Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 was released almost five years ago, and it was a smashing success. The team behind the title did a fantastic job of retaining just about everything that made the original games such beloved classics, while also adding a few things that perfectly enhanced the experience in just about every way. Despite the acclaim from players and critics alike, the developer Vicarious Visions was closed, and the proposed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 follow-up was canceled. Today, we have Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 from Iron Galaxy who, we presume, won't be shut down after this game's release. The developer produced a very enjoyable title, even if it isn't quite what people expected.

If you've played Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, then you know exactly what to expect. After selecting your skater and level, you're given roughly two minutes to skate around and perform individual tricks and combos before the timer expires. Different point thresholds for combo strings and points are present throughout every level, but there are other goals, such as hitting specific levers to get things unstuck or taking down banners by grinding over them. Completing goals will help you unlock the next level or event, but you can also obtain cash and stat points to unlock gear for your custom skater, upgrade skater stats, or unlock secret characters.

Like the original games, the controls are tight, and it only takes a session or two before you feel a basic mastery of the controls to pull off some good-looking individual tricks. The game has a tutorial mode to help those who are very new to the extreme sports genre, but the game also features some modifiers to help, such as the inability to bail or never losing balance on a grind.

If you're looking for any improvements in the skating mechanics, you'll be a tad underwhelmed. That's no fault of this title, as things like flatland tricks and the revert were taken from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and ported to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, so if you're coming in fresh from Vicarious Visions' last title, then those big changes aren't new. There are a few new abilities present, but their impact isn't as big as the revert is as far as combos go. You can now do spine transfers in places where ramps are back-to-back. You can also drop out of grinds more elegantly rather than relying on a jump to do that. When you encounter moving vehicles, you can also do some skitchin' to quickly build up speed. Again, these are good additions that open up movement possibilities, but it isn't as big as the revert was overall.

When it comes to the roster, the lineup for this game is huge and diverse, with an equal number of well-known skaters and those new to the franchise. The veterans of the series — like Bob Burnquist, Kareem Campbell, Chad Muska, and Elissa Steamer — are all present in their current form, rather than how they appeared in the original games. They still sport the same stats as before, though. The skaters who made their debut in the last game like Leo Baker, Lizzie Armanto, and Shane O'Neill are back to join newcomers like Yuto Horigome, Zion Wright, and Margielyn Didal. There are 29 different pros available, with four slots free for custom skaters, two reserved for the deluxe edition, and a few slots for secret characters. Just like the first game, don't expect any of the previous secret characters like Wolverine, Kelly Slater and Jango Fett to pop up, but having the Birdman and Michalangelo from TMNT pop up is a decent trade-off.

Regarding the Campaign mode, the setup is the same as before in that both games are treated as two different campaigns. Progress in the THPS3 section isn't carried over to the THPS4 part, but you can go between both games at any time. Both the cash and stat upgrades stay permanent on your chosen skater. One major change compared to the previous title is the removal of the overall XP system that was used to gain cash and unlockable outfits. Instead, the game gives you those things for completing any challenge, such as messing with the tutorial, creating a character, or completing game-specific challenges. The system's simplicity is appreciated, and it is nice to see that not all games need to have RPG mechanics present.

If you're playing the THPS3 portion of the campaign, you'll be very familiar with what to expect if you're coming from the previous title. All of the levels from the original game are present. The same can be said of the goals, which haven't changed. The addition of the spine transfer doesn't change up the scoring opportunities that much, but it is nice to have for the few times when the opportunity is there. The stat and cash locations are also unchanged, so if you are familiar with the PS2/Xbox/GameCube version of the original entry, then you'll instantly feel right at home.

The THPS4 section is where the majority of changes will be seen. The first change veteran players will notice are tweaks to the existing levels. London, for example, takes place at night. The Zoo, once home to a bevy of animals, is now a very empty space and also set at night instead of during the day. Both the Zoo and Kona skatepark are now competition levels instead of fully featured areas like before. The levels are still the same size, but the feeling of familiarity in the previous games is missing.

Then there's the level selection itself. Carnival is missing as is Chicago, a level that was borrowed from Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2. There are levels slotted in as replacements for these stages, but those hoping for the Sewers and Little Big World from the original PlayStation release will be disappointed to learn that those didn't make the cut for a huge upgrade.

The introduced levels are original creations from Iron Galaxy, and the levels show that the developer has an affinity for creating a park that fits with the rest of the game. The Movie Studio is a competition level, but the number of ramps and pipes go well with the abundant props and green screens present throughout most of the stage. Pinball serves as the game's secret bonus level and takes place inside of a giant pinball machine with an equally large version of Tony Hawk playing from above. The flurry of large pinballs makes the stage feel chaotic, but the stage provides enough of the wild spirit that feels right at home in an arcade-style skating game. Waterpark is the real highlight thanks to the plethora of water slides and empty pools that provide a bevy of long combo opportunities.

The other major change has to do with the general gameplay. THPS4 was a big departure from the previous three games in that it abandoned the series' timed runs and preset goals. Instead, you were encouraged to go around each stage at your leisure and find people who would give you goals to accomplish. Some of those goals were the same as before, such as hitting a certain score threshold, but others were distinct, such as racing against a bike messenger, scaring off birds on power lines, or using an elephant to skitch the park. That's no longer the case, as this part of the game ditches the open level aesthetic and adheres to the classic two-minute run format with various goals either changed to conform to the classic mechanic or eliminated altogether.

The changes to the THPS4 section are drastic enough that you'll instantly fall into one of two camps. Purists and those who loved the original game will be disappointed to see that this game didn't get the same love as the first three games in the series. The stages and some of the goals will be familiar, but it doesn't feel familiar, which will irk fans hoping for that nostalgia trip with a better coat of paint. Considering that the original PlayStation and Game Boy Advance versions of THPS4 didn't go for this structure and tried their best to replicate the open-level setup, it feels odd to consider this a remastering or remake of the title.

On the other hand, if you were never a fan of the more open structure of THPS4 or you feel no sense of nostalgia for it, then you'll be perfectly fine with this iteration. There's no drastic change in your approach when flipping between campaigns, so the transition to each section feels smoother and more uniform. There's less time spent meandering, since you're more focused on a slower progression through goals. For those who really loathe the timer, the game makes a small compromise in that you can increase it to five, 10, or even 60 minutes so you can spend as much time as you want trying to explore a stage and knock out goals. The knock-on effect is that the extended timer also applies to THPS3, so those who want some help without necessarily turning on the more significant options will find this to be a good choice.

Regardless of how you feel about the drastic changes to THPS4, there's no doubt that the game still gives you a ton of reasons to revisit the Campaign mode multiple times with the large skate roster. Speed Runs challenge you to finish all of the goals in a level as quickly as possible. While completing all of the goals and competitions the first time around might be easy, you'll also unlock a new set of goals that are much tougher to complete, including the COMBO letter challenge. There's also the Solo Tour that gets unlocked afterward. They're all throwbacks to the original games, but the campaign is locked to each individual skater rather than being shared among everyone at once. This was a mode that was patched into the previous game, and while it is nice to see it again, it's an odd choice to not have it available from the beginning.

Beyond the Campaign, the Create-A-Park feature has returned with some very significant tweaks. New pieces have been added, such as boost and turbo pads, NPCs of both the friendly and unfriendly varieties, and some new skating backdrops. You can also go straight into this mode instead of having to play through a bunch of the game first. Since every piece is available from the start, it's a big boon for those who crave creativity but aren't proficient enough in the game to unlock every piece they want. You also have the ability to set goals for your park, so you can do timed runs similar to what you'd encounter in the main game. There are limits, so while you can do a scoring goal or put down the secret tape, you can't have goals that have players grinding a specific rail with a specific trick, for example. Still, the inclusion of this makes the Create-A-Park feature feel more fleshed out, and the ability to download parks regardless of platform means that it should get plenty of use.

Online play has gotten a change or two, but it's minimal compared to the game's other modes. Free Skate now has a public version, so you can hang out with the general public instead of just your friends in any of the levels. HAWK is very similar to the SKATE objective in the Campaign, except players first need to place the letters anywhere they want before having to hunt down the letters placed down by their opponents. The mode is neat and complements the other established multiplayer games quite well, while the online performance is just as stable as ever, a big plus considering that the game now has cross-play enabled.

When it comes to the audio side of the presentation, the soundtrack is going to get the most scrutiny, and this is where longtime fans of either game will be stunned. While the previous game was lauded for having almost every song from the original two titles in the lineup alongside a slew of new tracks, this game isn't so lucky. Only nine tracks from the series' third and fourth entries have made the cut. You can still skate to the likes of AFI's "The Boy Who Destroyed The World" and "Mass Appeal" from Gang ,Starr but you're out of luck if you wanted to grind to "Express Yourself" from N.W.A. or "Drunken Lullabies" by Flogging Molly. To be fair, the new additions to the soundtrack have some real bangers. Lupe Fiasco's "Kick, Push" instantly fits the skating vibe, and "Rock Co.Kane Flow" from De La Soul featuring MF Doom stands toe to toe with "Oodles of Os," which was in the fourth game. Mastodon's "Precious Stones" and "New York City" by The Cult are also good additions to the soundtrack. Overall, it's a nice and varied selection of songs, and you still have the ability to listen to everything in one continuous run instead of having everything cut at the two-minute mark, but the omission of a bunch of the older tracks still stings.

Graphically, you're not going to see a difference between this game and the previous release. The frame rate is still high at almost all times, and the particle effects are spectacular when they pop up. The character models are excellent, as are the animations. Everything is so similar that you could put a screenshot of this game and previous one next to each other, and the only hint that the pictures were of different games would be the locations. The only major addition to the graphics is the presence of HDR, which does a great job in making the colors pop. Only those with monitors or TV sets that feature the technology will be able to reap the benefits.

Overall, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 is an absolutely fun title if your main exposure to the series was Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2. You're essentially getting more of the same, but the formula was already solid enough that getting more of what you know in newer locations is a good thing. The conclusion is more complicated if you were an aficionado of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. With the types of changes and omissions made, a portion of the game feels more like it was inspired by the fourth mainline entry in the series rather than a remake or remastering effort. Purists will be disappointed by these decisions. If you aren't bothered by the changes, you'll find this to be a very good title overall.

Score: 8.0/10