Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4

Overview

THPS 4's "interactive" menu background

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 is the fourth entry in the incredibly successful skateboarding franchise. It was released for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube on October 23rd, 2002. Later that month, it was released on the Game Boy Advance and in August of 2003 for PC and Mac. It was developed by Neversoft on the main platforms and by Vicarious Visions for the GBA. A version for the Tapwave Zodiac was also released in 2004.

THPS4 added a series of new features that would carry on into later entries of the franchise, such as Spine Transfers, an open-world Career Mode and flatland tricks. It also included one of the most important additions to the series which was the standardization of hidden combos. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 included a feature that allowed you to modify tricks by repeated button presses or alternate button entries, which meant that holding left and pressing the Kick button three times now made the Triple Kickflip show up as a standard move in the on-screen combo. Heavier interaction with the world was also an important feature of THPS4, with NPCs now populating levels with objectives and a background menu that also doubled as a "test" park for players to try out abilities and tricks in.

Gameplay

The core mechanics of the skating are mainly unchanged, but adds a spine transfer maneuver, where you can press a button to either switch to a ramp on the other side of a vert, level off of launched away from a ramp, or land correctly into a ramp if entering from a flat area.

The way you receive goals is greatly changed, adopting a sandbox-style system where goals are given to you by people placed in the current area. Completing a goal results in receiving stat points that you can assign, and sometimes special trick slots which can be customized. The game also reintroduces the concept of money, which was present in the second game but not in the third game. Small amounts of money can be found throughout the level, usually by going up a ramp or grinding rails.

Each skater, including the custom skater, has a unique "end" goal, which is often very elaborate. Completion of the goal nets a highlight video of the chosen skater, if using a pro skater.

Characters

Initial Characters

• Tony Hawk
• Bob Burnquist
• Kareem Campbell
• Steve Caballero
• Rune Glifberg
• Eric Koston
• Bucky Lasek
• Bam Margera
• Rodney Mullen
• Chad Muska
• Andrew Reynolds
• Geoff Rowley
• Elissa Steamer
• Jamie Thomas

Hidden Characters

• Eddie (Iron Maiden Mascot)
• Jango Fett
• Mike Vallely
• Daisy (Jenna Jameson)
• Little Person (resembles an Oompa Loompa - PS1 version only)
• Frycook (GBA version only)
• Mindy (GBA version only)
• Momo (GBA version only)
• Roger (GBA version only)

In the game's Create-a-Skater mode, apparel can be unlocked to create Officer Dick and Ollie the Magic Bum from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.

Levels

College

San Francisco

Alcatraz

Kona

Shipyard

London

Zoo

Carnival

Chicago (A level from Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2)

Soundtrack