What was revolutionary about THPS, skateboarding-game-wise, was the fun gameplay and easy to learn controls, the very same basic controls the series has had ever since. For every trick you get a multiplier and a specific amount of base score. Special tricks give you more points than regular tricks, but are harder to pull off. Grinds allowed you to link tricks together for more points. However, Neversoft slightly underestimated the players by limiting the multipliercounter to just 19. So scoring required you to get a good base score, which was achieved with specials, forcing you to get huge airs and/or balance a special grind for as long as you can. Balancing wasn't as easy as it became years later because THPS1 had no balance meters.
It may be hard to go back to this game after playing its perfected sequels, but THPS1 still holds its own quite well, even without the revolutionary manual trick that made combos an essential part of the series. The lack of manuals, which leaves you with airs, grinds and wallrides, only makes it more challenging to string tricks together. This inspired players to make their own lines and videos of their high scoring combos. Unlike the lines in the other THPS titles, this one didn't have looping lines and scoring was done with style. Some even kept making these videos years after the release of the game and refused to play the newer games because they were too easy. I think this game is the reason why people started making videos of "no manual" lines in the newer Hawk games. Just watch this to get an idea:
- Presentation
10 pro skaters, 9 levels, dozens of tricks and a bunch of entertaining FMVs.
- Graphics
It's a decent looking game but what really impresses me is the size of some of the levels.
- Sound
Good sound effects and a great soundtrack.
- Gameplay
Easy to learn controls that work really well.
- Lasting Appeal
While there's plenty to do in career mode, creating combo lines is what really makes this game last.