Tony Hawk's Pro Skater celebrated its 25-year anniversary on September 29, 2024. Let's take a trip down memory lane to explore its humble beginnings and its profound impact as a groundbreaking platformer.
The 1990s were a golden era for skateboarding, with legends like Tony Hawk pushing the boundaries of what was thought possible. Stunts such as the loop of death, a 16ft ollie between water towers, and the first 900 revolutionized the sport. These feats, along with the personalities behind them, laid the groundwork for one of the most iconic platformers ever: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.
This 1999 gem has now reached a quarter-century milestone. Its legacy of exhilarating arcade gameplay, which led to eight sequels, millions in sales, and countless virtual skate sessions, remains as vibrant today as it was during the peak of the X Games. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater elevated skateboarding to a new cultural height, inspiring people of all ages, especially kids, to take up the sport in real life after navigating digital skate parks.
Tony Hawk and fellow skaters were not just popularizing skateboarding; they were transforming it into an extreme sport. Skateboarders were akin to superheroes, soaring through traffic and grinding on power lines. Hawk aimed to capture this exhilarating experience in a game, partnering with Neversoft to create a demo that made anyone feel like a skateboarding superhero, regardless of their skill level.
"Activision called me, and I knew instantly that this was the project I wanted to be part of," Hawk recalled in a 2017 interview with Jenkem. "The game was already fun to play, even for those who didn't know how to skate, and the controls were intuitive."
Hawk's journey from a California warehouse to a secret military facility in Roswell, New Mexico, is considered one of the greatest skateboarding games ever made. It encapsulated the essence of skate culture through its music and style. However, another reason for its success was its invigorating exploration and platforming, which were among the best in the genre.
"We never wanted players to accidentally perform moves they didn't intend. We aimed for precise control," said Scott Pease, producer of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, in a 2019 interview with The Ringer. "When you press a button and snap into a rail, it feels like you're truly doing it, rather than the game taking over."
While Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is categorized as a sports game, its core mechanics set it apart from platformers like Mario, Astro Bot, and Fall Guys. The game's essence lies in navigating tricky jumps with precise timing and chaining movements into seamless lines, much like the heroes in their wild adventures.
Grinding across a movie theater's showtime display in Minneapolis or ollieing over a cable car in San Francisco were just a few of the fantastical challenges that added to the game's appeal. Each early park was a seamless blend of exploration, platforming, and style-themed challenges, offering a different kind of fun with each two-minute run.
Subsequent games enhanced the parks' realism, introducing pedestrians in Pro Skater 3, animals in Pro Skater 4, and the ability to dismount the board in Underground. The original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, built on Neversoft's earlier project Apocalypse, featured straightforward movement mechanics. Later games improved upon this, introducing manuals, natural trick combinations, and advanced game development technology.
The combination of fantastic movement and open playgrounds made Tony Hawk's Pro Skater accessible to almost anyone. While tricks were important, the freedom to explore was the true draw.
"Many people said, 'You can't make a game purely based on tricks. It won't work,'" Pease recounted in an interview with Polygon. "We leaned into the natural act of skating in a real environment, encouraging exploration and creativity."
The studios behind the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series have since disbanded. Neversoft, the creators of the 1999 hit, dissolved in 2014. Vicarious Visions, responsible for the 2020 remaster, was integrated into other Activision Blizzard teams. Despite this, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 was a massive success, selling over a million copies in two weeks. Players continue to enjoy the create-a-park mode, even with limited online support.
The love for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater's simple yet joyful gameplay is profound. Fans were disheartened when a remake of the second and third games was reportedly rejected in favor of Call of Duty development. However, Activision considers Tony Hawk's Pro Skater an "important core" franchise, sparking hope for future remakes and new games.
Under Microsoft's new ownership, there's potential for the franchise to be revisited. A new game could build on the incredible premise of a skateboarding platformer, but the legacy of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater will forever stand alongside Mario.
"Thanks to Activision, Neversoft (RIP), and all of you who played THPS in those formative years," Tony Hawk posted on Instagram to commemorate the 25th anniversary. "I can't tease anything about the future of the series, but there will be a future."
The demand for fantastic platformers remains strong, as evidenced by games like Astro Bot, Super Mario Odyssey, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2. Players, both new and old, would feel at home on the digital concrete of a new Tony Hawk game, especially if Hawk ensures the game experience lives up to the hype of real-world skateboarding.
