Honestly, I probably don’t want to think about how many hours I spent playing the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise over the years. Just yesterday, I felt like I was back in my bedroom, staring at a small CRT TV, endlessly hitting the “Restart Level” button.
To be truthful, I was unsure how my eight-year-old daughter would react to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 when she asked to “play my skateboard game.” She’s a fierce young gamer and rarely hands over the controller, claiming she’s “past the hard part.”
Video games have certainly evolved a lot in the past 25 years, whether we like it or not. I’m not just talking about graphics—it’s about how we engage with the games and what we truly enjoy. Single-player games used to offer infinite freedom, with countless collectibles and places to explore. I think the Tony Hawk franchise was at its best without all this openness.
While THPS has moved towards an open-world concept, I feel like its sweet spot truly was in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4. At this point, the series balanced excellent level design with creative gameplay. Although the goals were sometimes absurd, they weren’t as convoluted as what you might find in Jackass. When the series tried to introduce too many mechanics, it often became cumbersome.
“Dad, what does it mean to only get it for two minutes?”
The game has definitely changed. For my daughter, the idea of getting just a two-minute run is so different from what she’s used to with games like Roblox and Minecraft. In those, everything is about maximizing playtime and creating loops that keep players hooked. With THPS, you have this two-minute window to achieve as much as possible, making the most of each run.
It’s refreshing to see her dive into a game that emphasizes high scores rather than just endless gameplay. There I was, racing against the clock, desperately trying to find the letter “E” while she looked at me, eager to try her hand at the skateboard game. The entry barrier felt high, not just in terms of control but the way this game informs players about limits on time and resources. Sure, there’s a mode in the remake of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 that lets you stretch a run to 60 minutes, but that doesn’t quite match the original experience.
Though she struggled initially, she soon found her groove. Now, she’s counting points and aiming for the perfect run. I remember making four goals in just two minutes, feeling like the fleeting nature of a single run left me wanting more.
“Did you see that? I did a grind!”
Like me, my daughter is really drawn to skateboarding. Many of her friends prefer bikes or roller skates, but she’s the one who asks if we can hit the skate park on weekends. It’s become a sweet tradition between us, and every time she nails a trick, it’s adorable when she excitedly claims she did an ollie.
Skateboarding felt free to me as well. Growing up in my town, biking could be risky, but a skateboard? It was manageable. I could take it on buses and trains, which made traveling easier. I don’t want to say she hasn’t had the same experiences in the suburbs, but playing THPS opened her eyes to a world of skateboarding beyond just ramps and X-Games.
Her proudest moment came when she finally figured out how to land a trick in the game. She learned the ollie sequence and how to time her grinds. I showed her how different inputs would yield different tricks, and we practiced together on her skateboard. She loved it.
It was also one of the first times she engaged with button inputs in a more complex way. Outside of fighting games, we kind of take that for granted. But when I explained that pressing a specific button would help her pull off Tony Hawk’s 900, she got hooked. It added an exciting layer of complexity to what she already found challenging.
Honestly, I’m not sure if I had gaming experiences quite like my daughter’s. Sure, I could always go back and share the classics I played, but watching her reimagine what I loved with such enthusiasm feels magical. It’s like we’re connecting at the same age, in a way.
This morning, when I dropped her off at summer camp, the last thing she said as she left the car was, “Can I play Tony Hawk when I get home?” She’s really enjoying THPS 3 and loves racking up points with her custom skater. While she’s accomplished many goals, she’s still on the hunt for secret tapes in every level.
And yes, I had to explain what a VHS tape is.
