It’s been a long and winding road for the Tony Hawk’s videogame franchise. Having made its debut back in 1999, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater set a standard for skateboarding videogames that wouldn’t be beaten for several years, aside from its own successors. Not only did is revolutionise the gameplay of the genre however, it made it ‘cool’ again, aiding to push the hobby into the mainstream consciousness in such a fashion that hadn’t occurred since the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles skated into 80’s kids hearts ten years prior. To say that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was a landmark release is nothing short of an understatement.
Following this hugely impressive start, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater made it way to every gaming format imaginable, from powerful gaming consoles to mobile phones. However, after four bloodline outings for the series, the audience decided that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater had gotten stale, and publisher Activision decided to reinvigorate the 
series by taking it in a different direction with the likes of Tony Hawk’s Underground and later Tony Hawk’s Project 8. But this point however, skateboarding had once again left the alternative fashion and Tony Hawk’s ended-up being a sideline for the publisher; an after thought of a product that failed to compete against Electronic Arts’ skate series on any level. The constant drive to re-establish Tony Hawk’s as a genre leading franchise had not been paying the dividends it once did.
This is all water under-the-bridge however, and now in 2012 Activision is looking to once again reinvigorate the franchise with a return to its roots. But this isn’t just a re-release of the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD is a reforming of that which made the original so special, or more importantly it’s critically acclaimed 
sequel, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD is the culmination of some of the most popular aspects of both titles, making it most similar to the North American Xbox exclusive release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2X.
In terms of the delivery, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD is essentially Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 in its mechanics and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in its structure and content. A fair amount of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 venues and effects – and brand new content, for that matter – makes its way into Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD, but essentially this is a recreation of that rose-tinted nostalgic view of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. No matter what your mind may tell you, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is not of a quality comparable to Tony Hawk’s Project 8, however with its Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 mechanics and modern lick of paint, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD does come close.
The core reason that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD has used Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 is its template rather than the original title is simple: manuals. The original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater did not feature the manual, which is arguably the essence of its successor’s reverence. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 allowed players to take everything they’d learned in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and turn it into elaborate combos, with the most experienced players 
able to turn those two minute runs into one long string of point scoring. The same is true of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD; each level contains a series of objectives – collect tokens, find hidden objects, grinds, gaps etc. – but it’s those ‘high,’ ‘pro’ and ‘sick’ scores that most players returning to the franchise will relish in.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD features seven faithfully recreated venues and ten riders, in addition to the option of using your own Xbox LIVE Avatar in the Xbox 360 version of the videogame. However, these player creations are only available in Free Run mode and are not able to play through the standard career for reasons that are never explained. It’s an odd design decision which was presumably made for leaderboard reasons, but in Electronic Theatre’s collective mind the bobbleheaded characters only stand to make combos that little but harder to execute, not easier. Whatever the case may be, they look the part just as much as Spider-Man did in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD: standing out like a sore thumb, but still enjoyable in their inclusion.
The soundtrack of the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was also a much lauded feature upon its release, using the PlayStation’s CD media o play host to some suitably alternative rock and punk anthems as a backdrop, making the action feel considerably more dynamic. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD takes this premise and runs with it, featuring the
majority of the original recordings and some new tracks thrown in for good measure, all delivered in a high quality presentation.
The welcome return of a familiar friend, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD arrives and decisively cuts away the last few years of chaff, reminding us all why the videogame franchise became so very popular in the first place. There are those who will lament the loss of the open world structure, and others that will gripe at the adaptation of the control scheme to modern control pads, but in its essence Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD is arguably the finest offering the series has ever presented. And in that, you simply couldn’t offer a better platform to bring the franchise back to its former glory.
 
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