Every kid born in the 90s or before remembers those days in their youth of coming home, sitting down and busting out some tricks on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Probably one of the biggest extreme sports games of the late 90s and early 2000s the title was the start of a franchise that is still going today. It bought massive attention to the skateboarding sport and helped it grow in stature. Activision teamed up with Robomodo to make a HD version of the game, and they haven’t done what a lot of companies have been doing lately by just putting a HD cover over the original game which has hardly any real changes. They have completely remade some of the classic levels from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2. When you pick up that controller again and step into the “warehouse” park you feel like a kid again, everything is in the same place you left it way back on the Play Station 1. From the set out of the area to the S-K-A-T-E letters in the same place. It’s really been remade for the original fans of the game that started it all.

The game features 7 memorable levels including warehouse, school, the hanger, the mall, Venice beach, downhill jam and Marseille. As well as having the classic objectives for each level e.g. high scores, S-K-A-T-E letters etc the game also has a few new challenges to give the player a chance to uncover new secrets and test their ability even more. The game features a mix of characters from the original games and a few of the new breed of skaters that are around today and although you can’t skate around as Spiderman or Darth Maul (well not that we know of yet) you can skate around as your avatar and there are also some unlocks to get which we can pretty much guarantee the iconic Officer Dick will be one of those. All characters are upgradeable to the more you play it, the better your chosen skater will become. There are 5 different game modes within the game, obviously you have career mode and the other original modes such as single session and free skate. The other 2 modes are new additions and include “Hawkman” mode in which the player has to perform certain types of tricks over certain areas to earn points. The player has to go over ever marker to be able to pass the level. If they don’t do it in time then they fail. The other new game mode is “Big Head Survival” in which the player has to perform tricks and combos to keep the size of their head down and keep it from exploding for as long as possible. Everyone who played the original will be able to reminisce when they hear the soundtrack for the game as if features a mix of new tracks and tracks from the first 2 titles including the memorable Superman by Goldfinger.

The game is playable on Xbox live and features many of the single player modes such as a standard “trick attack” game and others such as “big head survival” and “Free Skate”. The only exclusive multiplayer game mode is “Graffiti” in which players must pull off tricks and grinds on areas to tag them. The objective is to finish the game with more areas tagged then your opponent. However, the disappointing part about the multiplayer is they have missed out the hugely popular H-O-R-S-E mode from the original titles. A Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 DLC has been announced as well which will add on to this game but not release date has been given yet.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD is available now for Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Marketplace and will be available on PlayStation 3 and PC later this year.

Review in association with Duracell Gaming Accessories, which are available from Amazon, Play.com and Zavvi.com Review by Thomas Thompsett, White Room Games.