Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is already essentially a perfect game. Our original review of the PS4 version praised this adaptation of the classic games, which recaptures that nostalgia but makes it feel entirely new and fresh on modern consoles. Now those classic games have received yet another upgrade, pushing them onto the new generation of consoles and taking advantage of the PS5’s unique features to enhance the classic experience even further. The original content from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 remains intact, and our original review also still stands. This is an absolutely perfect game. This review is primarily looking at the next-gen PS5 enhancements and how those have changes this skateboarding experience.
The PS5 upgrade makes for a far less noticeable enhancement than many other games, at least visually. The new visuals pop at 4K, but it’s hardly something that looks all that different from the PS4 version. Perhaps a little sharper, a little more detailed and defined, but I was already impressed by how much the original had done to improve on the classics. This isn’t a comprehensive graphical overhaul, and whether you opt to go with the Performance mode (120 fps at 1080p) or Fidelity mode (60 fps at 4K), the game looks amazing regardless, but hardly a noticeable improvement to most people’s eyes, (also highly depending on the capabilities of your setup to support high frame rates and/or native 4K resolution).
How Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 feels to play on the PS5 is quite different, thanks to the DualSense controller. Haptic feedback means you can feel even more detailed vibrations of the skateboard as it rolls along, and adaptive triggers offer a bit more resistance as you pull off various tricks, notably used in stance switches for ground tricks and reverts. It did take some getting used to the changes in how things feel, but once I did, I fell right back into those old patterns of busting out (and bailing on) huge combos. You can turn the adaptive triggers off if you prefer the classic feel, but I’ve come to love the additional weight and feedback they offer in most games.
Making use of Sony’s 3D audio engine on the PS5, each level sounds more immersive than ever before, but again, it’s a small change and one that won’t be noticed unless you are wearing headphones while playing. And then, on top of that, the driving soundtrack (or Spotify playlist, if you choose to pull in outside music to listen to) tends to overtake this feature anyway. It’s a bullet-point on the feature list for the PS5 upgrade, but not one that makes all that much of a difference.
Players from the PS4 version can pull their full progression forward, provided they have the PS4 version installed somewhere and access to that save file in order to upload it via the last-gen version. This also should unlock all of your previously earned Trophies, though there can be an issue where this doesn’t happen in some cases. (If this is an issue for you, simply delete your PS5 save file and try to transfer the save from the PS4 version again.) Players who bought the digital deluxe edition also get a free next-gen upgrade.
As with most games that get the next-gen PS5 treatment, the biggest enhancement here is really the loading times. The PS5 SSD keeps you skating, rather than waiting for levels to load. While the load times on PS4 weren’t what I would call egregious, they are noticeably reduced on the PS5, to the point where I was having a lot more fun just skating a variety of levels without having to wait long in between each of them at all.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is still a perfect game, and the small PS5 enhancements only serve to make it even better, but don’t expect a drastically different game or experience when jumping to the new console. The PS5 version simply continues to polish something that already gleamed beautifully.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 PS5 review code provided by publisher. Reviewed on a PS5. For more information, please read our Review Policy.
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