Movies

Tony Hawk Professional Skater 3+4 Is All About Giving Avid gamers The Good “Skater Fantasy,” And It Succeeds

May 8, 2025

Throughout a hands-on preview attended by Display Rant, Tony Hawk Professional Skater 3+4 proved to be a nostalgic throwback that retains fashionable sensibilities. The Tony Hawk Professional Skater collection has been a fixture of the gaming panorama for many years, with generations of avid gamers getting the prospect to discover the skating scene from a first-hand perspective. The strikes, visuals, and music have all the time been keyed into the skating sub-culture, with 2020’s Tony Hawk Professional Skater 1+2 proving there’s nonetheless a spot for the collection in fashionable gaming.

That development is even clearer with Iron Galaxy’s follow-up to Vicarious Visions’ entry, Tony Hawk Professional Skater 3+4. Increasing on the scope of the unique video games whereas guaranteeing the controls and graphics really feel tighter than ever, the sport is a dream come true for long-time followers of the collection — however with sufficient potential for experimentation and exploration that new followers will discover a lot to like. Display Rant attended a Los Angeles-based hands-on preview of Tony Hawk Professional Skater 3+4 and sat down with Recreation Director Kurt Tillmanns to debate the inspirations and influences that outlined the brand new title.

Tony Hawk 3+4 Is Simple To Choose Up, Arduous To Grasp — And It Could not Be Any Different Means

Pure World Exploration And Gameplay Experimentation Is Baked Into Tony Hawk’s Newest Remaster

Very similar to its polished predecessor, Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3+4 is a throwback deal with for franchise followers that brings loads of distinctive fashionable touches and classy additions to the title. Tony Hawk Professional Skater diehardswill really feel proper at dwelling as soon as they plug into the sport, throwing themselves into absurd locales. The sport’s core mechanics really feel acquainted to anybody who has performed the sport, with a substantial amount of depth afforded to the participant by way of customization (even past the customizable skaters and skate parks).

Stats may be altered as they’re found throughout over a dozen skate parks, permitting the gamers to regulate their avatars to nail particular challenges and methods. The gameplay is tightly managed however has a pure roughness reflecting skating to its core. It accomplishes the tough proposition of feeling tightly managed but open to invention, permitting the gamers to push the envelope of what they’ll accomplish in any given run. That technical precision was key to the sport’s design and ensuring gamers did not lose their bearings amid the graphical upgrades of the title.

“For us,” Kurt Tillmans defined, “the primary issues are actually the tightness of the controls, the responsiveness to the body charge… failing is a part of the enjoyable. It is easy to choose up, actually onerous to grasp. However so long as the sport feels responsive, it feels good. You by no means have that second of blaming the sport. You recognize it is one thing you have completed. ‘I missed that grind, I did not hit the button on the proper time.’ It is enjoyable to be taught. You may all the time hint again what occurred to one thing you are able to do higher subsequent time.“

One of the vital facets of designing Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3+4 was to encourage gamers to discover and experiment within the parks. One of many methods the title accomplishes that is by littering the parks with collectibles that may unlock new abilities or costumes, in addition to a deal with constructing challenges which can be rooted in carrying on ahead momentum. “Collectibles are enjoyable,” Tillmans famous with fun. “We introduced again money pick-ups… it provides gamers a brand new option to be taught the parks. Nothing teaches you what is attainable in a park greater than these pick-ups.”

“Seeing a money icon in a spot you are undecided you possibly can go to, it leads you to determine easy methods to get there. Even the skate strains are put collectively in a means that they’ll turn out to be combo strains. Lots of people, their first time by way of, they’re going to accumulate the S-Ok-A-T-E letters piecemeal. Over time, they’ll work out that that is truly one lengthy combo line that I can piece collectively.

“It is a part of the customization for every participant’s strategy. It teaches gamers how the maps work.” It is a pure success for the sport, with every park encouraging loads of pure exploration and experimentation. It is the form of recreation the place gamers will probably be dedicated to touchdown each trick they’ll consider, even when they do not nail the primary few instances.

Tony Hawk 3+4 Is All About Creating A Skater’s Paradise

Iron Galaxy Up to date Present Tracks And Constructed Out New Dream Programs

Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3+4 is greater than only a fashionable replace to the earlier entries within the collection. Whereas the sport remasters a few of the iconic settings from these video games, just like the Refinery in Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3 and the School Campus in Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 4, there are additionally some new locales that gamers can discover (and shred) at their leisure. This contains the Water Park in 4, which could be some of the naturally thrilling places the collection has ever produced.

When reflecting on the important thing substances to setting up an excellent skate park for the collection, Tillmans revealed the core thought of the entire collection is to create a “nice skater fantasy. The very first thing do is search for an iconic place that we need to set this. The second half is making an attempt to provide gamers a method to make use of each function within the gameplay arsenal. You may grind everywhere in the water park, you are able to do loop-de-loops, you possibly can go down the slides, you are able to do all these items. That is the large factor — it needs to be a playground.“

That pure sense of exploration is current within the new parks for the sport, nevertheless it additionally supplied a chance to do one thing that a few of the older maps merely could not handle. “Numerous the unique parks have been made earlier than [several] recreation mechanics have been launched and refined. Now that we’re making new parks, we will actually ensure that there’s a chance to make use of all the things the participant’s disposal.“

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A part of the enjoyable in designing that area for the event crew was bringing that skater fantasy to life, all whereas offering loads of dream moments. Exploring the Water Park, for instance, is a superb showcase for all types of pure challenges gamers can uncover as they discover the brand new setting. Discovering the stability between new concepts and nostalgic favorites was a essential side of the event of Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3+4. “Let’s take School for example,” Tillmans defined. “That format is precisely the way you bear in mind it.”

“For returning followers, they are going to boot up School and be like, yeah! I bear in mind this! I can do all my favourite strains, I can do all my favourite combos. However we wished to have added to it. The artwork path for School appears to be like a bit totally different. We did not simply need to throw a brand new coat of paint on it and name it a day. Now, School is themed round Recreation Day. It is dressed up, it is obtained the Hen Hawk crew, it is obtained the stadium stuffed with followers. When you’re a returning fan, you can discover it from a contemporary [perspective].”

The Significance Of Cross-Gen And Authenticity In Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3+4

Closing Ideas On The Newest Tony Hawk Recreation

Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3+4 can be an extremely spectacular development for the collection. The sport brings again customizable parks and an emphasis on on-line multiplayer, nevertheless it was important for Iron Galaxy to discover a means for avid gamers to share their ardour and enjoyable. That is why it was so vital to the crew to make sure crossplay was included. Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3+4 will probably be accessible on Nintendo Swap, Nintendo Swap 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Home windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Sequence X/S, with gamers in a position to seamlessly play with each other throughout console strains.

Laughing at the concept Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater ended the console wars, Tillmans famous that “everyone is a fan of Tony Hawk video games. Crossplay was one thing from day one which we knew we needed to have within the recreation. It truly is about making an attempt to get as many individuals entry to the sport as attainable. That means, you get a multiplayer that feels nice. You’ll want to join with as many individuals as attainable, and that is actually what crossplay is about. It is about giving this recreation to the widest audiences it is ever had, and that prolonged into creating customized parks.“

One other iconic factor of the collection has all the time been the soundtrack. Reflecting on placing collectively a brand new soundtrack, Tillmans famous that setting up the soundtrack “is a really collaborative course of. There are a whole lot of opinions about which music ought to go into Tony Hawk video games. We’ve numerous conferences, we truly talked quite a bit to Tony Hawk himself. He is very concerned within the soundtrack. He talks to all of the skaters, he is aware of the tradition higher than any recreation developer. He tells us what’s scorching, what persons are listening to, all that.“

“We actually need followers to play this recreation and really feel like they’re being ingratiated into skate tradition.”

One of the thrilling additions to the roster for Tillman is Lupe Fiasco, a Chicago-based rapper. With Iron Galaxy being based mostly in Chicago as effectively, it felt like a pure symmetry that they could not resist. “As a developer from Chicago, any time you are in a position to embrace an artist that is out of your hometown, it fills you with satisfaction. We’re all enormous followers of Lupe, so with the ability to embrace him on this recreation was an enormous deal for us.” That dedication to authenticity, within the presentation, soundtrack, and world-building, is paramount to the success of Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3+4.

“It is all the time about doing proper by the followers and representing skate tradition correctly,” Tillman defined. “The skaters are the character for the entire recreation. They set the tone for us once we go and recreate these parks. We need to have a imaginative and prescient of what these parks would appear like in 2025 in the event that they have been taken over by skate tradition…. take the water park. It has been utterly taken over by skaters. Each inch of it has been tagged. That is their playground. We actually need followers to play this recreation and really feel like they’re being ingratiated into skate tradition.“

By way of uncooked execution, Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3+4 accomplishes that with flying colours. It is a throwback in all one of the best methods, nostalgic with out being beholden to the previous. The gameplay is tight, the presentation is trendy, and the trademark sense of cheeky enjoyable is baked into each problem. Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3+4 is a superb proof that the collection nonetheless has loads of room to develop, and it is bringing followers new and outdated alike for the trip.