Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 (Switch 2) Review

Following the success and reinvigoration of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, fans faced a rough few years in the wilderness as Activision Blizzard underwent a shake-up that halted any potential follow-ups. That’s until now – 2025 is the year when Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 not only lives on but joins the Nintendo Switch 2’s early lineup. So strap up and grab your board, it’s time to skate.

Tony Hawk rides again, bringing a collection of skaters old and new. As with the previous game, there is a good mix of the original THPS skaters along with current professional skaters. With two Australians, Shane O’Neill (returning) and newcomer Chloe Covell, joining over 30 pro skateboarders there is plenty to choose from. You can still create your own skateboarder too, with plenty of customisable clothing and boards to unlock and purchase along the way. It’s a bit of a letdown that the face/body customisation is not as robust, so thankfully there are a lot of pros to choose from.

By now I hope we’re familiar with what a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game is, a third-person skateboarding game where you score points for doing tricks. Each level is a veritable playground of geometry and buildings/structures, allowing you to perform even more tricks. You have a bunch of goals for each level in the form of scoring high amounts of points, collecting the letters S-K-A-T-E and collecting other items or triggering events to complete a goal. Some levels are Competitions, where the focus is on scoring your best across three heats with more limited time.

I really enjoyed the original Tony Hawk 1+2, I even reviewed it all those years ago in the pandemic times which is somehow so many years ago now! THPS3+4 follows up with another well-made update to the classic skater. 1+2 wasn’t a 1:1 remake of the original games, but developers Vicarious Visions made every effort to keep it authentic while bringing it into modern gaming. For THPS 3+4, Iron Galaxy carries the heavy task of doing similar for 3 and 4. They have done great work here, even if it comes with some caveats.

Way back in 2002, THPS 4 changed up the formula and dropped the two-minute timer, allowing skaters to roam each level and pick up goals. With THPS 3 built on the old two-minute timer and THPS 4’s free-roam structure, it was always going to be tricky — and I imagine more work — to keep them as they were. For THPS 3+4, it means the campaign with free-roaming levels is now limited to just two minutes across both games.

It’s an interesting change — the levels from 4 are generally larger than the ones found in 3 and more involved in their goals. Levels have been tweaked to account for the change, but I’m thankful there’s the option to increase the timer, as it feels like some goals are pushing it. The amount of time I wasted trying to stop a runaway car by skitching on the back of it (usually the solution for car-based goals) was maddening. To achieve that goal, you needed to cause an earthquake and then use the fallen bridge to push a car over the edge to stop the runaway car!

The College level also feels a little too empty until you trigger the float parade. The two-minute timer change works okay but doesn’t always feel right.

Not every level has made it to THPS 3+4 either — whether it’s Chicago being tied to the Matt Hoffman’s BMX series or Carnival just being a bit crap. In their place are some new levels, with The Waterpark and Pinball more than making up for any omissions. The Waterpark feels like it could’ve been there all along — it’s one of the more fun levels in the game. Both levels are jam-packed with pools, ramps, rails, and other novelties. Iron Galaxy really get what makes THPS fun.

Besides the changes to THPS 4’s campaign mode, the other major standout is the soundtrack. In short, only 10 tracks from the original titles return here. Thankfully, Motörhead’s Ace of Spades is still included. It’s been stated that the intention was “introducing new artists and songs” while still maintaining the feel of the original games. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a shame that more of the original tracks didn’t return, although the ones that remain are still solid tunes.

Given THPS 1+2 also introduced new tracks to complement the more limited original soundtracks (albeit with more of the originals intact), it would be inconsistent to blast the new game for doing the same. It also helps that many of the new tracks added fit just as well. New music includes King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Fontaines D.C., 100 Gecs, and Vince Staples. The additions are full of bangers — or at the very least, suitable music to shred to.

If there’s any music you’re not a fan of, you can easily skip it by clicking in the right stick as the song starts, or pausing the game and doing it from there.

For whatever reason you may want, there’s a gameplay mods menu accessible at any point where you can adjust a few settings to make skating and tricks guaranteed to land. The mods can be helpful with getting to practice different tricks with less pressure. This is where you can also adjust the time limit, which feels like the compromise for the THPS 4 timer addition.

Create-A-Park returns, with all the parts for building your own Skate Park unlocked from the start. If you’re stuck for ideas or just want to see how it can be done, Iron Galaxy have also included their own custom parks to enjoy. Generally, I have little interest in the build modes, but do like to check them out for reviews. Create-A-Park will do what you want it to do. You can build a park, and set goals so there’s something for players to do besides tricks. There’s also getting to access all of the other skate parks that others make and upload too if you ever need a break from the main levels. 

Now, it wouldn’t be a Tony Hawk game without some form of multiplayer. Here, you can jump in with the usual multiplayer fare, such as competitive sessions to see who can achieve a goal first — but there’s also HAWK. In HAWK, everyone is responsible for hiding their four HAWK letters around the level, then finding those of their opponents.

The multiplayer is also cross-play, meaning there’s a much wider pool of players to join. In the games I joined, I was the only Switch player there.

Performance wise, given we now have both Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 versions, I can only speak for the Switch 2 version, and I can report that it runs really well. Visually, it holds up nicely — it looks best on the TV but still looks good in handheld. I found the framerate remains fairly consistent at around 60fps, if not exactly. This can make some of the lower-quality NPC character models stand out a bit more at times.

In the early release period there was mention of crashes, but in my time playing through each level across both games, I didn’t encounter a single crash.

Given the current climate in the video game industry, it’s hard to know if we’ll ever see another Tony Hawk’s Pro Skatercollection. THPS 3+4 was a miracle to get made at all. This reimagining of the classic Tony Hawk games is still a joy to play, even if there have been some compromises. Now, it’s time to live in (potentially foolish) hope for a remake or remaster of Tony Hawk’s Underground!

Rating: 4/5