Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 PC impressions: No pretending for this Superman

Enlarge / The real video of modern-day Tony Hawk pulling tricks is pretty good stuff. Arguably, the virtual version in this week's remaster is even more exciting. (credit: Activision)

Before we begin putting arms around each other as a bunch of PlayStation skateboarding fans, screaming classic pop-punk songs and praising this week's new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, let's remember the last time a nostalgic cash-in pretended to be Superman.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD launched in 2012 as part of the last gasp of the Xbox 360 and PS3 generation, but it was far from the return to skateboarding glory that fans had hoped for-especially as the series had been written off after watered-down sequels and peripheral add-ons. As a "compilation" of the first two mega-popular Tony Hawk games, THPSHD only included seven skateparks from both games combined. Its "HD" status may have technically been true, but glitchy physics, questionable color-mapping, and a broken "big drop" system made it far from definitive.

Eight years later, the series' handlers at Activision are back with another crack at the first two Tony Hawk games, once again on the cusp of a new console generation. In good news, this time, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 is... good. Like, it's really good.

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