A Skater's Wish List: 10 Things I'd Like to See in the Next Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

Now that we know a new Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game is coming in 2015, we can’t help but begin thinking about what it might entail.

I’ve been a skater for many years, and learned how to ollie when I was just 12 years old. For skaters like myself, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater represents more than a video game; it’s been a way to push the sport to its limits without the fear of injury. It was the first series to capture how fun it is to look for spots and hit them with everything you’ve got. But it also managed to find a way to make virtual skateboarding fun for people who have never stepped on a skateboard. If anything that’s been its greatest accomplishment.

Although the earlier Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games were some of the best of their time, the series has struggled for more than a decade to relive its earlier success. But, there’s hope in sight as a developer fully aware of the potential of the series, and the growing popularity of skateboarding, is more than halfway through production of a new game. Within a year we’ll be playing the next installment, and we can only hope that it’s great.

Below you’ll find our wish list for the next Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.

A Skater's Wishlist: 10 Things I'd Like to See in the Next Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

Stick to classic gameplay

Just be yourself.
As much as I love the analog stick gameplay of EA's Skate franchise, I feel as though Tony Hawk's Pro Skater should stick to its formula no matter how archaic it may have felt in previous installments. Yes, that means arcade gameplay and exaggerated tricks. Although grinding rails might be as easy as tapping a button, and performing flip tricks is nothing more than a two button combo, linking these tricks together precisely is what can form a high skill cap.
Make competitions epic

The big stage.
I used to participate in skateboarding competitions (CASL), and let me tell you something, they are nothing like what's been represented in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. I would take notice to the big crowd, and feel the adrenaline as I was given a platform to showcase my ability. It was exciting to ride around for a few minutes beforehand, practicing on the obstacles and planning a line for my run. Once it was time to do my run, it was as if I would go into a zone.
I'd like to see the thrill of competing brought to life in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater's competitions. Make the crowds larger and more realistic. Play great music that sounds like it's coming from speakers in the game world. Record voice overs from some professional casters such as Sal Masekela and Geoff Rowley. It might even be worth it to talk to Rob Dyrdek about representing Street League Skateboarding in the game given. I'm sure he'd oblige.
De-emphasize rails and combos

Simple is better.
Although it's been fun to chain together a multitude of tricks, stringing them together using manuals, it's posed a problem for the core gameplay. Instead of using quarter pipes and attempting tricks on big spots, succeeding in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater has for the longest time been about comboing between rails. Not only can it be repetitive, it leaves large portions of maps underutilized because they aren't as fruitful as hitting the same couple rails over and over again.
In the next game it may be worth it to just scrap the whole combo system altogether, including reverts. Aim for something that has a countdown between tricks to earn multipliers, but don't make it anymore complex than it needs to be.
Aim for a great soundtrack

Brb. Adding that song to my Spotify playlist.
Next to Grand Theft Auto, there is no video game series that does a better job of building soundtracks. Skating around in the first three games to awesome music was a real treat, and many of us found new artists to follow as a result of these games. So, don't shortcut on the tracks. Go big and it will pay off.
A buttery 60 frames per second

THPS come to life.
The current generation consoles are significantly more powerful than anything before them, so it's time we get a beautiful and smooth Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game. Some of the previous games had frame rate drops on certain levels that tarnished otherwise solid experiences. Ensuring that the new game is vibrant and great on the eyes would be a good start to representing the series on new hardware.
Invest in level design

Exploration is key.
If there was one thing about the first few Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games that made them truly remarkable at the time it was their level design. Levels like the School and Los Angeles were fun to ride around in, looking for great spots and hidden items while hitting obstacles.
The original design of having two minutes to ride around and complete objectives was timeless. Forget open-world, and spend time crafting great levels that beg to be explored.
Get rid of the gimmicks

Who thought this thing on the left would be a good idea?
Please don't make the next Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game peripheral-based. Please don't incorporate motion controls, either. Stick to the fundamentals and make it simple.
Don't even think about adding security guards

The worst thing in any skateboarding game.
There has never been a single worse idea for a skateboarding game than to add security guards to great spots—I'm looking at you, Skate 2. Although security is a part of street skating, it comes between the player and fun. Don't follow Skate 2's footsteps. Let players go where they please, and if you want hazards make them funny and exciting with things like sharks and explosives.
Add real skate spots

I want to backside flip El Toro before Sheckler.
While the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series has thousands if not millions of fans who have never stood on a skateboard, there are just as many if not more who have. Us skaters love to see references to the real world in our games such as with Point Loma High School's leap of faith in the School level of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. Placing a few of these in the game world is a good way to drive the point home that this is a skateboarding game built by people who understand skateboarding.
Inspire a new Skate game

I miss you, Skate.
I'm one of many skaters that loves the Skate series. Sadly, EA feels it isn't worth the time or effort to make a new one. If the new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater blows up enough, I'm sure EA will be encouraged to release a current generation skateboarding game of its own.