ComicBook.com’s Games of the Year: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2

Resurrecting or rebooting an old idea is never as challenging as coming up with something new and original. At least, that’s how it might appear on the surface. It’s easy to simply slap a new label onto something people already love and sell it to them again, or to give the graphics of a classic game a slight upgrade and brand it as “remastered.” It happens all the time with video games, but it’s rare that those games actually find the balance of new experience and nostalgia that fans are looking for. It’s hard to get something so beloved right a second time. Lightning doesn’t strike twice, right? Well, in the case of Tony Hawk, that statement couldn’t be more wrong.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 pulled off a rare feat by resurrecting two of the most popular sports games in history, somehow making them even more enjoyable without losing an ounce of the flair that made them popular in the first place. The much shorter version: Tony Hawk rules as hard as ever before.

The concept of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is pretty standard as it’s just the first two Tony Hawk games (the greatest ones) brought into the modern console era. The controls are mostly the same, but the game itself is both smoother and much more enjoyable to look at. Gone are the bland and blocky parks, replaced with gorgeous locations that have details upon details hidden in every corner. It’s both old and new at the same time, in the best possible way.

From the time you hear the drum intro of Goldfinger’s “Superman,” many of us are transported back to your teenage years for a two-minute challenge in one of your favorite fictional skate parks, but it strangely feels like a new experience. That’s the beauty of this game: It’s a new challenge that feels totally comfortable. 2020 was a weird/terrible year for everyone, and there’s something to be said for the comfort that Tony Hawk provided. You didn’t need to stress yourself out learning a new game. Instead, you could pick up Tony Hawk, get presented with a slightly new challenge, but feel completely at home in its familiar embrace. It’s hard to describe just how well this game embodies the past and present, but if you’re a longtime fan of the franchise, you get the feeling.

We live in a time of great division and animosity, with just about everything in pop culture turning into a fight amongst fans. But do you remember the day that the Tony Hawk remaster was announced? That game was a cultural phenomenon when it debuted decades ago, and it immediately established the same dominance in 2020 with just one announcement. There was a universal joy online and amongst folks about the fact that Tony Hawk was coming back. It became a rallying point for all different kinds of people, which makes the fact that it didn’t let anyone down an even more impressive achievement.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 brings back all of the elements that made the originals so great, while also bringing some innovation to the table. There are loads of customization options and new ways to make your skater wholly unique. Plus, there is finally a way to play online at the Warehouse, something that most people never thought would happen.

I could spend hours talking about just how well the developers nailed this remake from a technical perspective. It’s visually stunning and almost completely void of bugs. But the technical achievements of delivering a pitch-perfect remake of a game that released on the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 pale in comparison to the way Tony Hawk made us feel.

Do me a favor and try to think of a game from your childhood or teenage years that all of your friends can look back on and say they enjoyed equally. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is one of a select few that unanimously stands the test of time. For a remake of something so beloved to actually impress those who grew up playing the original is completely wild. It sounds like a myth. But it’s not a myth. It’s Tony Hawk, and the great deity of pro skating has saved us all once again.