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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, often abbreviated as THPS4, is an arcade-style skateboarding video game in the Tony Hawk series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision and released in 2002 for the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance.

Gameplay[]

Pro Skater 4 is a departure from the previous three games' Career mode, in which the player had a set amount of time in order to find and complete goals. 4 instead featured a Career mode more similar to Free Skate mode, in which there was no time limit to explore the level, the goals are usually offered to the player to attempt by characters found in the level.

The game builds on the success of the gameplay in the previous games in the series. All of the combos from the previous game make an appearance, as well as some new tricks that can be performed to better navigate parks and areas. New to the game is the spine transfer, in which the player can press the shoulder button to transfer between quarter-pipes connected back-to-back, or otherwise self-right themselves to exit quarter-pipes or prevent bailing should they fly off them. The game also features skitching, which lets skaters hang off the back of moving vehicles.

Reception[]

The game received critical acclaim. IGN gave the Xbox version a 9/10, stating that "Tony Hawk 4 is by far the best skateboarding title around and head and shoulders above its 'me-too' competition". The PlayStation 2 version received the highest score from IGN, with a 9.3/10, commenting that though the graphics haven't changed from its predecessor, the maps are much larger than in Pro Skater 3, along with praising the increased difficulty.

GameSpot named Pro Skater 4 the second-best GameCube game, of October 2002. It later won GameSpot's annual "Best Alternative Sports Game on GameCube". GameSpot declared it the second-best Game Boy Advance game of November, behind Metroid Fusion, and a runner-up for the publication's annual "Best Sports Game on Game Boy Advance" award, which went to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.

External links[]

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