We have spoken with enthusiasm about Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 in the past, the brilliant game modernized by Vicarious Visions for PC, PS4 and Xbox One, which maintains the genius of the originals. It is one of the favorite games of 2020 for John Linneman and I am happy to report that the new generation update is highly impressive, although the transition process needs improvement and if you have already purchased it, Activision wants more money for the latest version. The good news is that the updates are excellent.
Before we go into the analysis itself, it seems that some users are having problems and we are not sure why, we did not face any problems when testing the game. Perhaps it is because we received analysis codes specific to the Xbox Series and PlayStation 5, which allowed us to get around some of the problems that many face, without needing an upgrade, there was no code on our hard drives, but the fact is that the game worked without problems. This may vary, but we believe that the main problems will be resolved quickly as it is on PS5, Xbox Series X or Series S, the improvements are immense.
THPS1 + 2 presents on the 3 consoles modes of performance and fidelity. I started by testing it on the Series S, comparing it to the One X. There are graphical improvements, starting with the improved temporal anti-aliasing, which gives us a much more stable image in motion. Post-processing was also slightly improved, some noticed a very smashed black color in the new version, but to me, it seems to be a new color grading designed for a stronger image. The glow effects have been intensified, the light beams have greater visibility and the quality of the shadows has also been greatly improved.
In fidelity mode, THPS1 + 2 targets a 4K presentation on Series X and PS5, with only subtle hints of dynamic resolution. They are there, but they are not particularly noticeable on the go. The game is effectively identical on both consoles and I just noticed a curious change in the distance of the shadows between the two consoles, neither of which has any kind of advantage. The Series S operates with 1440p dynamics and the changes are more noticeable, it seems to operate between 1260p and 1440p. The performance is 60fps practically fixed on the 3 consoles, with only a single drop registered on the Xbox consoles, but practically imperceptible during the gameplay. It’s a superb experience, but the only improvement that really makes a difference is improved anti-aliasing. I would say that the Series S looks better than the One X, despite its less powerful GPU.
The performance mode is the great attraction, allowing you to run the game at 120fps on the 3 consoles. PS5 and Series X target 1440 dynamics (despite Activision advertising it as 1080p120 on PS5) with 4K HUD. I don’t have an HDMI 2.1 screen so the differences in terms of system between Xbox and PlayStation are manifest in my case. On my Samsung NU8000 I can play at 1440p120 on the Series X, but the PS5 output takes on a very similar image, but low to 1080p120. Although the dynamic resolution is confirmed for the performance mode, 1440p seems to be the resolution in most of the game. In the S Series it also runs with variable dynamic resolution, but the visual adjustments are noticeable, ranging between 720p and 900p.
The good news is that the performance is as solid at 120Hz as at 60fps, with the exception of a few minor problems on the PS5 and Series S. The X series is the one that achieves the most consistent 120fps experience, basically fixed. The PS5 has small drops when some visual effects appear (such as rewind on the character when it fails), but it is very difficult to see in motion. We tested the level in New York for some time, where there were minor problems with the previous generation consoles and the Series X passed without a problem, while on PS5 we had small problems, nothing much, but noticeable. The Series S is in the middle of the two in terms of performance.
All told, these small falls are the exception. Whether it’s 60fps or 120fps, it’s a solid experience and I have to say that the improvements when switching to performance mode are tremendous, I highly recommend it on the 3 consoles. I only regret the lack of support for 1440p120 on PS5, a system feature embraced by Microsoft, but not Sony. There are many 1440p120 HDMI 2.0 screens available and many 120Hz games on the consoles don’t even run at native 4K, meaning that switching to an HDMI 2.1 screen is not yet mandatory, I really hope Sony does something about it.
The last point is the loadings. They weren’t problematic, but they’ve improved a lot on the new consoles. A level that took 14.5 seconds to load on Xbox One X takes 4 to 5 seconds on PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, the Sony console is faster, but for less than 1 second. Interestingly, I found that the new Xbox consoles are basically at the level of my PC Core i9 10900K- equipped with an NVMe disk with 3.5GB / s speed. It is not an essential improvement, but it is good to have this. But the star of the update is the new performance mode, THPS1 + 2 at 120fps is just brilliant. I hope that the problems that are affecting many players will be resolved as the experience on the new consoles is first class.
