This was another Tony Hawk game that was a big part of my childhood growing up as I remember playing every morning before going to school and being obsessed with the levels and chaos you can ensue for the first time in a Tony Hawk game. Unfortunately, that excitement fell flat for me twenty years later. I was excited to get back into this game after so many years not playing it, but honestly it has not aged too well, leaving my nostalgia glasses broken after finishing this game.
I'll get to the point. Compared to the more slow controls of THPS 1 and 2, 3 feels WAY too slick and fast for its own good. I know they were trying to go for that energetic, entropic vibe that later series will soon follow, but the controls in this game feel far worser than I remember than to be. Even when leveling up my stats I had a hard time controlling my character cuz they would move around too quickly or felt too slippery, hell even the collision in this game tends to ruin the flow of my sessions which does not mix well with these frustrating controls. Luckily it wasn't game breaking enough for me to quit my playthrough, but toward the end of the game I just about had it with it's ridiculousness.
The levels while iconic and were definitely an introduction to a new era of Tony Hawk, but they felt too much like a playground and not like a reliable area for skating. The maps all felt too cluttered for me to make a streamlined combo. I was able to do long combos for most of them, but even in the most ideal situations I often found myself thinking how poorly made some of these maps were compared to 1 and 2.
Aside from frustrating controls and level design, the objectives in this game were admittedly far better than the first two games and were a lot of fun. The introduction of NPCs that you can "interact" with that helps modify the maps feel satisfying with their incentives.
The music selection for this game as per usual is great, albeit one or two songs that are quite honestly cringe to hear nowadays, but hey it wouldn't be a Tony Hawk game if it didn't have some kind of level of campiness to it.
The game overall is in no way bad, and I do think it earned itself as one of the best games ever made for its time, but thats the thing. It was good for its time. Nowadays it just feels like a messy game compared to both older and newer titles. Maybe I'm just a lot more old school than I think myself to be or maybe I'm not alone in thinking this, but either way it's an ok game, and that I think in itself should be an okay thing too!
I'd recommend this game to the following:
-Tony Hawk Fans (Duh)
-sport games fans (double duh)
-someone looking for a bit of that old school game design of constant replay value and charming aesthetics/appeal.
I'll get to the point. Compared to the more slow controls of THPS 1 and 2, 3 feels WAY too slick and fast for its own good. I know they were trying to go for that energetic, entropic vibe that later series will soon follow, but the controls in this game feel far worser than I remember than to be. Even when leveling up my stats I had a hard time controlling my character cuz they would move around too quickly or felt too slippery, hell even the collision in this game tends to ruin the flow of my sessions which does not mix well with these frustrating controls. Luckily it wasn't game breaking enough for me to quit my playthrough, but toward the end of the game I just about had it with it's ridiculousness.
The levels while iconic and were definitely an introduction to a new era of Tony Hawk, but they felt too much like a playground and not like a reliable area for skating. The maps all felt too cluttered for me to make a streamlined combo. I was able to do long combos for most of them, but even in the most ideal situations I often found myself thinking how poorly made some of these maps were compared to 1 and 2.
Aside from frustrating controls and level design, the objectives in this game were admittedly far better than the first two games and were a lot of fun. The introduction of NPCs that you can "interact" with that helps modify the maps feel satisfying with their incentives.
The music selection for this game as per usual is great, albeit one or two songs that are quite honestly cringe to hear nowadays, but hey it wouldn't be a Tony Hawk game if it didn't have some kind of level of campiness to it.
The game overall is in no way bad, and I do think it earned itself as one of the best games ever made for its time, but thats the thing. It was good for its time. Nowadays it just feels like a messy game compared to both older and newer titles. Maybe I'm just a lot more old school than I think myself to be or maybe I'm not alone in thinking this, but either way it's an ok game, and that I think in itself should be an okay thing too!
I'd recommend this game to the following:
-Tony Hawk Fans (Duh)
-sport games fans (double duh)
-someone looking for a bit of that old school game design of constant replay value and charming aesthetics/appeal.