Nostalgia can be a funny thing. Sometimes I’ll pop in an old movie to show Tifa and say something like, “I LOVED this movie when I was younger.” I, like many gamers my age, grew up playing the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series. I’ll never forget getting that Pizza Hut demo disc that had the first Tony Hawk game on it. The sounds of early 90s punk blaring through my TV speakers, playing as skate legend Tony Hawk. It was a new amazing experience.
You could imagine my delight when Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 was announced. They were going back to basics and giving the series a fresh boot for this new console generation. So of course I wanted it.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 tries it’s hardest to encapsulate the feel of the older games. After a brief tutorial you enter a familiar landscape and can start skating. The controls remain roughly the same but there is a new “slam” mechanic. After a jump pressing the corresponding button will send your skater down to the ground with some force. It’s great for making a large jump then slamming down to a grind. It does take some getting used to but after about an hour or so I felt pretty confident in my ability to slam. The controls are smooth and it does feel like an older Tony Hawk game. You can easily jump into a location and skate around on your own practicing tricks, or start one of the many quests that are available in each location. You can also join a public game with other online users, or start a private for you and your friends. I preferred the private games because I got tired of seeing people better than me at this game.
Visually the game suffers from quite a bit of problems. There were multiple times where environments were popping in and out, or the ground itself wasn’t rendering properly. What I saw the most was just improper renders. The skaters look great and when the game renders properly the locations all resemble the old school feel of Tony Hawk games.
There is a lot of great music in the game and it really helps make the game feel just like an old school Tony Hawk game. You can crank up the tunes and rock out while busting out crazy tricks. I have some hopes for the future of the Tony Hawk franchise. This game does a good job of making a modern Tony Hawk game while still capturing the nostalgia of the old franchise. I hope they continue to learn and adapt future installments of the game so that we can relive the glory days of the Tony Hawk franchise.
As a complete package, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 does have a few flaws. Sometimes the physics freak out, sometimes the game doesn’t look as good as other games on current consoles do, and other times the game just lags for no reason. But, when the game runs smoothly it runs very smoothly. If you are looking for a throwback to the old Tony Hawk games this is about as close as you’re going to get.
