We got an exclusive look at Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 — here’s what you can expect

The words Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater evoke real strong memories for me. It’s me as an eight-year-old sitting cross-legged, gawking at a TV that still had a back to it, relentlessly hammering buttons on my Nintendo 64 controller as I tried to beat high scores, or give my mate a thrashing in HORSE. It’s also me in the throes of lockdown, beer to the side, marvelling at a much thinner TV as I grinded my way through Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2.

This franchise has been a staple of my entire gaming life — it is objectively a timeless banger. So, when I was invited to fly to Los Angeles to get an exclusive chance to play the forthcoming Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, and attend Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Fest, it felt like a real full circle moment.

In the days leading up to the event, I dusted off Pro Skater 1 + 2 after years of not playing it, and it all felt completely reflexive. The muscle memory hadn’t faded, and I was honestly annoyed at my past self having completed all the objectives. That being said, free-skating through the School or Downhill Jam or the iconic Skate Heaven was enough to satisfy my hunger for nostalgia, but it did get me thinking: How can Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 top its predecessor? Will they have to change a lot? How much should they change? I want to feel like I’m playing a new game, but I don’t want to mess too much with the magic.

So how much did change with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4?

In two words? Just enough.

When playing your way through Pro Skater 3 + 4, the improvements to gameplay itself are obvious. I mean, it’s been over two decades since the original games came out, so you’d hope so. Movements feel smoother, details feel cleaner and you can really immerse yourself in the Pro Skater universe. Plus it’s always nice seeing levels and scenery you grew up loving (when it was much more pixelated and angular) get a sleek, 2025 makeover.

But, for me, and I’m sure for any fan of the game, the biggest changes were also the ones that got me the most excited — namely, brand spanking new skate parks.

That’s right — Pro Skater 3 + 4 comes with a selection of brand new parks, and I — apparently one of the luckiest people alive — got to play my way through ‘Waterpark’. As you drop in on the abandoned, graffiti-laden water wonderland, that same feeling of nostalgia washes over you. Weird, right? How can you feel nostalgia over something you’ve never seen before?

I spoke to Mike Rossi, design manager at Iron Galaxy Studios who oversaw the design of Pro Skater 3 + 4, about that tightrope walk and how his team were able to pull it together.

“Size was a huge obstacle,” Mike says, “Waterpark is really big. It’s huge.”

I can vouch for that. I was cruising through Waterpark for the better part of an hour and, about 10 minutes before I had to leave, I discovered a corner of the park I hadn’t even seen.

“I think it definitely took a lot longer than we initially estimated because we wanted to make sure that it felt right,” Mike says.

“We want to make this right, we want to hit those expectations. I think actually the park size was actually like probably double originally.”

When you get the chance to play through the park, you’ll understand just how big the original idea must’ve been if it was double what I played through.

“When you have free reign on a new park, it’s hard to refine,” Mike continues, “but it’s credit to the level design team and to Kurt (Tillman, game director) who were able to spot what needed to be refined so fast.”

Even though it’s a brand new park, just one 2-minute playthrough is all you need to feel right at home. I was in a studio in LA, but playing this park I’d never seen, I was transported back to my childhood home halfway across the world. Whether it’s the dirt and rust added to the slides that make it feel lived-in, or the music that’s evocative of a different time and place, the design and gameplay of Pro Skater 3 + 4 is at once innovative and comfortable, but never compromising challenge.

And speaking of music…

What else is different in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4?

There are fundamental changes when it comes to play that, while I didn’t personally get a chance to test, will no doubt be a huge drawcard.

First, you can now work on knocking out those park goals in Free Skate, as opposed to only being able to do it in Classic Mode. You no longer have to be bound by that two minute time restriction — great news if you’ve wasted actual hours trying to snag those secret tapes (speaking from complete personal experience). Secondly, there’s complete cross-platform, multiplayer capabilities, meaning you can tear it up online with eight people across PlayStation, Xbox, PC and Nintendo Switch. While this is obviously a selling point in the most general sense, it feels akin to the idea of community this game, and its legacy, has built (more on that later).

But, other big changes, while more aesthetic, really help build on the ethos of Pro Skater. First, there’s a swathe of new skaters you can play as. The classics return — Tony Hawk, Riley Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Bob Burnquist — but legends who were absent in 1 + 2 shred their way in. We’re talking Andy Anderson, Bam Margera and even 14-year-old, Aussie local legend Chloe Covell are all playable in 3 + 4. Having names like Covell as playable is not only proof that the game is mirroring 2025, but also helps open up the game to potentially new, young audiences. Any kid that gets to feel how I did taking on the Oil Rig as Chad Muska back in the early 00s while playing as Covell in 2025 probably means this game has done its job.

In fact, playable characters now expand out of our realm completely, with Doom Slayer and Revenant (of Doom) coming into the fold. It’s a bit gimmicky — and this game is full of tongue-in-cheek gimmickry — but it’s also a reminder that this franchise has never taken itself too seriously. Just seriously enough.

Of course, there’s the music. The soundtrack of Pro Skater games is real hallowed ground for artists, in the same way it is on games like FC and Grand Theft Auto. Only a select few make the cut and, much like 1 + 2, a bunch of new acts enter the Pro Skater zeitgeist. Danny Brown, Vince Staples, Fontaines D.C, and Turnstile are all artists that might’ve grown up playing the original games, and now their art is an intrinsic part of its legacy. Aussie acts like King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard appear on the soundtrack, whose brand of fuzzy, sun-drenched psych rock is spiritually inspired by their Pro Skater predecessors.

Oh, and Lupe Fiasco’s ‘Kick, Push’ — the skateboarding song to end all skateboarding songs — makes its Pro Skater debut. It’s like watching your favourite ‘will they, won’t they’ TV couple finally seal it with a kiss. And, seeing Lupe Fiasco perform this song at Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Fest at the El Rey felt like an appropriate victory lap.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 + 4 might cement the franchise’s legacy — it's far bigger than itself

Pro Skater 3 + 4 is just the latest instalment in this franchise, but it comes over 20 years since the original games it is based on. Think about how much has changed in the past 20 years. We all have mini computers in our pockets. Social media was just a twinkle in Zuckerberg’s eye in the early 00s. This very website didn’t exist until around a decade after Pro Skater 4 hit the scene.

But this game, even with its refreshes and updates, still captures that early 00s feeling, but isn’t dated or stagnant. In fact, it captures that early 00s feeling and it mirrors 2025. Essentially, this game, and by extension the franchise, is completely timeless. Think about it — skateboarding as a sport isn’t exactly something that can be innovated on easily, and the game honours that. So, why does Pro Skater 3 + 4 — first and foremost a remaster of a “retro” game — feel timeless?

It’s the community. Even at the playthrough, I was in a room with people from all over the world who, while maybe not even speaking the same language, all had comparable experiences playing the game when we were much younger. And those experiences didn’t stop with us. They’ve been reiterated as the franchise expanded, and were reinvigorated when Pro Skater 1 + 2 came out (when Chloe Covell was still in primary school). It manages to position the skateboarding subculture as a community, and then invite people from all over the world, and of all different ages, to join.

Attending Pro Skater Fest was a chance to see that community flourish in real-time. In a theatre with skateboarding legends, gaming icons, incredible musicians and more, we were there all celebrating the same thing, all made possible by Tony Hawk himself.

Speaking to skateboarding legend Rodney Mullen at the event, he thinks it comes down to one thing: individuality.

“It allows so much individuality,” he says. “We don’t just bat a ball. How many sports are so tethered to an entire culture?”

“It’s not about winning contests, but how distinctive of a mark we leave.”

Though I only got to play some of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, out July 11, I can feel that mark left on me. It was the same when I was a child, and now I’m in my 30s. Hopefully, this franchise continues to recycle what originally made it so special, so generations to come can feel that distinctive mark, too.