It has been five years since the release of Pro Skater 1+2, and earlier this month, we finally got Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4. This new remake package is one that many skateboarding fans have been looking forward to. After all, Pro Skater 3 and 4 were icons of the early 2000s.
Given that the Pro Skater 1+2 remake was well-received by critics and fans alike, there’s a lot of excitement for this new remake package. While the Pro Skater 3+4 remake aims to deliver an experience that’s true to the original games, there are big changes here, much more so than the previous remake collection.
To be exact, there are changes to the soundtrack coupled with an array of new pro skater additions. The biggest change though, is the update to Pro Skater 4. Unlike the original, which featured a more open-ended Career mode, this remake changes it to play more like the previous Pro Skater games.
Big changes such as this are often major points of contention with any remake, especially for those who grew up playing the originals. While this change may not be for everyone, what does help is the fact that the new versions of Pro Skater 3+4 are a delight to play.
Pro Skater 3+4 are back, and they play better than ever
When it comes to gameplay, Pro Skater 3+4 should be familiar to those who played the originals, as well as those who enjoyed the Pro Skater 1+2 release back in 2020. That’s because this new remake plays almost exactly the same as Pro Skater 1+2 – and that’s a good thing.
Once again, the goal for players in most modes is to perform various tricks to get the highest score they can or collect certain items in the map. Players must perform various aerials, grinds, manuals, and more to bring their score up, all while making sure they stick the landing, lest they fall and reset the special bar.
As we’ve noted in our original Pro Skater 1+2 review, this gameplay loop is incredibly fun and addictive. We won’t go into too much detail about the specific mechanics, but we can say that Pro Skater 3+4 feels great. During our time with it, we found the gameplay to feel responsive, meaning we had no issues as we progressed through the Career modes in both games.
It also helps that both Pro Skater 3 and 4 remakes look excellent. Sure, the fact that they’re also made to run on previous-gen consoles means their visuals aren’t exactly wallpaper material, but the graphics overall are nice (especially in 4K on modern consoles), all while sticking true to the visual style of the originals. Animations are also great here, as was the case in the previous remake package.
We also particularly liked the addition of new maps. While we loved seeing (and playing in) the old maps from the OG Pro Skater 3 and 4, the new maps are very much worthwhile additions, and they make up for the Carnival and Chicago maps not being in the Pro Skater 4 remake. These three maps – Movie Studio, Waterpark, and Pinball – have eye-catching visuals, along with a bunch of fun interactable objects and challenges.
To complement the new maps, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 also enhances the original games’ customization options. Here, players have plenty of options to customize their boards. If you ask us though, the Create-a-Skater and Create-a-Park are the highlights, especially with the new options added compared to the Pro Skater 1+2. The possibilities in Create-a-Park are almost endless, it seems, so we hope to see plenty of player-made creations.
Also worth noting is the wealth of pro skaters and special guest skaters. To be exact, the game features 31 pro skaters, which is the largest lineup in the franchise’s history. These skaters include plenty of new additions, including the likes of Rayssa Leal and Margielyn Didal. The addition of Didal, in particular, is a treat for us given that she has become one of the most well-known skateboarders from the Philippines.
It’s also fun to see some special guest skaters such as Jack Black’s Constable Richard and Officer Dick, as well as Doom Slayer (available for Digital Deluxe Edition owners) and Michelangelo from TMNT (unlockable secret skater).
Some of the changes don’t quite stick the landing
The original Pro Skater 3 had a Career mode that played similarly to the first two games. As such, the remake is true to the original when it comes to its main single-player mode. After completing the Career mode, players unlock the Solo Tour mode. On one hand, this gives players more of an incentive to go through Career mode. On the flip side, we did wish that this mode wasn’t gated off in that way.
Pro Skater 3’s changes are fairly small compared to what’s new in Pro Skater 4. As we mentioned above, the OG Pro Skater 4 had a more open-ended Career mode that feels more like Free Skate. This gave the game a different flavor compared to the first three games.
This time, the developers over at Iron Galaxy tweaked the main single player mode in Pro Skater 4 so that it played similarly to the previous games. Yes, that means players will again have two-minute runs when playing the Career mode.
Given how big of a change this is, we imagine that some players may not be big fans of this direction, especially those who played the original game back in 2001. We’re not sure exactly why they changed this, as this aspect of Pro Skater 4 is arguably a defining feature of it.
Despite this big change not being to everyone’s liking, the Pro Skater 4 experience is still fun overall, owing largely to the fact that the core game mechanics and maps are excellent in the Pro Skater remake titles.
Another thing that may not be to everyone’s liking is the soundtrack. If you ask us, we like the new soundtrack overall, but it’s worth noting that only a few songs from the original soundtrack have been added here.
While licensing issues may play a part in this, it’s still a bit of a shame that many songs from the original Pro Skater 3 and 4 didn’t return in this remake, especially considering how music is a big part of the experience in the Tony Hawk titles.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 Final Verdict – 8/10
Much like the previous remake collection, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 is a great package that’s sure to delight players with its addictive and fun skateboarding mechanics.
While the changes to Pro Skater 4 and the new soundtrack may not be to everyone’s liking, Pro Skater 3+4 is still a good overall package thanks to its fun gameplay, nice graphics, and wealth of customization and skateboarders.
As such, we still very much recommend Pro Skater 3+4 to players who have enjoyed playing 2020’s Pro Skater 1+2, as well as for those who grew up playing the originals in the early 2000s.
[This review was made with a PS5 game code provided by the publisher.]