REVIEW: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 (Switch)

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 were released on Switch last month. This gives everyone the opportunity to experience some of the most famous levels in videogame history. Vicarious Visions' remasters of the first two titles in the series, Pro Skater and the original Pro Skater arrived on Switch a year after their PS1 release. It is impressive that one of the most popular hits of 2020 was ported to the Switch.

It was necessary to make some cuts for the Switch. The core experience remains the same as when it was released last year.

This port is not half-baked, everything is right here.

In terms of gameplay features, nothing has been omitted for the Switch version and it is essentially the same title that we reviewed last year. All the modes, skaters, and courses are here. Although the Create-A-Skater lacks customisation, I was able to play a few of the courses that the community created.

After playing through the tutorial, muscle memory returned to me in a way I hadn't realized. It took a while, though. I was able to bail out after each trick for the first half hour. Then, it all started to click. After chaining a few tricks together, I felt like I had gone from absolute rookie to... well, not the main Sk8er Boi himself, but something in between.

So I made a pro-skater that vaguely resembled myself and went straight into Tour mode to test my newly-remembered skills.

The tour starts.

Tour is a race against the clock to accomplish a set of goals. You will find S-K-A–T-E letters scattered around each park. Or a collectible that is tied to the level. They are not difficult and the most difficult part is how to complete them all as fast as possible. It's not difficult or stressful to reach all the goals after a few runs.

There are stat points you can collect, tricks that you can perform in certain areas, as well as hidden cassette tapes in each park. This will keep you entertained for quite some time. After you have met all your goals, you can move on to the next level.

Each park has three score levels, each with an increasing difficulty level. You compete for the highest score in three heats against AI skaters to win competitions. The Tour levels were challenging for me, and I didn’t mind it. I had no doubts about my ability in this game prior to entering it. Every level that I encountered in the first game was a challenge to me.

I felt better after each park, whether it was how to get more airtime and bridge the gap between two buildings or how to do a 5-0 grind on water fountains. I felt that every time I attempted something new, it was because of me and not the lessons I was learning.

The elephant in the corner

This version of the game is not as polished as the ones on other platforms. The Switch's performance is a little slower, with a frame rate of 30 FPS. This is evident in docked mode, rather than tablet or handheld. It was able to keep the frame rate for a short time with local split-screen. It looked at times like a game from a decade back, not a year.

To be honest, I'm not surprised at all. From the moment I heard the announcement, I didn't think it would perform or look any different to other consoles. I was fully expecting the frame rate to drop down to 30 and local multiplayer to propel the Switch as far it could. The Switch is approaching its fifth birthday next year. It was far less powerful than its competitors when it launched. These were not surprising.

This is the question people ask about all the games that have come to Switch from other platforms. What's more important? The portability of the Switch or how well your game looks and runs? My favorite part of this week was packing my Pro Controller and just taking it with me to go, or simply popping it out from the dock to take it downstairs. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was a game that I could easily pick up in a year, and then just dive right into.

Switch: Is it worth the effort?

I feel like I could easily spend hours doing nothing. It's enough to enjoy the simple joy of rolling around on four small wheels. Vicarious Visions has captured the core gameplay loop of these two games, which is satisfying and so much fun.

Many great titles have been brought to Switch from other platforms. This small screen is too small for me to enjoy Doom Eternal or The Witcher 3 on. A quick burst from Hangar under my desk during a Teams meeting? Or trying to beat my highest score on Venice while football is playing in the background. It feels like the appeal will last a lifetime.