Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD reminds us why the original THPS games reigned supreme, with its near-perfect control scheme and (for the most part) well designed stages. It does feel admittedly light on content, and there are a few missing pieces that seem like they should have been obvious inclusions. Still, if you want to relive the glory days of the THPS series, fifteen bucks isn't too much to ask.

With endless hours of online multiplayer and constant leaderboard score tracking, this beautiful remake takes the cake for classic re-releases and will have you grinding for hours.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater is a great skate down memory lane that will hopefully lead this franchise to a much needed reboot. Not only does this HD edition provide a sturdy gaming engine but it modernises one of the world's best skating games on modern consoles. It's worth every penny!

Great flashback from the late nineties proves that old games were worth playing and except for the visuals there is no need to change anything. [Sept 2012]

This kind of purity is exactly what's been missing from the series for years. [Issue#89,p.77]

It's certainly not perfect, but it's a wonderful attempt that captures a lot of what made the games fun in the first place. It's a strong entry in a storied series, and will hopefully be a guiding light for a resurgence of the franchise.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD may accomplish all of its goals, but there is still a lot to be desired. The graphics are outdated, the gameplay is missing a key component, there aren't enough levels and the create-a-character mode has been removed entirely. If you can get around these disappointments, you'll find a good, but not great, skating game for cheap!

Despite being a great game, it is still just a re-release, and hasn't done anything major from the originals except improve the paintwork

This comeback is exactly what was needed: pared down, cheap and distilled to its irresistible essence.

The simple recipe of great level design, great controls and great gameplay still holds up better than most things, and we can only hope that Activision realizes that.

Tony Hawk is back. Robomodo has made a great working upgrading the first two chapters of the Tony Hawk original saga, creating a game as entertaining as in 1999. Direct, no-brains skate, with great scenarios and some great songs, and classic and addictive gameplay.

So the classics have been resurrected in one nice package, and while it's not a total home run, it'll scratch that itch you might've been feeling for something - anything - like the original Tony Hawk games.

We can't tear ourselves away from the purity of the trick system, the pleasure of exercising long-dormant 'hardcore gaming' abilities and the tantalising target that is the top of the Live friends leaderboard.

Tony Hawk is finally moving in a good direction again, and that's enough to give Pro Skater HD a solid thumbs up. Perfect it's not, but it retains a lot of the goodness that made the original games such a hit, and for us, close definitely counts.

Proof positive that sometimes all you really need to kickstart a series is to go back to its roots.

Though we question these changes to the tried-and-true gameplay, the majority of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD works as well as (or better than) the originals did when they first captivated us nearly 15 years ago. This update isn't all it could have been, but it's the best take on those early games we've had yet.

If you played the classic versions like I did, chances are you will be disappointed with all the things that Robomodo left out. There was so much potential but not enough was delivered to live up to it. All in all, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD is still fun, but not worth its $15 price tag.

The updated visuals give the dated games a fresh look, but the exclusion of levels and options like the park editor are sorely missed.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD, while not perfect, is a great game that features some of the best levels from the first two Tony Hawk's games.

There are major problems with this release however, that will turn off many long time fans. You can't create custom parks or skaters. You can't customize (or even skip single songs) the soundtrack, and the soundtrack itself isn't the full track listing from both games. Not every level from both games is included (where's Mexico?). As previously mentioned, multiplayer is online only, strangely with no sign of local split-screen play.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD recreates the gameplay that made the franchise famous, but to mixed results. It lands the trick, but doesn't do it cleanly.