Wouldn’t be me if I signed up for video game review platform without talking about the ska-powered skateboarding games.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 is a somewhat divisive game in the franchise. 4 ditches the traditional two minute/10 goal format in favor of a more relaxed mission style. The staples are all here: S.K.A.T.E., C.O.M.B.O, High Score, etc, mixed in with new missions. The competition levels have now become missions in levels, with almost every level having some type of competition in it. In addition, new missions task you to do things like collect keys, save camera man from seals, and race the cops.
Despite the drastic change in format, it feels the most fleshed out version of the franchise at this point. The addition of spine transfers and skitching adds some new ways to rack up scores. The level design (which is arguably the most important part of the Tony Hawk games) is pretty good. Levels like College and Alcatraz stand out as a classic levels, and levels like Zoo and Shipyard hold their own as top tier levels.
As much as I love the game, it’s hard to ignore many of the game’s issues. The game have arguably some of the weakest levels in the franchise. London feels pretty bland, with a focus on flatlining areas being the point of the level. Kona, based on the famous skatepark in Florida, does not translate well to the arcade style THPS works in. Missions are a mix bag too. There are solid missions, but several missions can be repeated over and over again, just with new prompts or just downright annoying. In San Francisco, there is a mission where you have to grind down a ledge to break off bumps before the security guard beats you up. You have so little time and it’s damn nearly impossible.
The most mixed feature of the game is the Pro Challenges. These essential are the “boss stages” for each skater. Most are a play on actual events by each skater, taken to another level. The range of difficulty is all over the place. Harrem Campbell’s Pro Challenge might be the easiest, with all you have to do is do a few tricks over an easy roof combo. On the other hand, Bam Margera‘s shopping cart trial maybe be one of the hardest things I have ever done, with the cart controlling like absolute dog shot.
Despite all of it’s flaws, the game is incredible. Most of the missions never feel too hard, but never too easy. The unlockables are pretty good, adding new levels of Carnival and Chicago (from Mat Hoffman’s Pro BMX 2) with their own missions. Unlockable Mike Vallely, Jango Fett, and Eddie (the Iron Maiden mascot) add fun new characters to the game (and Daisy if you are a horn dog).
At the end of the day, it’s just fucking fun. Nothing beats landing an insane point combo or setting a new high score. While not traditional Tony Hawk, it’s still incredible.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 is a somewhat divisive game in the franchise. 4 ditches the traditional two minute/10 goal format in favor of a more relaxed mission style. The staples are all here: S.K.A.T.E., C.O.M.B.O, High Score, etc, mixed in with new missions. The competition levels have now become missions in levels, with almost every level having some type of competition in it. In addition, new missions task you to do things like collect keys, save camera man from seals, and race the cops.
Despite the drastic change in format, it feels the most fleshed out version of the franchise at this point. The addition of spine transfers and skitching adds some new ways to rack up scores. The level design (which is arguably the most important part of the Tony Hawk games) is pretty good. Levels like College and Alcatraz stand out as a classic levels, and levels like Zoo and Shipyard hold their own as top tier levels.
As much as I love the game, it’s hard to ignore many of the game’s issues. The game have arguably some of the weakest levels in the franchise. London feels pretty bland, with a focus on flatlining areas being the point of the level. Kona, based on the famous skatepark in Florida, does not translate well to the arcade style THPS works in. Missions are a mix bag too. There are solid missions, but several missions can be repeated over and over again, just with new prompts or just downright annoying. In San Francisco, there is a mission where you have to grind down a ledge to break off bumps before the security guard beats you up. You have so little time and it’s damn nearly impossible.
The most mixed feature of the game is the Pro Challenges. These essential are the “boss stages” for each skater. Most are a play on actual events by each skater, taken to another level. The range of difficulty is all over the place. Harrem Campbell’s Pro Challenge might be the easiest, with all you have to do is do a few tricks over an easy roof combo. On the other hand, Bam Margera‘s shopping cart trial maybe be one of the hardest things I have ever done, with the cart controlling like absolute dog shot.
Despite all of it’s flaws, the game is incredible. Most of the missions never feel too hard, but never too easy. The unlockables are pretty good, adding new levels of Carnival and Chicago (from Mat Hoffman’s Pro BMX 2) with their own missions. Unlockable Mike Vallely, Jango Fett, and Eddie (the Iron Maiden mascot) add fun new characters to the game (and Daisy if you are a horn dog).
At the end of the day, it’s just fucking fun. Nothing beats landing an insane point combo or setting a new high score. While not traditional Tony Hawk, it’s still incredible.
it’s solid but somewhat unmemorable compared to other tony hawk games
DON'T WANNA REST I DONT WANNA BREATHE WHEN I WANNA HEAR ABOUT LIFE
DONT WANNA HEAR A SPOKESMAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNN
DONT WANNA HEAR A SPOKESMAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNN
"All My Best Friends Are Metalheads" by Less Than Jake
My biggest memory of this game was playing for hours while TNT by AC/DC looped endlessly because my dad was incredibly strict so my cousin determined that that was the only song that wasn't explicit enough to get us in trouble for playing a T-rated game. It was fun tho
Gameplay wise, this is in my opinion the best instalment in the THPS series.
the shift from thps3 to thps4 is the shift between being placed in the pool/sea and paddling like a dog to cutting swathes through the water with your eyes open.
I wonder if I would have liked 3 more
RADICAL DUDE!
posso jogar dnv, mas enquanto isso mt foda
This game has the song "All My Best Friends are Metalheads" by Less Than Jake, and because of that I have been in 2 different ska punk bands. Whoops!
Pau no cu de skate
Tony Hawk's 4/5 Stars Skater. I just enjoy 3 more but 4 is still good!
THPS4 marks the start of the series veeing away from the arcade-like gameplay into one that takes advantage of miniature open worlds in a post GTAIII world. It largely works, and I always have a blast whenever I go back to the ever-imaginitive level designs and challenges with the banging soundtrack, but there is a sense of mystery and wonder that's almost been lost in the transition away from limited play times.
A versão de PS1 desse jogo é muito melhor.
axes the arcade format in favor of a much less interesting, mission-based structure. still a good game, but lesser to its predecessor
THIS
IS A CERTIFIED
HOOD
CLASSIC
IS A CERTIFIED
HOOD
CLASSIC
for people who thought pro skater 3 was too easy, this one is basically impossible
100%ing a childhood game you had trouble with is an incredible feeling. Might need to do this with a few more. Reminds me that I've put in a ton of energy to get better at games and it's been worth it.
The first fully untimed and goal-based game in the series was my favorite as a kid and still is now. It sits at this beautiful place in Tony Hawk mechanics before useless shit like rage and getting off your board were added but when spine transfers and other movement-enhancing mechanics were in place. It's as tight and lean as could be. Everything here works the best it ever did and there's no bullshit.
The humor is mostly on point, but some mean-spirited jokes about sex trafficking and homeless people are Not Great. Most of it is so juvenile and harmless in a way that's still as charming as ever.
The first fully untimed and goal-based game in the series was my favorite as a kid and still is now. It sits at this beautiful place in Tony Hawk mechanics before useless shit like rage and getting off your board were added but when spine transfers and other movement-enhancing mechanics were in place. It's as tight and lean as could be. Everything here works the best it ever did and there's no bullshit.
The humor is mostly on point, but some mean-spirited jokes about sex trafficking and homeless people are Not Great. Most of it is so juvenile and harmless in a way that's still as charming as ever.
Introduced me to "Oodles of O's" by De La Soul, and for that I must always pay my respect
This, the GameCube version, is the THPS game I've played the most. I also think it's the one that holds up the best, though I haven't played the remasters of 1 and 2 yet. Very fond memories of playing this game for hours every day of summer vacations with my little brother.
This game is the most complete Tony Hawk game there is, in my humble opinion. Former THPS titles are great to play on their own, but their campaign never really grabbed me. You have two minutes to jerk your cock around and find a bunch of whatevers, wherevers in the level - THPS4 completely changed that aspect. It renewed the challenges, made them harder, more complex, more diverse while not straying away from the skating at hand. You had basic goals, pro goals, skater-specific challenges - There was so much to do. With that came an amazing soundtrack, many of those songs shaped my music taste of today. I don't know if 5* is too high, it probably is, but I have no idea how they could improve this. Perfection within simplicity.
Finally started to get the Tony Hawk games by this point.
The Tony Hawk game that pushes you because it knows you can do it. It knows you can pull out 500k combos and bust out nearly 2 million points in under two minutes, and it just wants you to learn how.
Formula tweaks & thoughtful refinements as successful as those only seen in like the top 10% of mainline Nintendo games. Still floored 20 years later playing this right after THPS3, just so insane as a one year later sequel. And Spokesman > Superman
had kiss on the soundtrack it was sick
if pro skater 3 was the super mario 64 of skateboarding games then this is the super mario sunshine which is to say it is a fucking nightmare to attempt to do every goal in it
This game retains the classic gameplay of the original games while giving it a new direction in terms of level structure to keep the game feeling fresh, and it works wonderfully. This game along with the first three pro skaters are absolute classics.
You are now free to explore all the levels in this game without any timers. When you want to do a goal, you ride up to a person and begin, with a timer then being activated. I feel like this was a rgeat way to retain the identity of the games without feeling like a retread. A lot of the levels here are classics. The only level I think is weaker than the rest is the carnival, which is pretty cramped. The others, however, have a lot of ground to cover yet are easy to get around.
I enjoyed seeking out all the things going on in the levels, whether it was the goals, the cash icons, or the little mini games throughout the levels. Although very much an arcadey game, it feels reminiscent of collect-a-thons of this era, which works really well.
The soundtrack is incredible as always
There isn't too much for me to say here. It's just a classic through and through. The levels have so much to do in them, the goals are fun and varied, the character customization is well done. And after the game comes to it's end with the Custom Skater's Pro Challenge, new goals that are more difficult become available, breathing more life into the for players wanting more. And you probably wil be wanting more.
It's a game that I hae revisited several times, and likely will continue to revisit.
You are now free to explore all the levels in this game without any timers. When you want to do a goal, you ride up to a person and begin, with a timer then being activated. I feel like this was a rgeat way to retain the identity of the games without feeling like a retread. A lot of the levels here are classics. The only level I think is weaker than the rest is the carnival, which is pretty cramped. The others, however, have a lot of ground to cover yet are easy to get around.
I enjoyed seeking out all the things going on in the levels, whether it was the goals, the cash icons, or the little mini games throughout the levels. Although very much an arcadey game, it feels reminiscent of collect-a-thons of this era, which works really well.
The soundtrack is incredible as always
There isn't too much for me to say here. It's just a classic through and through. The levels have so much to do in them, the goals are fun and varied, the character customization is well done. And after the game comes to it's end with the Custom Skater's Pro Challenge, new goals that are more difficult become available, breathing more life into the for players wanting more. And you probably wil be wanting more.
It's a game that I hae revisited several times, and likely will continue to revisit.
Tony Hawk's games were amazing in how it implemented addictive gameplay with wierd circumstances, and it reminds me of the GTA universe in how the characters are potrayed or acting.
THPS4 is a step forward in many ways. The bigger levels and expanded move set (especially the spine transfer) make the game more fun to play than its predecessors. Removing the 2-minute timer is also a good idea, but after a while, I realized almost every goal was still timed.
Sometimes goals or goal skate lines are not clear, which leads to a lot of trial and error. I noticed myself hitting "pause - retry last goal" dozens of times to complete certain goals. Too often these instances interrupt the flow of skating and distract from what is otherwise a strong entry in the series.
Sometimes goals or goal skate lines are not clear, which leads to a lot of trial and error. I noticed myself hitting "pause - retry last goal" dozens of times to complete certain goals. Too often these instances interrupt the flow of skating and distract from what is otherwise a strong entry in the series.