【Tahong】

It's been more than three years since skateboard legend Tony Hawk has lent his name to a new game.

That changes now. Hawk is Tahongfinally back, with Tony Hawk's Skate Jam, a new mobile game launching on iOS and Android.

Though it's not part of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise (his deal with Activision ended in 2015), Hawk says it was important for him to win over old fans looking for a hint of nostalgia with Skate Jam.

"I want this to appeal to fans of our original series, and to new kids that play games on their phones," Hawk says.

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For longtime fans, though, the bigger question might be whether it's even still possible to recreate the magic that made the skateboarder a household name in the first place. Activision's final game in the Pro Skaterseries was an epic disaster and the company killed the last attempt at a mobile title, Shred Session, before it was fully realized.

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But that hasn't diminished the desire for new games -- something Hawk is well aware of. He lamented earlier in 2018 that he doesn't have the ability to "to reboot servers or code games for newer systems on my own."

Which brings us to Skate Jam. Maple Media, the developer behind it, had already created much of the game when the studio approached Hawk in 2017 about a collaboration. Hawk says he worked with the company to help improve the look and feel of the in-game tricks and to ensure the challenges felt authentic.

"I feel very strongly about keeping authenticity of skating in terms of the motion and the soundtrack and the locations and the challenges.... that is my biggest job in the process," he says.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

If you've played Maple Media's other skateboarding game, Skateboard Party 3, Skate Jamwill likely feel familiar. It uses similar controls, with players alternating between flip tricks, grabs, and grinds to rack up new high-scoring combos. (It appears that some of the skate parks in Skate jam are borrowed from Skateboard Party 3, though there have also been a number of new ones added to Skate Jam.)

At first glance, Skate Jamappears to be faithful to the original mechanics of THPS, while also adding in some newer elements. There are three main playing modes, which offer a mix online tournament-style play as well as offline levels to complete.

• Career Mode, where players skate their way through different parks while unlocking new characters and gear along the way.

• Skate Jam, where players compete against each other in online tournaments.

• Free Skate, a mode where you can practice and perfect tricks across three different styles of skating

Hawk says he also hopes the in-game music will appeal to longtime fans, with tracks from "newer punk" bands and industrial electronic groups.

"The soundtrack is not as deep as the previous titles have been, but it's, it's just as diverse ... it's not lost on me that people expect a lot from the soundtrack," he says.

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