Vault 1541: The Hawk Has Landed

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

The Hawk Has Landed

In 1999 Activision published Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (THPS) for the original PlayStation console and it was an instant hit. Developed by Neversoft, the game received a sequel just one year later aptly titled Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. Arguably the two best skateboarding video games at the time of their release, it heavily influenced the video game scene in the early 2000s as numerous other extreme sports received video game adaptions. Over the next 20 years the series would receive many more sequels and spin-offs but this Friday Activision is going back there where it all began as it releases the first two games rebuilt from the ground up in a remastered collection for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. It's developed by Vicarious Visions which has worked on the series previously, often responsible for the handheld equivalents. While all the original content with new graphics is here, there are also new tricks, secrets, challenges, and online multiplayer modes. Create-A-Skater and Create-A-Park have been upgraded too and much of the original soundtracks will be in the game as well, plus 37 more songs. This post isn't exactly about the remaster though and if you're familiar with the blog you probably know that magazine scans are next.

I went through my video game magazines and was able to find some preview and review coverage of the first game and two reviews of the second. Most of the scans are from the Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine and Next Generation (NextGen), with a preview from PSM and a N64 review from Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM). The Dreamcast magazine is over-sized as is at least one of the Next Generation issues so the scans got a little cut off on my scanner but all the relevant text is here.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater