I don't like reminding people that I'm something of a veteran when it comes to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2, but I'm something of a veteran of this series and I basically gave it the best sweep from a review perspective a veteran of my level can. Which is high.

Just sayin'.

Here's my daily bread:

As Activision has built up its ‘renewal’ of the THPS brand (because let's face it it, it is a brand), the messaging has been centred around playing the first two original games in a new dynamic; 4K, HDR, revert, manuals, new music and skaters… a total retread of an old deck, ready to be ground into the pavement or smashed upon the coping with new stories. And that has largely been the tale of this new venture. One built off a bad session(s)-long end to a tired series. That’s not to paint any form of disservice to all of the games. I love it. I know it. I went to my brother’s place this morning and he asked if it was out yet, then shot a sigh of annoyance when I said “nah it’s out tomorrow”. He just wanted to play it. And was equally annoyed I was, and he wasn’t.

The thing with this series is that it sparked *a thing*. It didn’t spark action sports games as a genre -- if it did, they’d still be relevant, and they’re not. It gamified progression. An odd exclamation, but try and think of a sandbox game before it with a specific time limit that tasked you with being better at it. Time again. And again. And, specifically, here, with such an underground feel. Nah, the Tony Hawks’ Pro Skater series in its early years was special. The question is, am I looking at it through rose-coloured glasses, or playing with rose-printed gloves? Or, is this still real?

Click here for our full review.