
Replaying Tony Hawk’s Pro Skateboarding
Like most gamers I never enjoyed sports or social actvities in my prepubescent teenage years. Locking myself in to my room, I used to alternate from watching movies and TV show repeats for hours on end or booting up the Game Boy and Nintendo 64. This was the late 1990’s so a computer connected to the internet wasn’t a luxory I had access to and the only reading material I had was comics and several copies of R.L. Stines’s Goosebumps. However, nothing could take my imagination away from becoming the next Han Solo or take my hands away from the clutch of a controller. This resulted in a chubby pre-teen constantly staring at the glare of a television screen being entertained by Hollywood or pixelated images. Aiming to achieve the high scores or completing levels was my niché. Even away from the computer I was thinking of how to complete stages, or totally engrossed in a conversation at school about gaming. Being a devoted Nintendo fan from an early age I was late to the PlayStation party, but once I upgraded from the outdated cartridge to the new shiny CD based games, I was addicted to what the original playStation had to offer. One of those games was Neversoft and Activision’s Tony Hawks Pro Skateboarding.
“I consider skateboarding an art form, a lifestyle and a sport.” — Tony Hawk
Released in 1999, Skateboarding games wasn’t anything new. The first known skateboarding game was Atari’s “720º” released in 1986, following this EA attempted to break the market with “Street Sk8er” (PlayStation, 1999), however, it was severely underwhelming along with its predecessors on previous generation consoles; “Skate of Die” (NES, 1989) and “California Games” (NES, 1990). Tony Hawk’s Pro Skateboarding completely changed the mechanics of the previous attempts and felt like you was playing Super Mario 64 but on a skateboard and it became one of the most popular games of its time redefining the extreme sports genre.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skateboarding was a pretty straight forward game. The player had 2 minutes to complete various tasks and bust out as many tricks as possible with the selected character, whilst collecting video tapes that would unlock the following levels. As you progressed unlocking levels, the missions and high scores substantially got more difficult each time. With over 10 different professional skaters to choose from, hundreds of tricks and combos to master and numerous locations around America to explore. The game didn’t follow the standard formula from previous skateboarding games that was restricted to a linear structure, this was the first skateboarding game to push the boundaries and based on goals and high scores with several different characters bringing a sense longevity for the player.
My eldest sibling introduced me to skateboarding because of Jason Lee. I used to sneak in to his room at night to watch movies with him, most of these were rated above my age and were forbidden. He was a massive Kevin Smith fan and one night whilst watching Mallrats (1995) he mentioned that Jason Lee was a professional skater. Several weeks or months later, he managed to obtain a VHS with Lee’s segment on it. Before this I had never taken an interest in the sport apart from rolling down a hill sat down on one, but after witnessing what was happening in front of me I was intrigued. As I got more interested in the sport, but never actually participating, one name kept reappearing and that was Tony Hawk.
Before playing this game I had only vaguely heard of Tony Hawk and that was after he successfully pulled off the ‘900’ at the X-Games in 1999. I had never known of any other professional skaters excluding the aforementioned and this game welcomed more names in to the skateboarding culture. Along with Tony Hawk there was an additional 9 other playable characters, from Bob Burnquist, Chad Muska to Elissa Steamer, all contributing their own unique style to the gameplay and each having individual “Special” tricks that you had to figure out with random button inputs. After completing the game with each character you unlocked their sponsor video. A 2 minute long video of them performing tricks in real life. Witnessing this for the first time proved that with a bit of dedication anyone could skate. These regular teenagers dancing with a skateboard under their feet was inspiring. This was a cool sport that involved risks and watching the board flip and rotate was like seeing magic. Influencing me, as well as many others, to pick up a skateboard and take up the sport.

Although third person games existed before Tony Hawk’s Pro Skateboarding, this was the first time that a game felt fluid with its 3D capabilities and playing as a skater felt natural on a 32-bit console. The graphics of this game was as detailed as they could be at the time for the console, however, the sounds added something extra. Sidewalks had a different texture to the street, different ramp materials created different sounds and rails clink as you jumped on to them. The forefront of the game was the outstanding soundtrack, featuring an eclectic mix of genres of Hip-Hop, Ska, Punk and Metal, including bands such as Dead Kennedys, Goldfinger and Primus. The attitude of the music matched the sport perfectly and became an incredibly powerful influence on the music I listen to today.
Picking up the controller and replaying this game was a instant hit of nostalgia. If it wasn’t for Tony Hawks Pro Skateboarding, skateboarding wouldn’t be as popular as it is today. It created a footprint for following skateboarding games and propelled skateboarding in to the mainstream. It’s a game for skaters and general gamers alike. Some may be initially discouraged by the questionable physics and the standard graphics, however, it also brings along a lot of fun gameplay and a fantastic soundtrack. Unlike many of the following sequels, it didn’t focus on gimmicky characters and trashing a city, it was pure skateboarding and outstanding game that is still worth playing today.