Tony Hawk's

For the comedian, see Tony Hawks. For the series namesake, see Tony Hawk.

Tony Hawk's
Genre(s)Extreme sports
Developer(s)Neversoft (1999–2007)
Vicarious Visions (2001–2007, 2020)
Robomodo (2009–2015)
Other
Publisher(s)Activision (1999–2015, 2020)
Other
Platform(s)PlayStation
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 3
PlayStation 4
PlayStation 5
PlayStation Portable
Nintendo 64
GameCube
Wii
Nintendo Switch
Game Boy Color
Game Boy Advance
Nintendo DS
Dreamcast
Xbox
Xbox 360
Xbox One
Xbox Series X/S
Windows
Macintosh
N-Gage
Mobile
iOS
Android
First releaseTony Hawk's Pro Skater
September 29, 1999
Latest releaseTony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2
September 4, 2020

Tony Hawk's is a skateboarding video game series published by Activision and endorsed by the American professional skateboarder of the same name. The series was primarily developed for home consoles by Neversoft with an annual release schedule from launch to 2007, until Activision transferred the franchise to Robomodo in 2008, who developed the franchise on a non-annual release basis until 2015 when Activision and Hawk's license expired, leaving the future of the series uncertain.[1] In 2020, the series returned under Activision with a remake of the original two games in the series, with development handled by Vicarious Visions. The series has spawned a total of 20 games.

Starting out with the initial Tony Hawk's Pro Skater in 1999,[2] the series proved to be one of the most popular and best-selling video game franchises of the early 2000s. Three more Pro Skater games were released from 2000 to 2002, after which the developers took a more story-oriented approach with the releases of Underground, Underground 2 and American Wasteland from 2003 to 2005. Project 8 in 2006 and Proving Ground in 2007 were the last games in the series developed by Neversoft. After that, developer Robomodo took the franchise in a different direction by developing the peripheral supported spin-offs Ride and Shred, released in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Both were commercial and critical failures. Robomodo tried unsuccessfully to revive the series with the back to the roots-oriented releases of Pro Skater HD in 2012 and Pro Skater 5 in 2015. The series spawned several other spin-offs, such as Downhill Jam in 2006 and Motion in 2008, along with several ports and re-releases.

Neversoft's first five Tony Hawk's received critical acclaim for their unique gameplay, varied soundtracks, and expansion over their predecessors. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 and Pro Skater 3 are critically ranked among the best games released for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, respectively.[3][4][5] However, later entries started getting less favorable reviews, culminating in the games developed by Robomodo being critically panned, with Ride and Pro Skater 5 being named "Worst Games of the Year" by several outlets.[6][7][8] After this, Activision let the licensing deal expire while holding all publishing rights.[1][9] Fans continued to support the legacy of the series through an online multiplayer fangame called THUG Pro, which uses Underground 2's engine in an all-encompassing collection of levels from the series.[10]

The first game bearing the Tony Hawk's name not to be published by Activision, Tony Hawk's Skate Jam, was released in December 2018 for iOS and Android.[11] A second high-definition remake of the first two games, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, published by Activision and developed by Vicarious Visions (who previously developed ports of several Tony Hawk's games), was released on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Windows in 2020.

  1. ^ a b Mangalindan, JP (December 1, 2016). "Tony Hawk wants his next video game to use VR". Yahoo Finance. Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  2. ^ Fielder, Lauren (August 26, 1999). "Female Skater Joins Tony Hawk". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 29, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2010.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference MC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Jeff Gerstmann, GameSpot (October 29, 2001). "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 Review". Gamespot. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference PS2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "The Anti-Awards 2009". January 7, 2010. Archived from the original on February 27, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  7. ^ "GameTrailers Game of the Year Awards 2009 - Most Disappointing Game". GameTrailers. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2009.
  8. ^ EW Staff (December 11, 2015). "The 10 Best (And 3 Worst!) Video Games of 2015". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 13, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  9. ^ Watercutter, Angela (November 15, 2017). "Twitter aksed Tony Hawk how to do a 540 McTwist. Tony Hawk answered". Wired. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  10. ^ Hester, Blake (January 25, 2018). "Tony Hawk Pro Skater Fans Are Keeping the Series Alive With Mods". Vice. Archived from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  11. ^ "'Tony Hawk's Skate Jam' is the New Tony Hawk Mobile Game, Coming December 13th – TouchArcade". December 3, 2018. Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018.