The game was first announced at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards show (VGAs) with a trailer demonstrating Tony Hawk skating around the Woodland Hills Warehouse (the first stage of the original game). It is the first Tony Hawk's game on consoles that will be offered exclusively as a downloadable game. It is a return to the gameplay of the original games in the series, predating Tony Hawk: Ride, and as such will only be played using a standard controller.
The game is not a high-definition port of the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, but rather an amalgamation of levels collected from the first two installments, remade in a completely new engine for the PS3 and Xbox 360.[6] Playable skaters confirmed are Tony Hawk, Chris Cole, Eric Koston, Nyjah Huston, Andrew Reynolds, Rodney Mullen, Lyn-z Adams Hawkins (Pastrana), and Tony's son Riley Hawk. Besides the Warehouse from the original game being confirmed, the Mall, the Hangar, School II, Marseille, Downhill Jam, and Venice Beach have also been confirmed for the remake.
The game returns to the earlier style of gameplay from the first two games. As such, additions made to the gameplay mechanics since Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 onwards, such as reverts, are not included. Instead, players must rely on tricks, grinds and manuals in order to pull off combos. Many of the classic objectives return, such as getting high scoring runs, collecting SKATE letters and finding hidden DVDs (which replace the tapes from the original games) within each level. The selection of skaters will consist of classic skaters such as Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen, as well as modern skaters such as Riley Hawk. There will be at least five different online modes and online leaderboards.
