Here is a review by The IB, This game in on Tony Hawk Pro Skater for the PlayStation 1. This game was released in September 1999. Tony Hawk Pro Skater is my 2nd ever video game I have ever played, and also has been the longest series I have played to this day (started since summer 2000 all the way to today). Tony Hawk Pro Skater is a skateboarding game made by Activison. This game right here has introduce a new element in the gaming world known as skateboarding which brought a lot more skateboarding games into the mix in later games (Such as the Skate series, and a bunch of other games as well, and with the list of skaters in this game all has an interesting number or real life skaters that has put their life hood that they do into this game, and with the player to experience with their moves are quite amazing. This is why I have like this game for nearly 15 years. Let’s get onto the review.

Graphics..

With the Graphics in Tony Hawk Pro Skater, I got to say, this being one of the early open-world games that feature some 3D graphics, and I think they still look pretty good. I know when you go to later games like the Pro Skater HD upgrade, the graphics made this game look a whole lot better, but that’s all in a different game, I’m more focus onto this game alone. I think for a 1999 PlayStation game, it really isn’t that too bad though. I think with the gaming engine that Activision had at the time when they created this game was a pretty decent engine for it’s time, and the FPS is very in detail for it’s time. I also like on how the skaters looks a whole lot like the skaters in real life, and I think it is quite amazing job that Activision has done and capture some of their moves, and other physics they moves both make it look like the moves they all perform in real life and having real life moves being performed into a game, especially in the late 90’s, that does speak a whole lot because times were different between 1999 and today (as of this review which is 2015, so, over 16 years, a whole lot has changed. Also to bring up the camera angles, I think with up getting into more 3D gaming, having camera pan in a 3D format, it stays actuate on where the player (or in this term, the skater) is at and there is no problem with that. So, for the Graphics, I got to say, it is a job well done for Activision to bring this new series into the gaming world.

For the Graphics, I have to give this game a perfect 10 out of 10, it’s got a whole lot of nicely done graphics, and making each of the locations really fit with those locations, and this being one of the first games that has fully derailed 3D views of cities to explore, I got to say, this game is amazing when it comes to the graphics. This is why I gave this game a “10”

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Sound/Music..

For the Sound Effects, I got to say, they really it does sound like in real life, well, almost everything, like when you wreck, even violently, you just make a little bit of a grunt noise and in real life, yeah, this is the sound you make if you wreck in a minor matter, but if you majorly wreck, then you like scream in pain. The only thing that makes real life a true you know what. Other than the wrecking sound, also if you manage to turn the music off, then you’ll more hear the environment depending on what level you pick, like industrial noises of the Warehouse, City noises in Minneapolis & San Francisco, or the Military base of Roswell. So, without sounds, each and every level in Tony Hawk Pro Skater all have a lot of sound effects in the background you will enjoy listening to or just simply forget those sounds and just play some music.

The music playlist, if you know that is some genres, especially in sporting and racing games, they actually have soundtracks from bands in real life that sells them on albums, mostly depending on the games, but the music genres this series mostly play is Rock (Classic, Alternative, & Punk) and also Hip Hop sounds as well. I think having these music in these games are quite nice and in fact, this is where I first hear some of the bands I like today, without this series, then I won’t know 1/3 of the songs I know today. Other than the soundtrack, they really isn’t much of any sounds though with the exception of the sound effects and if you turn the music off, you get the background music like I mentioned above.

So, for the Sound Effects and the Music in this game, I do have to give it a 9 out of 10, why a “9”, the reason why is that yeah, the sound effects all sound nice and the music really has my most favorite genre, but I don’t really see it getting a perfect 10 really, I think there is quite a few flaws in the sounding, and like I mentioned about the whole real life vs. video game, I think that’s what caused to from being a 10. But hey, this game having a “9” that isn’t too bad though.

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Addiction Level..

For the Addiction, I got to say, this is a pretty addicting game, the reason on why this game is a really addicting game, because of all you can explore in and some of the goals in the Career mode you just want to beat and get an 100% completion on, and this is one of those games that people wants to get an 100% on. But if you’re not one of those 100% people like myself, you can also Free Skate (I’ll explain this mode later in the Depth), and you have no limit on skating on wherever you feel like skating at, and you have 9 different locations to skate in, for a game made in 1999, that does bring in a whole lot of addiction to this game, and I think that is the biggest part on why I am addicted to the Tony Hawk series, I feel like skating all over the place and I like to skate all over the place.

For the Addiction Level of this game, I will give it a perfect 10 out of 10, I think with all the interesting amount of things you can do no matter if it’s in Career Mode or in Free Skate, this game will have you be playing this game for a good long time, and all the moves you can also pull in this game as well, this also makes this one game as addicting as the levels themselves, so, yeah, this is to my point of view on why this game is just so flat out addicting to the player, that is why this game gets a perfect score of “10”

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The Storyline..

This being really a sporting game and all sporting games don’t have really any kind of storyline associated with this kind of genre, but mostly the only think I know that might still fit into this though is that each area you skate in “Career Mode”, you have to complete a certain amount of goals to advance which they are 5 goals in each location (2 scores to achieve, 1 SKATE collecting, 1 where you have to find the secret tape, and one other goal for that level” ) and you only have to complete 3 of those 5 to advance to the next location (plus new boards and other things) with the exception of 3 locations where it’s a competition where you have to score as much as you can without bailing (or wrecking), and once you complete the final location (which is the final competition which is Roswell), you have fully complete the Career Mode. That’s basically the closest thing to a Storyline of this game, really.

For the storyline, I have to give it a 3 out of 10, the reason why it’s this low is because there isn’t really much of a story to begin with in the first place, with the lack of a storyline, this does cause the game to have a low score although I don’t care too much about how the storyline works, just as long I play the game, that’s mostly what I look at in a game, as long it plays good. So, yeah, this game gets a “3”

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Depth..

Ok, this right here is kind of a polar opposite of the Storyline I mention, Where I mention that the storyline has a lack of a storyline, the Depth of the game really makes up for the lack of story. When I played this game, all the locations you can play in, you have a total of 9 different locations you can really skate on and that is really unique even for the PlayStation 1, maybe that’s why the game doesn’t have a storyline because they might not be enough room for the game in it’s time. Even one location has so much to explore in, like it’s all fully detailed and all, and I am a guy that likes to explore in a game, and in one of the modes you can play in called “Free Skate” where you have no time limit and you can just skate around in the level as long as you wish, but the only way you can Free Skate in the locations you want to skate in, you have to unlock the level in Career Mode which, I don’t have to explain a lot about because I talked about this back in the Storyline. There is also a 3rd mode called “Single Session” which is basically like the combination of Career Mode and Free Skate, you can’t be able to unlock things, but you still try to get a high score within a time limit. My personal favorite (which is everyone’s favorite basically) is the Free Skate, the reason why I pick this, you can explore all across the area and I am a kind of guy that loves looking around at all the interesting features the game creators put into this game, and all the things that you can do like pulling of tricks off a half or quarter pipe, grind on a rail, or any other neat things in this game. So, the Depth is amazing, that’s all I got to say.

For the Depth, I got to give this a perfect 10 out of 10, in the Tony Hawk series, the biggest thing that this series is the most powerful at is the Depth of the game, I think without the Depth that Activision puts out in the Tony Hawk series, the series wouldn’t of taken off, and that tell you on how much effort they put into this game to make it a one of a kind game series.

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Difficulty / Gameplay..

For the Difficulty, I remember that this was in fact the 2nd only video game I have ever played in my life, so in reality, I had a little bit of help from my brother to complete the entire Career Mode, especially with the scores since this game hasn’t really had any manuals (which wasn’t introduced until THPS 2), so he had to do those while I take care of the other 3 goals, but later on in my life, I really has no problem getting these goals now, but it still takes a quite a bit of time to achieved. So, really, the game is quite difficult to my point of view. Although each player’s stats can be improved by the later levels you travel in, so that will help you out a little bit, but the matter of fact in the Career Mode, your default time (if you don’t use cheats), you got 2 minutes to get the goal you want to complete, sometimes it’s easy and other times it can be really hard. So, it’s really all about trial and error with this game mostly, but once you bypass Career Mode, it will be worth it.

As for the Gameplay for this game, I have to say, for the first game of the series, the controls are really not too bad, sure, I know a lot of flaws with this game is what I really didn’t like, like for an example, not having manuals in the game, and I think with how many people complained to Activision that the game doesn’t have manuals to connect their combos and this being a game released in 1999, way before downloadable content existed, they wasn’t really any better option but have to deal with it, but they soon fix the issue in THPS 2, but other than that issue, I really have no problem with the gameplay at all, smooth and interesting gameplay.

For the Difficulty and the Gameplay, I will give it an 8 out of 10, mostly the difficulty is the one that got the most of the score, I think with the amount of difficulty this game has in it, it can give the player an interesting challenge and I think in a way, that is a good thing, as long you can be able to complete the game (in Career mode), that is all that matter because the reason, people want to feel accomplished that they complete it and their reward is playing unlimited time in Free Skate, and I think that’s a good thing. For the Gameplay, it’s all smooth and accurate, just with the no manual exception which is the only flaw, but other than that, good gaming, that is why this game gets an “8”.

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Overall..

Overall, I got to say, this is quite an interesting game and how it’s so interesting, let’s review the review. The graphics in this game is quite fantastic, and makes it really what the location really looks like and makes the skater sprites in this game also look like how they all look in real life, although in 1999, technology was a little bit more limited than what we got today, but still, I think the graphics in this game all and all is still quite amazing for it’s time. As for the sound effects, I also think this also makes the game unique in its own way as well, with that one wrecking exception which through it a little bit off, but not a whole lot though, and the music in the game also fits in with the music genre I love the most, so that’s really a win win for this game. Although the only thing that kind of kept this game down from perfection is the lack of a storyline (although sporting games all don’t have any storyline, so that’s why they always low regarding the storyline), but I am really a guy that don’t care too much on a storyline, so nothing much to say about this. But both the Addiction Level and the Depth both makes up for it though, the game has so much in the game, with 9 big locations to explore and skate in, this is no wonder on why both things got perfect scores, so much to do. Also, the game is a little difficult, because with no manuals in the game, it does bring a whole lot more challenging factor into this game, the game still can be beat, but it’s hard to get it done in 1 try.

For my final thoughts, this is an interesting game to play and I think especially if you are one of those guys that love exploring the levels and like to do amazing things in a game, I think this one game is a game for you to try out. It’s fun, entertaining, and really interesting, you will like it.

For the final score, I will give this game an 8.8 out of 10, the reason for an 8.8. I think the lack of a story really killed it, but if I was a story guy, it would be lower to like “7” or so, but I don’t care to much about the storyline though, but there is still a few other factors you do have to add into the mix on why this game get it’s 8.8, like part of the sound effects with the wrecking, the difficulty, and a bunch of other things as well. So, yeah, a little low but at least it’s in the upper “8”s. 8.8 isn’t all bad, all and all, I think 8.8 is still a decent score.

Anyways, that’s all for this review.