus skaters. What doesn’t return quite the same is the soundtrack, which includes several songs from the original Pro Skater 3 and 4. Still, many of the original songs are missing. It did break some of that old-school nostalgia. The new tracks they had mainly were good picks, including Motörhead and Wavves, to cater to a variety of tastes. For those not huge fans of punk-grunge or rock, there may be a few misses in the bunch. Where the sound design thrives is in the interactions within parks, from hitting an NPC and getting a talking-to, to the super-satisfying score and combos. 

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 brings skating back to the forefront in a genre that receives far less attention than it deserves. The amount of content, gameplay additions, and graphical updates makes for a truly impressive combo. Iron Galaxy has set the stage for a revival of a beloved game series. I’m ready for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 now.

Written by: Yasmin Noble