Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2: Complete Controls Guide for PS4, PS5, and Gameplay Tips for Beginners

Tony Hawk is widely considered the greatest skateboarder ever, and his fame brought about the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games in the late 1990s. Those games were received with much praise and their legacy lived on, so much so that a full remaster was released in 2020 encompassing the original and second version of THPS. Now, PlayStation Plus subscribers can play the remastered collection as it’s one of the August 2022 games (along with Little Nightmares and Yakuza: Like a Dragon).

Below, you will find a complete controls guide for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Gameplay tips will follow, which will be geared toward beginners.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 controls for PS4 & PS5

• Move: L or D-Pad
• Camera: R
• Ollie: X (hold to gain speed, release for ollie)
• Flip Tricks: Square + D-Pad or L
• Grab Tricks: Circle + D-Pad or L
• Lips and Grinds: Triangle + D-Pad or L
• Rotate Right: R1
• Rotate Left: L1
• Revert and Switch: R2
• Revert and Nollie and Fakie: L2
• Social: Touchpad
• Pause Menu: Options

Note that the left and right sticks are denoted as L and R, respectively.

Tips and tricks for beginners

Below are tips for playing THPS 1+2. These tips are for beginners to the Tony Hawk games or for those who haven’t played the games in years, possibly two decades.

1. Play the tutorial

As you first load the game, you’ll be asked if you want to play the tutorial. It’s highly recommended that you play the tutorial to learn the game’s controls, mechanics, and the basics of skateboarding. While there isn’t a trophy specifically related to completing the tutorial, you will earn Creator for creating your own skater after completing the tutorial (more below).

After you complete a part of the tutorial, you can advance to the next part by skating to the VHS tapes (pictured). The best part is there is no time limit on the tutorial, nor do you immediately have to proceed to the next part. This means you have ample time to practice what you just learned to fine tune your controls. At the end, you can continue to skate around and use the stage to your liking.

Inside the Skate Shop, you can find gear for your skater. This includes tops, bottoms, shoes, socks, and hats. There are level-locked items, which will be indicated by a number on the top left of the item’s box. After completing the tutorial, you can unlock and purchase the above Birdhouse – Old School tee for 100 in-game dollars (more below).

2. Create your skater (or a few) and fully customize them to your liking

There are a total of 22 skaters for you to choose from, man, woman, and even undead. You can use these skaters when playing (more below), but you can also create up to four skaters. Each is fully customizable with a sizeable option of hairstyles, clothing, and decks. You can either create four or have a slot for each person in your family should they want to play or, if you live alone, any of your friends who visit.

Go ahead and name your skater and place their hometown. The game allows you to type both in using the system’s keyboard, so you can get creative and say you’re from “Parts Unknown” or “UHA” or “Konoha,” whatever you want. Just don’t be offensive or explicit. From there, choose one of the three styles. First is Street, who excel at using obstacles to dominate the ground. These skaters are great for those who like to grind, use lips, and use the environment to their advantage. Reallocate your points to focus on grinds, lips, and manuals if this is your style.

The second style is Vert. These skaters excel at using ramps and ramp-like surfaces (such as pipes) to gain lots of air and dominate in that realm. Reallocate your attributes to raise your hangtime, air, flip, and grab tricks to maximize this skater build.

The final style is Park. Park is the best option of the three as it combines both, but is also the most difficult to build as a maximized build here means everything being even and eventually, maxed. Still, if you find either of the previous two styles a bit inhibiting, then Park should be the one for you.

3. Aim to complete easy challenges

There are a host of challenges you can complete in THPS 1+2 for easy experience and in-game dollars. You’ll nab a few in the skater creation by just picking some new pieces of gear and reallocating your attributes. Some challenges will reward with you gear, including decks.

There are six types of challenges in the game: Skater, Skate Park, Combo, Create-a-Park, Multiplayer, and Tour Replay. For example, the Skater challenges are specific to the 22 skaters in the game, such as pulling of a 900 for Tony Hawk. Think of completing challenges as essentially free experience and rewards for doing things you most likely would have accomplished through general gameplay regardless.

4. Take your time with each stage and aim to complete each stage goal

THPS 1+2 has three game modes for lack of a better term. You can play either the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, or Ranked & Free Skate. The first two are remastered versions of the courses and challenges from those games. The last is online and free play. Online play is ranked and free skate is great to practice (though trophies and challenges don’t pop here).

As you begin each stage, you’ll see the Goals & Challenges page. This will be a list of all of the things you should aim to accomplish during your timed runs. These will include earning a very high (“Sick”) score, nailing a high combo, and level-specific challenges and collections. For the Warehouse, these included the hydrants and the 50-50 grind on the Big Rail Gap.

Luckily, you’ll see a video before each stage begins of the Goals & Challenges. Pay attention, but you can also view them from the pause menu once again. The above Secret Tape was located in a room located above the ground, needing to gain speed and ollie off of a ramp to bash into the area.

Be on the lookout for two very specific collectibles: Stat Point upgrades. These are distinct in that these are the ovular logos for THPS 1 and THPS 2. The two points will be added to your stats for you to allocate as you wish.

At the end of each stage, you’ll see a screen with the challenges you accomplished or didn’t. Luckily, you can retry each stage as many times as you want, and you don’t have to repeat the goals you’ve already finished. Those few minutes go by fast, so retry as many times as needed to cross off every single thing on the list.

Now you know what to expect from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 on PlayStation Plus. Remember to play the tutorial and the free skate options to practice as much as you’d like, then retry all the levels at your leisure to complete every challenge!