by Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD retains its original gameplay to a great extent and so ends up making you feel nostalgic. While diehard fans of this type of skating games will welcome this news, there’s a bit of disappointment in store as the sense of déjà vu is its USP, and there’s not a lot of new stuff to discover. Unless of course, you consider the 360 avatar: that’s a snazzy new feature that’s been packed into the game.
The skating is undoubtedly super fun though some unrealistic stunts are part of the package; for example, if you fall on a rail from a height of 40 feet, or dash into it, you will keep grinding on it. You might find skating on the walls a slightly difficult task.
You will need to spend a little time finding your way around; but once you get your bearings and practice a little, you are in for one smooth ride.
When you play the career mode, your score depends on the tasks you can complete in the two minute deadline; you are assigned a total of ten; the more you finish the higher you score. On the ride, you can do a whole lot of fun stuff like collecting floating SKATE letters, knocking down barrels, grinding across choppers, disturbing vagabonds, finding DVDs, and more. Yes, it does remind you of the original game, doesn’t it? The time limit of 2 minutes is what makes it such an edge of the seat thriller. Though the method of skill testing and progressing up the levels is slightly passe, somehow for this game it’s a slam dunk. For me, it’s this feature that sets it apart from the new generation of arcade games.
You earn cash by finishing your tasks or missions. You can spend this money on upgrades like improved skateboards, or improve your scores.
You also have some help in collecting your stuff. Just pause the game and voila! There’s a map on the screen which shows you where the little things are hidden. Only, there’s no auto updating so you will have to do some guesswork now and then.
You know the best thing about this game? Thanks to the two minute rounds (Olympic boxing comes to the mind!) you can keep at it for hours or have a quick go at it, say, during the commercial breaks in your favorite TV shows. Is that cool or what?
Hardcore gaming fans may find this a tad simplistic, as there are just 7 levels of progressively increasing difficulty. In addition, after the last level has been unlocked there’s hardly any excitement left. There is something you can do though: play the game over and over again, taking on different roles.
These are the playing modes available:
- Online multiplayer: I think that’s pretty self explanatory!
- Hawkman Mode: perform tricks and collect icons displayed on-screen
- The head-sweller mode: your head keeps swelling and you lose the game when it comes off.
In any case there simply aren’t many alternatives when it comes to skating games. This is as good as it gets! So, get your helmets, and get ready to skate!
