Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
PlayStation
Nostalgia Factor:
I've always been aware of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. I know how it is so universally beloved. Not being a big skateboarding fan, the game has never really interested me, though, even armed with the knowledge that it is supposedly such a great game.
What made me finally reverse my stance and give the game a try? Almost every gaming podcast I listen to has done a Tony Hawk episode, and in every single podcast they praise the game. After about the fifth time of hearing how good this game was, I finally decided all right, all right. I'll give it a try. I am always trying to broaden my gaming horizons, after all. I didn't think I'd like Jet Set Radio, and it ended up getting an A+ when I played through it. Maybe I'd love Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, too.
Time to find out. My dear readers: after 24 years, I am finally playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater for the first time...
Story:
As far as I know, the game doesn't have any kind of story. I guess you can make one up in your mind where you're role playing as one of these skaters and working your way up the ranks.
Gameplay:
This game is laid out in a series of stages. Each stage contains five "tape challenges." These challenges usually follow a predictable formula:
1 Earn a fairly attainable high score for the stage
2 Pick up 5 collectibles
3 Pick up all the letters that spell "skate" that are scattered throughout the stage
4 Find a secret tape that is well-hidden somewhere in the stage
5 Earn a fairly difficult high score for the stage
You usually have about two or three minutes to play through the stage. You don't have to get all the tapes in one go. You can earn them one at a time if you want. I usually focused on the collectibles and the easy high score first.
Aside from the normal stages, there are also competitions where you are solely looking for high scores. You compete in a series of three heats against all the other skaters in the game. Basically, you have to rack up as high a score as possible so that you can rank in the top three skaters. If you do this, you earn a medal and pass the stage.
I hated these stages. The worst part about the game, for me, was doing tricks and earning a high score. Some of those challenges were just too ridiculously hard for me. I was doing the absolute best I could do, and couldn't crack the top three to save my life. I was able to "save scum" my way through one of these challenges, but I didn't even bother trying to complete Roswell. Way too dang tough.
Part of my problem is that the game doesn't come with a tutorial mode of any kind. Maybe the controls are explained a little better in the instruction manual (which I don't have). I had no idea how to do any of the tricks, and the game doesn't help you out one tiny bit. I had to kind of fumble my way through this part of the game, teaching myself as I went.
I feel that if I had a better understanding of how to do tricks and earn high scores (rather than just me jumping into the air and wildly jamming a bunch of buttons), I would have had a much better time playing this game.
Instead, this became a game that I sort of just tolerated. I didn't dislike the game or anything, but I wasn't ecstatic about it either. Whenever I'd fire this game up, I'd just be like "okay I guess I need to finish this" rather than coming into it for fun's sake.
I can see why people like this game, but I think the hype was a little too big for me, here. I came into this expecting it to be a transcendent experience, and instead it ended up being just sort of okay. Is this game going to go into my all-time favorite PS1 game list? Not a prayer.
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Graphics:
I suppose this looks decent for a 90s era PS1 game. The menus and the cutscenes of the skaters get you in the mood to skate. The actual character models in-game are nothing to get too excited about, but they do the trick.
Where the game shines visually is the stage design. The stages are generally pretty big, and full of detail. There are lots of places to explore, and plenty of surfaces where you can perform tricks. I won't say this game is beautiful or looks amazing or anything, because it doesn't. Aside from the occasional camera lapse, I don't think the game's visuals hinder it either.
Sound:
I've heard so much about this game's soundtrack. Like the game itself, I found it to be a bit overhyped. There are some good songs in this game, sure. My favorite has to be "Superman" by Goldfinger. There are a few others I enjoyed as well.
But on the whole, I found the soundtrack to be very unremarkable. There is almost nothing here I would listen to outside of this game. It's just not my kind of music. It fits the tone and theme of the game perfectly, so I can't knock it too much. Like I said, it is just not for me. If this game's music was a radio station in Grand Theft Auto, I would only listen to it when my favorite stations were on commercial break.
Overall:
I wanted to like this game more than I actually did. It's a fine game if you like this kind of thing. The problem is, I don't. I had high hopes for this game after loving Jet Set Radio, but this game is nowhere near as fun as that one.
I am not going to hate on this game too much. I understand that it is a very influential game and that people love it. I can see how this game can be fun if you're a fan of skateboarding. Even not being a fan of the genre, I still found myself getting caught up in the game, looking for the hidden tapes and letters and collectibles. That was the best part of the game for me, and the most fulfilling.
The high score challenges? Not so much.
I'm glad I played this game and satisfied my curiosity. I may not have liked it much, but at least now I've seen what all the fuss is about. Unfortunately, I just had an average time here. I didn't like it, but I didn't necessarily hate it either. Everything about it was just average to me. Hence, the final score you are about to read.
THE GRADE:
C
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