Although I am excited about the announcement of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, I have to it that I’m even more excited about what it could mean for the franchise going forward. I did enjoy playing multiplayer in the earlier installments of the franchise when they originally came out, but they never quite hooked me beyond the occasional play session at a friend’s house. It wasn’t until one of the later games that I felt the need to buy my own copy and play through the entire game.

I’ve never been a big fan of games that are all about racking up a high score. Instead, I prefer games that have incremental goals, an endpoint, and preferably some sort of story. While I can enjoy games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in a multiplayer setting, they typically aren’t what I choose to play most of the time. The Tony Hawk’s game that originally followed Pro Skater 4 gave me exactly what I wanted from the series, and the release of this new remake makes me hopeful it will make a comeback.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 + 4 Could Be Followed By Tony Hawk's Underground

Tony Hawk’s Underground Was The Next Game In The Original Series

If Activision continues to release remakes of the old Tony Hawk’s games in order, the next game after the Pro Skater 3 + 4 would be my personal favorite: Tony Hawk’s Underground. It’s hard to describe exactly how much of a hold this game had over me as a kid, except to say it convinced me — a perpetual inside kid — to try actually skateboarding (before quickly realizing how hard it was). While part of my love for Underground came from some of its new mechanics and game modes, the game’s style was also a big factor.

I didn’t play Tony Hawk’s Underground when it was initially released. I didn’t have a GameCube right away, and when I finally got one, I prioritized buying games like Smash Bros. Melee and Wind Waker. When I finally got around to playing Underground, I was getting ready to start middle school, which was the perfect time to play a game dripping with what the 2000s considered “cool.” It didn’t hurt that the soundtrack included bands like Alkaline Trio, Social Distortion, and Rise Against, who would all shape my taste in music through my teen years.

This sense of progression and narrative was what I felt was lacking from previous Tony Hawk’s titles, and it made Underground feel more like a complete game to me.

However, it’s not just my nostalgia that makes me think Underground would be a good choice for a follow-up to Pro Skater 3 + 4. It added a lot of new dynamics to the series that I think would be fun to revisit in a remake. It may also help convince players like me who aren’t as interested in just racking up points to give the series a shot.

Tony Hawk's Underground Featured The Series' First True Story Mode

The Previous Career Mode Didn’t Have A Full Story

Although Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 featured a career mode, it was little more than an open skate area with some objectives. Tony Hawk’s Underground was the first game in the series to create a full narrative with original characters that you could play through. Throughout the story, your custom skater would meet up with big names in skateboarding and work towards becoming a professional skater. This sense of progression and narrative was what I felt was lacking from previous Tony Hawk’s titles, and it made Underground feel more like a complete game to me, rather than an arcade cabinet.

The story mode also offered some fun possibilities that weren’t present in previous games. The game’s Create-a-Skater had some wild options, and I would typically play through the story as a lime-green skeleton. This added an extra layer of fun to the game’s already heightened story when famous skaters like Bam Margera or Tony Hawk himself were giving straight-faced advice to my absurd custom character. The story mode also featured some outrageous stunts that raised the bar for Tony Hawk’s games.

Underground Raised The Stakes With Some Outrageous Stunts

Stunts Like The Game’s Helicopter Jump Raised The Bar For Tony Hawk’s Games

Tony Hawk’s Underground was far more invested in outrageous stunts than it was in creating a fully realistic skating experience. I can appreciate games like Skate or Session trying to take a more grounded approach, but the truth is, there’s only so much you can realistically do on a skateboard. I prefer a game like Tony Hawk’s Underground that decides to push those limits far beyond the boundaries of reality and lets me do things like drop into an empty pool from the roof of a hotel.

Perhaps the best example of how Tony Hawk’s Underground prioritized cool stunts over realism is the game’s famous helicopter jump. During the Hawai’i section of the game, players are tasked with doing a McTwist over a police helicopter while jumping between two large hotels. It was these types of high-stakes stunts that made Underground stand out from previous entries in the series, and it’s something I think would be even more fun to revisit in a remake. That said, I think Tony Hawk’s Underground would need to break the remake mold slightly if it gets made.

An Underground Remake Could Likely Be Its Own Standalone Game

Tony Hawk’s Underground’s Story Could Fill Its Own Remake

The previous remakes of classic Tony Hawk’s games have combined multiple games into one. However, I think a remake of Tony Hawk’s Underground could potentially be worth its own standalone title. The game’s story mode and all the open areas connected to it would give an Underground remake plenty of content to focus on updating. That said, there is a Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 which continues the story of the first game, so I could also see the two getting the Pro Skater treatment or even getting combined into one since they feature the same story mode protagonist.

I’ll probably end up playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, but I can’t help but be more excited about the potential of an Underground remake. It’s the game that truly got me interested in the franchise, and convinced me to try out future skating titles. Underground’s guest skater, Iron Man, is even more culturally relevant now than he was in 2003, so it feels like the perfect chance to bring him back. That said, the franchise’s future likely depends on how well Pro Skater 3 + 4 performs, so we will have to wait and see about Underground.