I've been playing a lot of Tony Hawk games the past month or so. And for the first time ever, I played more than just the first game in the series.
My history with the games in the series...
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (1)
I can remember when this game first came out, I was kinda blown away by how much fun it was. At that time, the N64 was the only system I had that it was available on. I can remember renting it from Blockbuster and absolutely loving it. I rented it a few more times after that, but game purchases were far and few between back then, so I wasn't able to get my own copy.
Fast forward a few years and I got my first Dreamcast. This was shortly after the DC was discontinued, and the games were dirt cheap on the used market. I found a used copy of Tony Hawk Pro Skater for Dreamcast at my local Blockbuster. I had no idea there was even a port of the game on the DC. In came in a jewel case with the front and back cover art, but although it had the front cover artwork the instructions were still missing (torn out). And the disc had a nasty Blockbuster sticker that covers the entire thing. I didn't care though, I was super happy to finally get a copy of this game.
I had only ever played the N64 version, so I was kinda surprised with the Dreamcast version. I mean, I knew the graphics would be better, but I had no idea how much missing content there was in the N64 version. The songs aren't just short loops anymore, there's video screens in levels, there's blood when you fall, and it really is the best looking port of the first game.
I ended up playing a crap ton of the first game on the Dreamcast. It wasn't long until I beat the game with every character, at which point I had to start a new save file LOL. By this time, many more games in the series had been released. But I never wanted to play any of them. I loved the first game so much, I was afraid that by playing the later games in the series that they would make the first game boring by comparison.
I played so much of the first game on the DC that whenever I play it on a different console, when I save I'm still expecting to hear the VMU beep LOL.
There is one downside to the DC version, however. The controller. Mainly, the D-pad. Since THPS uses all 8 directions for different tricks, it's just too easy to accidentally input the wrong direction on the DC D-pad. It's kinda frustrating. On an occasion, I would play the N64 or PS1 version, and those respective D-pads are just so much better for the game. At this point though, it's kinda tough to go back to the N64 version. Although I'll pop it in from time to time, just for a bit of nostalgia. The PS1 version holds up better, it's just that the graphics aren't as good as on the DC. So that's the trade off for me: PS1 has the better controller, but DC has the better graphics.
And yeah, you can't reminisce about THPS without talking about the soundtrack. I mean, holy shit, that soundtrack was and still is killer. The thing is, a lot of those songs are nothing I would ever listen to. But that's one thing that I loved about them. The game made me listen to music I otherwise wouldn't have listened to. And the track list is just perfect for the game. Every songs pumps you up, they just seem to fit so well.
Fast forward a few years and I got my first Dreamcast. This was shortly after the DC was discontinued, and the games were dirt cheap on the used market. I found a used copy of Tony Hawk Pro Skater for Dreamcast at my local Blockbuster. I had no idea there was even a port of the game on the DC. In came in a jewel case with the front and back cover art, but although it had the front cover artwork the instructions were still missing (torn out). And the disc had a nasty Blockbuster sticker that covers the entire thing. I didn't care though, I was super happy to finally get a copy of this game.
I had only ever played the N64 version, so I was kinda surprised with the Dreamcast version. I mean, I knew the graphics would be better, but I had no idea how much missing content there was in the N64 version. The songs aren't just short loops anymore, there's video screens in levels, there's blood when you fall, and it really is the best looking port of the first game.
I ended up playing a crap ton of the first game on the Dreamcast. It wasn't long until I beat the game with every character, at which point I had to start a new save file LOL. By this time, many more games in the series had been released. But I never wanted to play any of them. I loved the first game so much, I was afraid that by playing the later games in the series that they would make the first game boring by comparison.
I played so much of the first game on the DC that whenever I play it on a different console, when I save I'm still expecting to hear the VMU beep LOL.
There is one downside to the DC version, however. The controller. Mainly, the D-pad. Since THPS uses all 8 directions for different tricks, it's just too easy to accidentally input the wrong direction on the DC D-pad. It's kinda frustrating. On an occasion, I would play the N64 or PS1 version, and those respective D-pads are just so much better for the game. At this point though, it's kinda tough to go back to the N64 version. Although I'll pop it in from time to time, just for a bit of nostalgia. The PS1 version holds up better, it's just that the graphics aren't as good as on the DC. So that's the trade off for me: PS1 has the better controller, but DC has the better graphics.
And yeah, you can't reminisce about THPS without talking about the soundtrack. I mean, holy shit, that soundtrack was and still is killer. The thing is, a lot of those songs are nothing I would ever listen to. But that's one thing that I loved about them. The game made me listen to music I otherwise wouldn't have listened to. And the track list is just perfect for the game. Every songs pumps you up, they just seem to fit so well.
As mentioned above, I never wanted to play the sequels because I liked the first game so much. I guess I knew the sequels would be better, and I didn't want them to take any fun away from the first game. So I put off playing them for so long. I eventually got copies of THPS2 on PS1 and Dreamcast, but I never played much of them. Maybe just a few minutes. It wasn't until about 2 years ago that I finally played more of the second game. I got an Xbox 360 for the first time, and was looking for OGXBOX games to try. I noticed that it had an exclusive upgraded version of the second game called 2X, so I picked it up. I played a decent amount of it, but didn't roll the credits.
It wasn't until just recently though that I really got into THPS2. I ended up playing the Dreamcast version. The DC still has the problem with its D-pad as it does for the first game, but now I have one of those Retro Fighters controllers.
The D-pad works very well for THSP games, and the controller is comfortable to use. So I ended up playing through the entire game and getting 100% with a couple of characters. Then I was curious to check out the PS1 version, and I got 100% with a couple of characters on that version as well. The PS1 version holds up well, obviously the graphics aren't as good as the DC version but the frame rate is weird.
After that, I went back to 2X on the Xbox, but something just seems off. I think it's the controller. The Xbox's D-pad works alright, to nail 8 directions with, but it just doesn't feel as comfortable to me as a PS controller. Or even the Retro Fighter's DC controller.
One cool thing about 2X is that it has a few extra levels that are exclusive to that version. They're OK, but nothing memorable I don't think. But 2X also has all of the original THPS levels, which sounds better than it is. It's kinda neat being able to play these levels with the THPS2 mechanics, but it breaks some things. Also, it's extremely weird playing THPS1 with THPS2's soundtrack! Although the Xbox is perfectly equipped to handle this. If you have the THPS1 soundtrack on CD, just rip it to the console and set that as your soundtrack in game for the THPS1 levels. But I'm way too lazy to do that LOL.
Speaking of the soundtracks though... I think THPS1 will forever have the most memorable soundtrack, but THPS2 really grew on me after playing it for so long. And the THPS2 levels grew on me, too. So I ended up really enjoying THPS2. Which, as I feared, now makes THPS1 feel really dated to go back to.
It wasn't until just recently though that I really got into THPS2. I ended up playing the Dreamcast version. The DC still has the problem with its D-pad as it does for the first game, but now I have one of those Retro Fighters controllers.
The D-pad works very well for THSP games, and the controller is comfortable to use. So I ended up playing through the entire game and getting 100% with a couple of characters. Then I was curious to check out the PS1 version, and I got 100% with a couple of characters on that version as well. The PS1 version holds up well, obviously the graphics aren't as good as the DC version but the frame rate is weird.
After that, I went back to 2X on the Xbox, but something just seems off. I think it's the controller. The Xbox's D-pad works alright, to nail 8 directions with, but it just doesn't feel as comfortable to me as a PS controller. Or even the Retro Fighter's DC controller.
One cool thing about 2X is that it has a few extra levels that are exclusive to that version. They're OK, but nothing memorable I don't think. But 2X also has all of the original THPS levels, which sounds better than it is. It's kinda neat being able to play these levels with the THPS2 mechanics, but it breaks some things. Also, it's extremely weird playing THPS1 with THPS2's soundtrack! Although the Xbox is perfectly equipped to handle this. If you have the THPS1 soundtrack on CD, just rip it to the console and set that as your soundtrack in game for the THPS1 levels. But I'm way too lazy to do that LOL.
Speaking of the soundtracks though... I think THPS1 will forever have the most memorable soundtrack, but THPS2 really grew on me after playing it for so long. And the THPS2 levels grew on me, too. So I ended up really enjoying THPS2. Which, as I feared, now makes THPS1 feel really dated to go back to.
After getting 100% with just one character in THPS2, I then went out to THPS3. I got three medals really quickly in THPS3, but the game was just feeling really bland to me so I didn't play more of it. It just seemed liked they were chasing in on the same formula, but THPS2 was the high point. THPS3 levels didn't seem as interested, the soundtrack seemed lame, and I guess I just played too much THPS too fast for it to be enjoyable. So I circled back to THPS2 and played that for a while longer.
Until a week or two ago, I fired up THPS3 again. Initially I had played it on the OGXBOX, but this time I decided to play the PS2 version. After some weeks had passed from playing it for the first time, some of the THPS3 levels and songs did stick in my head. And I realized that it's really not a bad game. So after playing it again on the PS2, I started to have a lot of fun with it.
There's a few things I don't like about it. While the soundtrack grew on me, I just don't think it's as rocking as the first two games. It just doesn't pump me up the way the first two games did. And the levels, some of them are kinda weak. While there aren't any levels that I straight up hate, there are a few that I kinda roll my eyes at. When I had first played the game, there were a few levels that I really didn't like, but they grew on me over time. Suburbia comes to mind. And I'm not a fan of the cruise ship, I still haven't managed to 100% it. I'm still having fun with THPS3, it's not that I don't like it, it's just that I don't think it hits the same highs for me that 1 and 2 did. Although I'll have to admit that it has the smoothest gameplay of the three.
After making it to the cruise ship and getting three gold medals on the PS2 version, I figured I just got better at the game with practice. So I fired back up the Xbox version to try and complete that save file, but I was having difficultly getting gold medals. I am noticeably worse at the game on the Xbox. It has to be the controller. I don't have a problem with the OGXBOX controller for most games, but for THPS the PS controller is just loads better in my opinion. Or rather, I'm loads better at the game with a PS controller versus Xbox.
When you look up side by side comparisons of THPS3 on Xbox versus PS2, the Xbox version has the edge. But really they're so close I don't care much. Once I'm playing the game, with nothing next to it to compare it to, I don't care much if the PS2 version isn't as smooth as the Xbox. The one thing that sucks is the Xbox version is 480p while the PS2 is 480i, which matters when using an HDTV. So I've been playing the PS2 version on a CRT, and it looks great! But yeah, long story short, I'm gonna have to go with the PS2 version.
Until a week or two ago, I fired up THPS3 again. Initially I had played it on the OGXBOX, but this time I decided to play the PS2 version. After some weeks had passed from playing it for the first time, some of the THPS3 levels and songs did stick in my head. And I realized that it's really not a bad game. So after playing it again on the PS2, I started to have a lot of fun with it.
There's a few things I don't like about it. While the soundtrack grew on me, I just don't think it's as rocking as the first two games. It just doesn't pump me up the way the first two games did. And the levels, some of them are kinda weak. While there aren't any levels that I straight up hate, there are a few that I kinda roll my eyes at. When I had first played the game, there were a few levels that I really didn't like, but they grew on me over time. Suburbia comes to mind. And I'm not a fan of the cruise ship, I still haven't managed to 100% it. I'm still having fun with THPS3, it's not that I don't like it, it's just that I don't think it hits the same highs for me that 1 and 2 did. Although I'll have to admit that it has the smoothest gameplay of the three.
After making it to the cruise ship and getting three gold medals on the PS2 version, I figured I just got better at the game with practice. So I fired back up the Xbox version to try and complete that save file, but I was having difficultly getting gold medals. I am noticeably worse at the game on the Xbox. It has to be the controller. I don't have a problem with the OGXBOX controller for most games, but for THPS the PS controller is just loads better in my opinion. Or rather, I'm loads better at the game with a PS controller versus Xbox.
When you look up side by side comparisons of THPS3 on Xbox versus PS2, the Xbox version has the edge. But really they're so close I don't care much. Once I'm playing the game, with nothing next to it to compare it to, I don't care much if the PS2 version isn't as smooth as the Xbox. The one thing that sucks is the Xbox version is 480p while the PS2 is 480i, which matters when using an HDTV. So I've been playing the PS2 version on a CRT, and it looks great! But yeah, long story short, I'm gonna have to go with the PS2 version.
I've only played a little bit of this game so far, but I want to circle back. I played it for a bit immediately after playing THPS3 for the first time, so I guess I was a little burnt out on THPS at that point. That's when I circled back to THPS2, and now 3, and after a while I will circle back to 4.
I played THPS4 on the OGXBOX, but like I was saying for the other games, I think the PS controller is more comfortable. So once I get around to playing 4 again, I think it'll be on the PS2 instead.
I played THPS4 on the OGXBOX, but like I was saying for the other games, I think the PS controller is more comfortable. So once I get around to playing 4 again, I think it'll be on the PS2 instead.
I had no idea this game existed. When I noticed it on Steam, I purchased it immediately without reading any reviews or anything. And wow, what a bad game. The physics feel weird. But probably the worst part is when you bail the screen flashes and you're standing back on your board. There's no animation of your skater getting back up. It's very annoying. So annoying that I couldn't play the game for more than a few minutes. And I haven't played it since.
This remaster is fun, and I've spent a good amount of time with it. The modern graphics and gameplay mechanics are nice. But whenever I play it, I end up wanting to play the originals instead.
