One of the announcements that I was dreading at Saturdays VGA’s, was that of yet another Tony Hawk game being rolled out, further sinking the once legendary and popular franchise even further into the mediocrity pit.
Instead, Hawk himself showed off a retooled version of the first two games, the titles that kick-started a digital skateboarding revolution when it launched in 1999 and 2000 on the original Playstation console.
I’m happier than Donald Trump in a toupee shop at that news, and what makes me even more excited, is that the HD version of THPS is going to keep the core and classic gameplay, while throwing a few new faces into the half-pipe.
"If I’ve been reading the Twitters correctly, this is exactly what old-school fans have been asking for”, Activision Community spokesperson Dan Amrich wrote on the One of Swords Blog. "And yes, you use a standard game controller."
"It’s the "best of our first two games but for the new consoles," Tony Hawk said before the VGAs. "All the same gameplay people love and the joystick controls, big scoring combos and a lot of the classic stuff we had but some new stuff as well."
"People can come back to it and find new challenges to do, not just the ones we set up for them. But we’re going back to the old two minute challenges, collect the letters, get the combos, get the scores. I’m out of my mind excited about it."
THPSHD will include "the best levels from THPS1 and THPS2, rebuilt and remastered for modern machines by Robomodo", Amrich said. "School" and "Downhill" are some of the levels that have been included.
Due for a digital 2012 release, players can expect to grind rails as Eric Koston, Andrew Reynolds, Rodney Mullen, Lyn-z Adams Hawkins (Pastrana), Nyjah Huston, Chris Cole, Riley Hawk, and Riley’s dad.
Meanwhile, I’ll be digging out my old skateboard and baggy pants in anticipation for the game, and will be horribly mutilating some classic punk songs by singing them, while I try and land a 180 ollie to a benihana flip off a vertical grind onto a flaming banana.
Last Updated: December 13, 2011
