Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4: A Complete Review From a Lifelong Skater Fan

There’s something surreal about loading into Foundry and hearing the opening riff of Ace of Spades. My hands knew exactly what to do before I even thought about the controls. Grind the rail, flip into a manual, hit the spine transfer across the pipe, revert, land into another manual – the core gameplay feel, the rhythm that made Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater so unforgettable, hasn’t aged at all; at least, the nostalgia is still there. Iron Galaxy clearly understood the DNA of these games. And whenTony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is in motion, it moves with the same swagger the originals did over twenty years ago.

But despite all that, the more time I spent with it, the more I kept running into things that didn’t sit quite right, not with how the game plays, because the mechanics are sharp, clean, and fast, but with how the remake was structured. It’s far from a disaster, but if you remember THPS4, particularly, the way I do, as something that was bigger, more open, and honestly kind of ahead of its time for the series, you’ll feel the gaps almost immediately.

To get the essentials out of the way first: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 includes every level from both of the original games. You can play Foundry, Rio, Suburbia, Los Angeles, Airport, Alcatraz, and Cruise Ship from THPS3, and College, San Francisco, London, Kona, and Zoo from THPS4. But don’t go looking for Carnival or Chicago, because they aren’t here. Those two levels from the original THPS4 are completely missing from this remake.

Instead, the game includes three brand-new levels added to the THPS4 lineup, and honestly, two of them are pretty great. Waterpark is the kind of environment that just makes sense for this series—empty pools, rusted-out slides, and open lines everywhere. Pinball is more chaotic, flashy, and very much its own thing, built around the aesthetic of a giant skateable arcade machine, complete with a metallic Tony Hawk statue. The third one feels more forgettable, at least to me, but it still plays well. They don’t disrupt the feel of the campaign and don’t feel cheap or out of place, which is saying something considering how iconic the original maps were.

Where things get tricky is in how Iron Galaxy chose to present THPS4. If you’ve played it before, you’ll remember it was the first game in the series to move away from the two-minute timer format. Rather than time-based runs, you’d skate around an open map, talk to NPCs, and unlock goals organically, which felt like a small revolution in 2002. That entire structure is gone here. Every level, even the ones from THPS4, has been remade to use the traditional two-minute session format. So yes, everything flows faster, and sure, it fits better with how THPS3 was originally designed, but it removes a big part of what made THPS4 feel distinct.

You can now change the timer in the options menu. It goes all the way up to 60 minutes, which can be nice if you’re trying to get all collectibles or chase a massive combo without pressure. But that doesn’t really replace the pacing and progression of the original THPS4 campaign. There are no character-driven mission intros, no goofy voiceovers, no skate pros wandering the map to give you challenges. The parade floats in College, which was part of a memorable goal in the original, don’t even appear until you’ve cleared the base objectives and unlocked the Pro Goals. It all feels tighter, but it’s also a little emptier in personality.

Despite those changes, the moment-to-moment gameplay is still fantastic. The controls are sharp and exactly how they should be. A is jump (or ollie), and if you tap up before releasing, you get more air. Double-tap and you’ll get even higher. X is your flip tricks, B does grabs, and Y hits grinds. Manuals come from a quick tap of up-down or down-up. Once you’ve gotten the hang of spine transfers and reverts, it becomes this fluid dance of motion that feels just right. I prefer the D-pad, which still feels more precise, especially when I’m going for perfect combo chains and need to hit every input exactly.

This remake also lets you build up stats and unlock rewards in both games at once. You can use the same skater in THPS3 and THPS4, and any stat points or money you earn carry over between them – the game rewards you constantly. Each level you beat, and every challenge you clear, adds up to new cosmetic gear, secret characters, and even visual filters. It’s an enormous amount of content, and the roster itself is stacked. Classic pros return, the new cast from THPS1+2 is back, and Iron Galaxy added new faces like Chloe Covell, Yuto Horigome, Rayssa Leal, and Zion Wright. You can even unlock Bam Margera, though you won’t see him in the intro cutscene.

Once you clear a level’s basic goals, the Pro Challenges unlock, and that’s where some of the harder, more creative objectives come in. These also bring back bits of THPS4 that didn’t show up in the main objective list. It’s a smart way to stretch the content without overwhelming you early on.

There’s also an expanded Create-a-Park system, which is way more capable than the old versions. This time, you can not only design your own skate parks but actually create custom objectives within them. You can drop in SKATE letters, set up COMBO goals, place NPCs, and even design hazards like turbo pads and death pits. It’s all shareable online through full crossplay, so if you’re into user-generated content, this has a ton of potential. I’m not much of a builder myself, but even I got sucked into experimenting with the tools for longer than I expected.

Now, the one thing that really pulled me out of the experience was the soundtrack. In THPS1+2, they went all-in to preserve the music. Out of 25 tracks, 22 made it back. But here? It’s a different story. From THPS3's 20 songs, only six return: Ace of Spades by Motörhead, Not the Same by Bodyjar, If You Must by Del the Funky Homosapien, 96 Quite Bitter Beings by CKY, The Boy Who Destroyed the World by AFI, and Amoeba by Adolescents. OfTHPS4's 35 tracks, only four are here: Skate and Destroy by The Faction, My Adidas by Run–D.M.C., Mass Appeal by Gang Starr, and Beach Blanket Bongout by JFA. That’s ten tracks total from both games.

The rest of the 59-song playlist is filled with new entries, and some are really good. Dog Years by Urethane, Kick, Push by Lupe Fiasco, Boys in the Better Land by Fontaines D.C., hollywood sucks// by KennyHoopla, and Roller by The Saint Cecilia are great tracks, but not all feel like part of the era these games originally came from. And worse, iconic names like System Of A Down, AC/DC, Public Enemy, The Offspring, Red Hot Chili Peppers, House of Pain, and even Goldfinger—all missing. Some bands weren’t even approached to return. That’s the kind of oversight that really hurts when you grow up with this series and remember how the music wasn’t background noise, it was the culture of the game.

So, where does that leave it? Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 plays great. The physics is precise, the levels are gorgeous, and the reward structure keeps pulling you forward. But it’s not a faithful recreation of the originals. It’s a modern remix, one that rebuilds the mechanics with care but rewrites the heart of one game and forgets to preserve the sound of both.

It’s still an incredible value, especially as a Game Pass title. You’re getting two massive campaigns, plus new levels, updated visuals, full crossplay, and a huge park editor. But if THPS4 was your favorite because of its open structure, or if you’ve got those original tracklists memorized from playing them on loop years ago, be ready for some disappointment. This version lands the trick mechanically, but it doesn’t bring the whole soul of the series with it. It’s a polished ride, but one that leaves a few scuff marks on the memory.