![]() ![]() You still get graffiti and straight trick-attack modes to play on Xbox Live, but a lot of players remember Tony Hawks as much for its split-screen play as the single-player action, so these are serious omissions. Secondly, there’s no split-screen play and no HORSE mode. It’s clean and uncluttered, but also a little bit flat and colourless. Some of the textures are rough or lacking in detail, the architecture is boxy and there’s very little going on in the backgrounds. The skaters and the environments have all been remodelled and reanimated, but Pro Skater HD still looks dated. Firstly, the HD graphics are a bit disappointing. However, there are two things that might. ![]() Still, neither of these issues will seriously put off existing fans. There’s no tutorial, no hand-holding and very little information on what to do or how to go about it, and while this won’t be a problem for those who played Pro Skater and Pro Skater 2 in their teens, it will be to those who are coming to Pro Skater HD as their first Tony Hawk. Pro Skater HD is also going to be a tough one for newbies. The more we played, the more we started to think rose-tinted thoughts not of the original Pro Skater, but of Tony Hawk’s Project 8 with its more relaxed, free-roaming approach and easy-going, comedy vibes. Some will counter that this style of play is true to the original, but it can still make playing the game feel like a chore. The way you progress through levels encourages you to just keep working away at an objective until you finish it off, and to make things worse unlocking the next level only unlocks it for the current skater, so if you want to try another face with different skills, then you’ll just have to work your way through the earlier levels first.ĭespite a helpful map, some objectives are also difficult to work out unless you put a lot of time into the level. Frankly, there are times when Pro Skater HD is a bit of a grind. The urge to have one more go and get it right next time is very powerful. Then you’ll really go to work, finding ways to complete objectives in the time available, sometimes scraping a victory, sometimes falling short by a few seconds, then coming back for another go. ![]() You’ll come to each level unsure what to do, and slowly start feeling out the runs, searching for the collectibles and spotting, say, the key rails you need to grind to meet an objective. Within a few minutes, everything will come back to you. ![]() If you played the original games and loved them, then playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD is just like getting back on an old bike. The physics are more arcade than in EA’s Skate series or some later Tony Hawks titles, and the controls are simpler too, with old-school, button-based moves instead of fancy-pants right-stick manoeuvres. With no time to waste you’re forced to focus on objectives, working out the lines, tricks and combos that will give you the maximum score, or searching for the collectibles and working out the ways in which you have to reach the more difficult hall-passes or letters. In a lot of ways, this simplicity is a strength. The challenge? Anything you want to achieve has to be achieved within a two minute time-limit. Goals include collecting the SKATE letters, finding other collectibles, busting stacks of barrels or boxes and pulling off enough grinds and tricks to rack up basic and pro-level high scores. At first only one level, the first game’s Warehouse, is accessible, but completing four goals in this unlocks the next one, School II, and completing four goals in that will unlock the next one, The Hangar. This really is a back to basics exercise, with the single player campaign consisting of little more except seven levels, each with a number of goals, and a selection of skaters with which to complete them. If not, then you’ll still get a fine skateboarding action game, but maybe not such an excellent time. If you want a game to sate your nostalgia, it will more than do the job. This year’s first Xbox Live Summer of Arcade title isn’t quite a reboot, a remake or an HD remaster, but it takes elements from Tony Hawk Pro Skater and its sequel, updates the graphics and throws in online play. With Pro Skater HD they’ve got their wish. ![]()
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