Tony Hawk On Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 Release: ‘The Nostalgia Is Obvious’

For everyone who is looking to relive their childhood, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 will be re-released.

The legendary games will be released on major consoles on July 11, marking the second time that Hawk’s games have been re-released in this current generation. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 was re-released in 2020 and 2021 on the current generation of consoles.

“The nostalgia is obvious, and with our game coming out, the nostalgia for that is very strong,” says Hawk in a one-on-one interview.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is one of the most iconic video game franchises of all time. The first game was released in 1999 at a time when extreme sports was just starting to become a mainstream genre. The game’s release came just months after Hawk landed the first-ever 900 at X Games V.

The original series generated over $1.4 billion in sales, with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 being the best-selling game of the franchise with over two million copies in the United States alone.

The new edition will feature all of the notable skaters from the original games — Bucky Lasek, Bob Burnquist, Chad Muska and Hawk himself — along with multiple new current skaters. The game will also feature skateboard legend Bam Margera, something that Hawk had to push tremendously for. Margera will be included as a secret skater in the re-release of the game.

While the game is very true to the original versions — Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4 were released in 2001 and 2002 — Hawk mentions that the re-release will feature new added elements, including new maps and levels.

“Based on the success of our last remaster (1+2), I think it’ll be great,” says Hawk of the game’s re-release. “This one is more of a remake. We have some of the iconic levels from three and four, I think the ones that people most identify with. We also added some new maps and new levels, which I wanted to do.”

There will be several new skaters added to the original lineup, including Chloe Covell — youngest women’s street gold medalist in X Games history — Rayssa Neal, Yuto Horigome, Jamie Foy and Zion Wright. There’s a number of new international skaters in the game, which represents the growing popularity of extreme sports across the world.

Foy is considered the “best street skater” these days, according to Hawk. Meanwhile, Hawk calls the 26-year-old Wright a “machine.” The game will also feature new songs, with Hawk saying he didn’t want to repeat the old soundtrack. He also cites wanting to bring songs that resonates with the current generation.

“I’m excited to venture into new territory and give people a chance to skate and do combos in different areas in new areas,” says Hawk. “We’ve updated the skaters so they reflect the current roster of the people you see either competing or in Thrasher Magazine, while still honoring the original characters.”

Skateboarding debuted at the Olympics in 2020 and Hawk points towards that as a major reason for the international growth of the sport.

“With the Olympics inclusion, that has helped to open eyes to skating in other countries that maybe hadn’t embraced it or considered it before,” says Hawk. “I feel like the international growth is even bigger. If you look at the top competitors now, so many are from Japan, from Australia, from Brazil, and that element is growing.”

A total of 80 skateboarders participated in the 2020 Summer Olympics from 25 different countries. Japan won the most medals (five, three gold) with Brazil pulling in three total medals. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 features Horigome (who won gold in the men’s street competition) and Brazilian skater Rayssa Leal, who won silver in the women’s street competition.

“Obviously, the United States is still doing well, but I feel like it has become much more international,” says Hawk. “I’m thankful for that, because it gives kids a chance to try it wherever they are.”

Tony Hawk Partnering With Tony The Tiger For Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4

In collaboration with the re-release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, Hawk is partnering with an old friend of his — none other than popular cereal character Tony The Tiger. For those that aren’t familiar, Hawk was Tony The Tiger’s stunt double in 1990 for a commercial.

“I’ve been a fan of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes since I could choose my own breakfast,” says Hawk. “But I got to work on a commercial in 1990 where I was the stunt double for Tony The Tiger. It’s the early days of animating things over actual video. It was a little archaic, but I think it looked great. I had to wear a skin tight suit.”

While Hawk is a mega star and has been over the past quarter century, that wasn’t the case in the early 90’s. This preceded the debut of the X Games and Hawk hitting the innovative 900 move. It also preceded the release of his popular video game series by nearly a decade.

The 57-year-old says he was just thankful to get work at that time, considering vert skaters didn’t receive much recognition in the early 90’s.

“My friend Chris Miller was the main character in the commercial, so I ended up filming him as well,” Hawk details. “I was the cameraman, and I was Tony The Tiger in that commercial. At the time, there weren’t a lot of opportunities for skateboarders, especially vertical half-pipe skateboarders, so I was thankful to get a job, to be honest.”

The two Tony’s will be teaming up again at the Vert Alert Legends Demo in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“Here we are 35 years later, and we’ve incorporated Tony the Tiger into the game with some of the merch,” says Hawk. “I got to hang out with him on my ramp a couple weeks ago, and he is coming to our big event in Salt Lake City, the Vert Alert on July 18 and 19th. He’ll actually be there in person. It’s beyond any dream I would have had, because I didn’t imagine I’d even get to be a pro skater into my old age.”

Limited edition skateboards will be released to five fans, including autographed merchandise at the Vert Alert Legends Demo.

“To bring those two elements together for me is an amazing collaboration,” says Hawk of teaming up with Tony The Tiger again. “We’ll be doing some giveaways with some prize packs, Tony the Tiger skateboards, limited edition Frosted Flakes boxes. I’m doing some social media stuff with Tony. It’s a meeting of the Tonys, which has been pretty cool. We actually created our own handshake.”