A cult license born on PS1 has almost never existed. The main character himself explains the genesis of the project.
When we talk about sports games, the first licenses that come to mind are certainly FIFA or NBA 2K. Tennis fans will fondly remember the series top spin. Bats and balls are great, but let’s not forget a cult series that introduced many players to what a “heelflip” was: Tony Hawks. The series that bears the name of the star of the discipline was born in 1999 with Tony Hawk’s skateboarding on PS1. A successful license, which, however, could never have seen the light of day. Tony Hawk himself trusts the history of the sports saga.
The first Tony Hawk game released on PS1 may not have existed
In a video posted on the mentioned YouTube channel A CEO’s diaryTony Hawk explains that he had talks with another studio before signing with Activision, which will then publish the games under his name.
I got along with them a bit and realized that what they were trying to do was technically much more difficult to play because they were trying to copy discipline. I felt like I understood this approach. But at the same time skateboarding wasn’t very popular at the time we released this game. I wanted something that would be easier for non-skaters to play and understand – that they could just pick it up and start doing tricks.
Tony Hawk adds that he was immediately seduced by developer Neversoft’s work on PS1.
The way he moved… it was intuitive to me, it was perfect. I immediately started playing it, doing tricks. It was almost like having an extension of my body to start with.
Tony Hawk’s, a successful license is missing
After the success of Tony Hawk’s Skateboarding PS1 will release one opus of the series every year until 2012. A testament to its growing popularity over time. Unfortunately, skateboard and Tony Hawk fans haven’t had much to eat since then. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 is perceived as disappointing. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2Remakes of the first two episodes will still keep the community happy when it comes out in 2020. It’s meager, but since no new installment in the series is planned, it’s okay.
