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.