Ten years ago, if you asked a gamer about the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series, they’d grin ear to ear. For good reason: the first entries weren’t just killer skateboarding games, they were so tightly designed and focused that they made everyone who played feel like a skate god. Time hasn’t been kind to the Hawk franchise, but Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD looks to change that. Chicago-based developer Robomodo has remastered a handful of levels from Pro Skater 1 and 2, stripping away the tripe that bloated later releases. Back are two-minute time limits; short lists of goals; and classic skaters like Eric Koston, Andrew Reynolds, and Rodney Mullen (also hopefully to return is at least some of the original soundtrack, but the rights agreements remain to be worked out). Gone is getting off the board and racing tuner cars around New Jersey. As someone who blistered his thumbs shredding around the “School” and “Warehouse” levels (I even nabbed a 99.9 score from all three judges in the game’s Chicago competition in THPS1) I can’t wait to do it all again in HD.
