Episode 98 - I Don't Wanna Grind That - Tony Hawk's Series Retrospective

Holding on to what I am, pretending I’m a podcast man, Welcome back to the podcast! With the remastered versions of THPS 1 and 2 releasing, it seemed like the right time to go back and play all of the Tony Hawk games that started this extremely long series. Well, not all of them. The franchise started strong by giving people something I don’t think many people knew they wanted and featured a really iconic licensed soundtrack, which propelled it to household name status among the game playing population in 1999, and this success guaranteed that sequels would come. After over a decade of annual releases, the quality dwindled and the series was taken in directions it really was never meant to go, even if the core mechanics stayed generally the same. This is part of what makes this franchise interesting, not just because it hit on a really enjoyable game play loop from its very first outing, but also as a look at how even great ideas can grow and decay through enough iterations. We’re going to be talking about how level design plays an important part in killing sick lines, how the games’ humor and politics seem to be incongruous with the game’s core demographic and The Bert Slide. Thank you for joining us this week! This was an extremely nostalgic experience and as THPS 1+2 came out yesterday (at the time of writing), that doesn’t seem to be slowing down much at all. Next time, though, we’re playing a much newer game: A Hat in Time, so be sure to check back if you’re a fan of 3D platformers. On top of that, we’re getting extremely close to episode 100, our fifth year, and Halloween time, so there’s a lot going on around these parts, so keep an eye out and maybe join the Discord to keep up to date with all the things we’re planning for.