Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 Review

The two minute countdown had been the metronome of the series for three games, and removing it changes what the levels are for. College, San Francisco and Alcatraz are now spaces you skate into rather than sprints you restart, and pros scattered around them hand out goals on approach. That structural swing works: the parks are the largest and most interconnected Neversoft built, and the freedom to warm up before committing suits the harder trick demands.

Those demands are the problem. Fourth game difficulty arrives early and never relents, with several goals requiring a specific pro's stat spread and near frame perfect execution, and the pro challenges gate progress behind skills the game does not teach. Losing the timer also loses the crisp arcade shape that made the first three so easy to pick up. The skitching, the improved trick set and the sheer volume of content make this the fullest entry of the original run, but it is also the point where the series started asking more of you than it gave back.