Just in case you didn’t know, the Tony Hawk's series is the
best skateboarding sim ever--and now, with the release of Tony
Hawk’s Pro Skater 4, even more so. As many of you young
hipsters may be aware, skateboarding is taken far more seriously
nowadays than any child of the '70s could ever imagine, with legions of
baggily trousered youths now able to refer to moves such as a
"bluntside" or "overcrook" with a perfectly straight face. Indeed, the
list of silly names for ridiculously dangerous stunts has been
increased for this latest sequel, and you now have the added ability to
skitch (hold onto the back of a moving car) and grind through traffic.
Such minor additions aside, though, the big new change is the career
mode, which now has specific goals and milestones for all the different
skaters and really adds to the replayability.
Curiously, the graphics are still not particularly good, with the same
slightly muddy, undefined look to them that the developers presumably
now think is all part of the fun. They have however thankfully realized
that having time limits for the levels was unnecessary and, except for
a few specific missions, you’ve now got all the time in the
world to graze your knees and cave in your skull. This is looking, as
the kids on the street say, "sick." --David Jenkins
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