Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater may have brought skateboarding to the masses in a fashion that didn’t result in a tsunami of twisted ankles, flattened faces and missing testicles after a rail grind attempt gone tragically awry, but it’s a series that also lifted the lid on some of the greatest punk rock bands and tracks of all time.
There’s a certain joy and charm to those beautifully curated singles, music which defined not only the late 1990s and early 2000s, but also Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater to a large degree. Popping a heelflip to the onslaught of Papa Roach’s heavy guitar licks via Blood Brothers, cruising around Los Angeles to the sounds of Millencolin and frantically trying to clock a run while Powerman 5000 played made for an iconic experience.
With the new new remaster of the first two Tony Hawk games coming in September, there’s a chance to revisit one of the greatest mixtapes of all time as well. Developer Vicarious Visions mentioned last week that most of the soundtrack would be present, save for a handful of songs. Which songs and how many? Five, according to Kotaku. Here’s the list of what’s not making the cut:
- Cyco Vision by Suicidal Tendencies
- Committed by Unsane
- Bring the Noise by Anthrax & Public Enemy
- B-Boy Document ‘99 by The High & Mighty
- Out With The Old by Old Alley Life
The good news is, provided that you happen to have a Spotify account, you’ll still have plenty of options. While there is an official collection from Activision and Vicarious Visions available right now, fans have been curating the Tony Hawk experience in audio form for many a year already. Here’s one such fan effort. Beyond that, here’s a reminder of the official playlist for the remaster:
- Police Truck by The Dead Kennedys
- Superman by Goldfinger
- Jerry was a Race Car Driver by Primus
- New Girl by the Suicide Machines
- Here and Now by The Ernies
- Euro-Barge by the Vandals
- Blood Brothers by Papa Roach
- Pin the tail on the donkey by Naughty BY Nature
- Guerrilla Radio by Rage Against the Machine
- You by Bad Religion
- When Worlds Collide by Powerman 5000
- No Cigar by Millencolin
- Cyclone by Dub Pistols
- May 16 by Lagwagon
- Subculture by Dieselboy + Kaos VP
- Heavy Metal Winner by Consumed
- Evil Eye by Fu Manchu
- Five Lessons Learned by Swingin’ Utters
- Vilified by Even Rude
- Screamer by Speedealer
Licensing issues can be a bastard. Even with a few classics missing from the collection, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2 still looks set to feature a soundtrack that you’ll remember fondly. And also remind you that you’re old as heck, man.
Last Updated: May 18, 2020
Hammersteyn
May 18, 2020 at 11:47
Good times, not sure if they were good enough to play this again though.
MechMachine
May 18, 2020 at 11:47
I was just typing this : I’ve been thinking about this. I wonder if this might just turn into that repetitive button mashing boredom that the franchise ended up becoming. When it was new, it was fresh and fun. Novel. We hadn’t seen anything like this before. Given how how time is limited, is there enough there beyond novelty ? Food for thought.
The D
May 18, 2020 at 12:39
I actually dug out my copy of THPS HD, from way WAY back in the day. It’s…not as good as I remember that, although I think it may be down to Robomodo’s take on the HD remaster being kind of crappy and featuring their wonky physics.
MechMachine
May 18, 2020 at 14:03
Yeah, I remember having a low tolerance threshold with the later incarnations. Although I didn’t enjoy Skate as much , I was over the whole video game skate thing by then, I feel it overshadows Tony Hawks Pro Skater in general. The mechanics are just superior.
Coen De Bruin
May 18, 2020 at 13:19
The ones not on the playlist were some of the best songs.