Tony Hawk series

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Retro STrife
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Tony Hawk series

Postby Retro STrife » November 7th, 2017, 9:59 am

Remember this series?.. it's funny how forgotten it's gotten nowadays, considering how huge it was back in the day. The first Tony Hawk game was revolutionary. It was one of the best sports games ever made when it came out.. so good that it got gamers watching skateboarding (myself included), and got skateboarders playing video games. The next few games improved on the formula and were even better. I have fond memories playing it with my sister growing up--she was 10 years younger and these were her favorite games, probably because she was too young to play anything else, whereas she could jump around a Tony Hawk level and feel like she was playing it.

I played THPS 1 through 4 back in the day and they were among my favorites games then. By THPS 4, the games started feeling too similar to spend money on, so I sat out the next couple. By the time I looked up, the newer games were getting awful reviews, so I've never gone back to it. While THPS 2 is the best reviewed in the series (in fact, per GameRankings aggregate score, it's the highest-rated sports game ever), my personal favorite was THPS 3, which added the revert system and allowed for huge combo chains. Now it's been long enough that I'm thinking of going back and trying one of the Tony Hawk games that I missed.

Anyone else have good memories of playing this series back when it was good? Anyone played the old games recently enough and, if so, how do they hold up? Any recommendations for which game after THPS 4 was the best? I'm thinking Tony Hawk's Underground for PS2, but open to suggestions.

CharlieR
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Re: Tony Hawk series

Postby CharlieR » November 7th, 2017, 12:31 pm

You read my mind. I’ve been playing through the console versions a ton lately, and this is my favorite game series. I played through a ton of Tony Hawk 4, which is my favorite game of all time. I have been playing a lot of 3 lately, as to unlock secret levels and characters you have to beat all 54 goals and get 3 gold medals multiple times. Kind of a weird way to have you unlock stuff by beating the game over and over, but these games are so good I don’t mind.

They do hold up incredibly well in my opinion. Love how each game added new moves. 2 added manuals, 3 added revert, 4 added spine transfers, flatland tricks, the underground games allowed you to get off your board, and American wasteland added bert slides, which weren’t all that memorable but still fun. The first game is still legendary, although you’ll be trying to pull off manuals when you aren’t able to.

Tony hawk 2x for original xbox is one I played a lot. It has the THPS 2 career, as well as three exclusive 2x levels; well the skate park is from underground. You unlock the career from the first game after you beat the career of the second game, but your stats are already so high that beating the high scores is really easy.

Love this series, and as for the best game after THPS 4, you can’t really go wrong with either underground game, or American Wasteland. Underground 2 and Wasteland have a classic mode, Although some levels in classic mode are taken from the story mode, and feel just a tad big for classic mode. Wasteland and the first Underground have Alkaline Trio on the soundtrack!

The stat point system varies throughout the games. 2 you buy stats, 3 has them scattered throughout the level, 4 you earn stats by beating goals, underground 1, 2, and wasteland have you leveling up RPG-style by grinding, manualing, etc. Great games.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Tony Hawk series

Postby Retro STrife » November 7th, 2017, 8:27 pm

Cool, glad to see the series hasn't lost all its fans! Yeah I think I'm choosing between Underground 1 for PS2 and Wasteland for Xbox 360. I prefer the concept of Underground and prefer the PS2 controller for these games... but I have a 360 in my living room (whereas my PS2 is in my gameroom), so I'd be more likely to play Wasteland if I got it. Maybe I'll grab both. Underground is cheap, but surprisingly Wasteland can run $15-$20 for the 360 version.

Bonus THPS trivia... Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 was the last game ever released for the N64. Learned that just a few weeks ago. I was in a game of video game Jeopardy at a game convention and "The last released N64 game" was the Final Jeopardy question. No one guessed right. My guess was Madden 2002, but that came out a few months before THPS3.

CharlieR
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Re: Tony Hawk series

Postby CharlieR » November 8th, 2017, 8:37 am

That is weird that the 360 version is $15-$20 while the others are cheaper. My guess is that is that it was the "forgotten" version. American wasteland was popular on Ps2 and Xbox, but it came out when the 360 was brand new I believe. From what I've read, the xbox version is backwards compatible and cheap. From what I've seen on Rad Rat video (very informative YouTube channel,) the xbox version has better graphics, but uses spin and revert as the same trigger button I think. I had the gamecube versions of 3, 4, and the underground games, but bought the ps2 versions instead because I felt the ps2 controller was best suited for these games. You want a d-pad where your thumb naturally rests.

I did know that fact about THPS 3 being the last n64 game. Most are sports games, ps1 and 2 both had soccer games I think.

What are everyone's favorite levels in the games? Though I don't really like those "downhill" type levels, like the mall and downhill jam in the first game, I do really like the airport level in THPS 3. I also love are Kona in THPS 4 and Florida in Underground.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Tony Hawk series

Postby Retro STrife » November 8th, 2017, 5:10 pm

Well, I ended up buying the 360 version of American Wasteland on ebay. Cost $20, but being able to play it in my living room made it worth it to me. I could have bought the Xbox version (it's backwards compatible), but I saw some reports about glitches with playing it on 360. The Playstation controller is definitely the ideal THPS controller, due to it's D-pad and shoulder buttons, but I figured the 360 controller would be a close second. I still plan to buy Underground for the PS2 as well, since it's only around $5 or so.

And yeah I think Wasteland was a launch title for the 360, which is why it flew under the radar and seems to have lower supply and higher prices. Other than that one and THPS3 for N64, most Tony Hawk games are dirt cheap these days.. yet another good reason to catch up on them.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Tony Hawk series

Postby Retro STrife » November 8th, 2017, 5:17 pm

I know it's unlikely, but I'd be interested to see if there's someone here who has never played these games before and gives one of the old ones a shot for the first time, just to see what they think.

My guess is they'd still be fun to a newcomer. You don't need to care about skateboarding or sports games to like these games. It's just good arcade-style fun. THPS 2 or 3 is the best start, IMO, preferably on a Sony system. Cheap games too.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Tony Hawk series

Postby Retro STrife » November 9th, 2017, 11:35 pm

Update: I'm an idiot and already own Tony Hawk Underground for PS2... Just found it in my stack of disc only PS2 games. Based on the $1 sticker on it, looks like I probably snagged it from a flea market or convention within the last few years. Have too much junk and didn't even realize I already had it.

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AtariToday
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Re: Tony Hawk series

Postby AtariToday » November 10th, 2017, 5:23 am

Tony Hawk was great! I had it on the Nintendo 64 after it came out. After moving on from the Nintendo 64 to the Dreamcast (that new Sega machine was just the coolest) I repurchased Tony Hawk and was thrilled by the new visuals and full soundtrack. Tony Hawk 2 was purchased shortly after and so many hours were spent on both titles. I'll say that Tony Hawk 2 is still my all time favorite out of the series. I've played other titles from the line on PS2 and Gamecube, but TH2 was never topped in my book.

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LoganRuckman
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Re: Tony Hawk series

Postby LoganRuckman » November 15th, 2017, 6:22 pm

The old THPS games were great. 4 is my personal favorite because it went more open ended. Sorry Critic, I have to disagree with your review of THPS4.

Oh, and the soundtracks in those games are god tier

CharlieR
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Re: Tony Hawk series

Postby CharlieR » November 16th, 2017, 9:25 am

Yeah, I love THPS 4. I found the goals to be the most fun and challenging. The game gets more challenging as it goes on (like every other game ever,) but there are still really easy goals still pop up later in the game. The Shipyard level later in the game has a goal called “gap the suspended containers,” where you literally just spine transfer six times, and that’s it. Love the game .

I did enjoy the games after it, but at a certain point, the games got too realistic. Proving ground had you creating ramps and stuff, and didn’t feel like a Tony Hawk game. That’s not to say the THPS didn’t have moves realistic to skateboarding. Each game introduced manuals, reverts, spine transfers, all while retaining a fun, arcade style gameplay. Games like Project 8 and Proving ground don’t have that, and aren’t as fun. I play the Tony Hawk games a lot, but rarely play Project 8 and Proving ground.

The soundtracks in these games are amazing, and I’d say 4, underground, and American Wasteland are my fave.

I also recently played through some off the Tony Hawk games on GBA. Those games can be pretty fun once you get used to the isometric viewpoint, which can be awkward, as you bump into things a lot.


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