Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 Remasters Releasing This Year, Won't Have Microtransactions
Activision announces a remaster package featuring the first two games in the series.
Following Activision's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD remaster in 2012, the company is returning with a bigger remaster package that features updated versions of the first two games. Following word from Tony Hawk himself, who sent a text message to fans shortly before the announcement was made official, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 is coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC in September.
Developed by Vicarious Visions, the games feature updated graphics, new tricks, additional features, and some of the original games' most iconic music (to get this out of the way upfront, yes, Goldfinger's "Superman" is included). In short, the 1999 and 2000 skateboarding games have never looked better--see for yourself in the screenshots and video embedded in this post.
The games offer all the original levels, professional skaters, tricks, and modes from the classic games. Some of the new features include additional tricks, more goals and challenges, and "secrets" to uncover. The game supports local split-screen multiplayer as well as online play.
The create-a-park and create-a-skater modes also return, and they have even more customization items available to players. You can share your parks online and play those created by other users. In terms of the create-a-skater customization options for clothing and more, all of the different content is available through gameplay exclusively, at least at launch.
Vicarious Visions boss Jen Oneal told GameSpot that there will be no microtransactions in the Tony Hawk remasters at launch, but these could come later. "Everything that you see at launch is going to be unlocked with gameplay. We're not planning on having monetization at launch," Oneal said, adding that Vicarious put a focus on making sure players are getting a "complete package." If there is demand for additional content, Vicarious Visions might consider releasing more stuff to buy with real money down the road.
Something else that may come post-release is cross-platform play. Activision is already pushing into the cross-platform market with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone, but Oneal stopped short of confirming this for the Tony Hawk remasters. "When the time comes we will say more," Oneal said.
In terms of the soundtrack, Goldfinger's iconic "Superman," which is synonymous with the series, is included, as well as songs by Rage Against the Machine, Powerman 5000, Bad Religion, Dead Kennedys, Naughty by Nature, Papa Roach, and Primus, among others. Oneal told GameSpot that Activision was not able to secure every song from the original games due to licensing issues, but the soundtrack will have most of what you remember. "All of your favorites will be there," Oneal said.
Just like in the original games, you can expect to be able to skate as Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Geoff Rowley, Bucky Lasek, Elissa Steamer, Kareem Campbell, Andrew Reynolds, Bob Burnquist, Chad Muska, and all the other skaters from the first two games, now presented in HD.
Oneal explained to GameSpot that Activision is releasing this remaster in 2020 because the '90s are popular again.
"Nostalgia is in. Everything '90s is all the craze. The music, the clothes. And now we have the technology to make something truly superior," Oneal said. "It just felt like now was the right time to do it.
Tony Hawk himself said on social media in 2018 that he was no longer working with Activision on the iconic video game series bearing his name. But things can change. Oneal explained to GameSpot that Hawk was involved from the beginning on the remaster project.
"Tony really wanted a very faithful remaster, which is what we are doing. He is still really close to all of the skaters from the first two games, and they're all present [in the remasters]," Oneal said. "We ran plans by him from the get-go, and shared with him any new ideas that we had. He knows what the culture of skate is and how we need to represent it."
The Tony Hawk's Pro Skater remasters launch on September 4 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The PC edition is exclusive to the Epic Games Store. The games are only going to be sold through the remaster package containing both titles, and not individually.
The latest new Tony Hawk game was 2015's Pro Skater 5, but it ended up going down as one of the most poorly received mainstream games of that year. Hawk himself released Tony Hawk's Skate Jam in 2018 for mobile devices, marking the first Tony Hawk game not published by Activision.
The announcement of the new Tony Hawk remasters comes after the gigantic success of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy in 2017. After that game performed ahead of expectations, Activision said it would be looking to release more remasters of its classic games.
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