This little game became a massive hit, with Tony Hawk’s games possibly being the most universally loved and well regarded sporting franchises. I personally started with Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 on GameCube, and adored it (yet I’ve oddly never touched the franchise since), and I found it difficult to go back to this – it certainly doesn’t help that the N64 version features a gutted soundtrack.

In terms of movement and tricks, that’s something that the series managed to pull off from the very start. The game still feels smooth and responsive, and landing tricks has the right amount of leniency. Stringing together combos is more difficult, due to the lack of features added later on, but the important part is that it’s all still fun.

What I personally dislike, though, is the structure of the game. You get dumped into levels for only 2 minutes at a time, with five challenges to complete: two high scores to beat, find the letters S-K-A-T-E, smash 5 things and find a hidden tape. As the developers had to figure out how the core gameplay would work, it does make a lot of sense for the first game in the series.

While I didn’t get on with the game overall, I can definitively appreciate it for what it did, and that it was a solid start that (for a time) Neversoft were able to build up from. You can see some interesting experimentation in the levels – such as the linear Downhill Jam level, which eventually became the basis for a Wii game – as they were figuring out what the franchise was. The important thing was that they nailed the feel of skateboarding.

Fun

The animation is good, but it’s the dynamic camera that really brings the stunts to dizzy life. As you soar into the air, spinning and contorting to rack up a big points combo, the camera swoops around your skater to keep the landing zone visible. The horizon tilts dramatically when you take a corner or hit a pipe, creating a real impression of danger even though the game isn’t particularly fast.

Martin Kitts, N64 Magazine #41. Review Score: 86%

Remake or remaster?

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater got an atrocious remaster. Thankfully, it then later got a wonderful remake in “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2”.

Official ways to get the game.

The remake of 1 & 2 is available on most modern platforms.