Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 Remake Review - Skating the Line Between Nostalgia and Progress
It turns out you can, in fact, go home again. At least if you don’t mind that a few rooms are missing the posters you remember.
Iron Galaxy’s remake of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is about as good as nostalgia can get in 2025. Built off the smooth foundation of Vicarious Visions’ earlier 1 + 2 remake, this new combo pack is tight, focused, and ready to shred. If you’re the kind of player who used to spend hours perfecting transfers on Airport or grinding the rails in Kona, this remake has your muscle memory firing in full force. And even if you’re new to the franchise, this is still some of the most purely satisfying arcade-style gameplay out there. It’s just... not everything it could’ve been.
First, the Good Stuff
Let’s not bury the lead: this plays exactly how it should. The controls are still snappy and responsive, with subtle refinements that make every revert, manual, and wallride feel just a little bit more fluid than it did 20 years ago. This is the Tony Hawk remake we were hoping for, and the levels from 3 and 4 have been treated with clear affection. They don’t just look better – they feel right.
Graphically, this is a straight continuation of the slick style from 1 + 2. Character models have a modern polish, and every environment – from Los Angeles to Tokyo – is dripping with the kind of absurd early-2000s energy that made this franchise such a defining piece of gaming culture. It’s all been updated to a modern standard without sacrificing the color or personality that made these stages memorable in the first place.
Load times are fast, tricks connect cleanly, and comboing your way through old favorites like Canada or San Francisco still has that magic buzz of serotonin when you stick a perfect line – and in that regard, Iron Galaxy nails the execution.
And Then There's the Music
Here’s where the wheels wobble.
The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series is nothing without its soundtrack. These games defined a generation with licensed tracks that felt like the heartbeat of skate culture at the time. From Goldfinger to Del the Funky Homosapien to Bodyjar, the original soundtracks were the kind of perfect time capsules that elevated every moment of gameplay.
So when you boot this remake up and realize that only ten songs from the original games made it in? Well, that’s a bummer. A huge one. It’s not that the replacement tracks are bad – some are genuinely good and match the spirit of the series – but this feels like a rights issue that was settled by shrugging and moving on. And when the music is this core to the memory of these games, it feels like a significant loss.
There are customization options for the playlist, and you can mute or skip tracks if something feels off. But for long-time fans hoping to kickflip into nostalgia while Less Than Jake blares in the background... it stings.
Free Skate vs Timed Runs
The more controversial change, though, is in how Pro Skater 4 has been handled structurally.
See, part of what made THPS4 such a standout at the time was how it ditched the traditional 2-minute run format in favor of a more open-ended exploration system. You could skate around the entire map, pick up objectives organically, and approach challenges at your own pace. It gave 4 a very different energy than its predecessors. But in this remake? That structure is gone.
Instead, 4’s levels have been retrofitted into the same timed-goal format as 1 through 3. And that’s a choice that truly disappoints. On one hand, it keeps the overall package unified – every level now fits the same gameplay loop. But it strips Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 of its identity. Some challenges feel forced into an unnatural rhythm, and if you were hoping to revisit Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4’s looser, more explorative flow, you won’t find it here.
It’s not a dealbreaker, but it is a reminder that this isn’t quite the full remake fans might’ve imagined. It’s more like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3… with most of the levels from 4 included as a bonus.
Final Thoughts
So where does that leave us?
Iron Galaxy’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 Remake is a damn good time. It captures the flow and feel of two of the best entries in one of the most iconic video game franchises of all time. And it does so with confidence, style, and reverence for what made these games special.
But the soundtrack omissions are a real disappointment, and the restructuring of Pro Skater 4 into a THPS3-style format feels like a compromise that robs the game of some of its ambition. And while none of these things ruin what is admittedly a great gaming experience, it’s hard not to be a little let down by the loss.
Still, for longtime fans, this is a love letter worth reading. You’ll find yourself grinning at just how easily your muscle memory sets right back in. I know I did. Now we just have to wait for the inevitable Tony Hawk's Underground 1 + 2 Remake and we'll really be living the dream of every early-2000s gamer. And for newcomers? This is one hell of a great way to meet one of gaming’s most legendary series.