It’s quite common when you suddenly want to play something from your childhood. When this happens to me, I immediately take out an old box with Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 and I’m replaying the campaign for the hundredth time on the highest difficulty level.
Relatively recently, during another attack of nostalgia, I began to think about the fate of my favorite series of games. About how Activision ruined the concept, right after they ruined the concept itself Neversoft. And then I remembered that I once did the history of this studio, but purely in video format and at the dawn of my activities as an announcer/editor and screenwriter. And then I realized – we need a remaster. And deeper additions are needed.
Leaving Malibu, or how to take big risks and not go bankrupt
The best studio logo out of many others
1994. The gaming industry is ruled SEGA Genesis And SEGA Saturn, although the latter was sold only in Japan so far. And it was during these years Joel Jewett, game programmer Mick West and artist Chris Ward left the company Malibu Interactive and with Jewett’s last money they created a new team called Neversoft. Jewett worked as an accountant and was able to raise enough money for this. The head of the production department was Mick West, who previously had experience in development, being one of the game programmers Battletech about furs.
Joel Jewett
After forming the studio, they immediately found work from Playmates Interactive Entertainment, who represented Playmates Toys, a company that produces a toy line called Skeleton Warriors. They wanted to accompany the release not only with an animated series, but also with a game.
Neversoft began creating game design, changing studio to another in Woodland Hills in California. Development continued for an intense five months, until December 1994 Playmates took and canceled the development of the game for SEGA Genesis, for which the game was originally created. The decision was caused by the decline in audience interest in the console. The copyright holder decided to switch to creating a game for SEGA Saturn. To do this, Neversoft had to hire an additional level – a designer and artist. With new forces and the presence of past developments, things went faster and already in 1995 Skeleton Warriors was published, and a year later it was ported to a fresh PlayStation.
Skeleton Warriors
It was a platformer, and even with newfangled 3D. And damn beautiful for those years, except for the monotony of the color palette, but the style demanded it. In terms of gameplay, everything was simple, we go from left to right, kill monsters, of which there are many and they are all varied. From skeletons to werewolves and other flying-crawling undead. The means for killing everything and everyone were a sword and some kind of fireballs. It was interesting to play, but after that the monotonous gameplay got boring and I wanted to continue playing only because of the bosses, which turned out to be interesting.
The vaunted design of backdrops, enemies, and bosses was countered by an almost complete lack of plot and connection to the animated series. All that can hint to us about the story is the introductory video and the presence of the main character, when, as in the series, there are four of them. The enemies are spineless meat, as they certainly were not in the cartoon. The best advice for those who came here for the story would be to watch the series of the same name, and then play the game.
However, despite all the cavils, in those years it was of little importance. The consumer received another good, high-quality game and the growing Neversoft began another project.
Neversoft team, 1998
The studio started working on a game based on the ghost rider – Ghost Rider, upon request Crystal Dynamics. The studio was chosen for its positive experience in working on the previous project, because the game was also supposed to be a platformer.
But the game was eventually canceled in 1996 due to the publisher’s financial problems. The funds saved were used to develop our own game with the working title “Big Gun”. The developers were at the stage of creating their own engine for the game when Playmates Interactive Entertainment jointly Shiny Entertainment hired Neversoft for port MDK on Playstation, which the developers from Woodland were familiar with firsthand (when they ported Skeleton Warriors). During the transfer, the engine was modified and used Big Guns, Moreover, the engine turned out to be so successful that the same revision MDK then transferred to PC.
The engine performed so well on PlayStation that the Big Guns project was purchased Sony Computer Entertainment. Until November 1997, the game was intensively developed, even turned into a project Exodus, but was eventually canceled after numerous design changes. As a result, Neversoft’s staff was sharply reduced from 20 people back to 12, and the company began to intensively look for work, while simultaneously polishing the engine.
In 1998, on the verge of bankruptcy, Neversoft was lucky enough to have a successful meeting in the office Activision, they needed a team to develop the game Apocalypse with Bruce Willis. Big Guns technology was ideal for the new project. In May of the same year the game was ready for release.
Apocalypse
October 31, 1998
The game was very dynamic and remained forever in the hearts of many players. Several factors came into play. Firstly, Bruce Willis in the title role, with his charisma in the form of his voice. Secondly, it’s a constant drive; the gameplay grabs you from the first minutes and doesn’t let go until the very end.
A similar effect was facilitated by a huge selection of weapons (lasers, machine guns, rocket launchers), a live camera, which either dropped behind the hero’s shoulder or rose high up.Something is always happening on the screen, new enemies appear, the scenery changes, the main character rushes forward almost without stopping. There was even a plot, but it was extremely simple, if not formulaic.
How to become a skater without injuries, bruises and abrasions
Apocalypse was a success and the studio became in good standing with Activision, in connection with which the publisher received an offer to develop a game about skateboarding, the popularity of which at that time was growing every day. Joel Jewett accepted the offer. And the first thing that was done was the construction of a halfpipe (half pipe) in the studio yard and the purchase of skateboards. The goal was not just to make an imitation of skating on a board, but a game about skateboarding itself.
They took their own engine Singbingocasino.uk as a basis and significantly modified it. Development is in full swing. At first, a large number of levels were created – routes from point A to point B, but this seemed like the wrong decision. Game designers wanted to get rid of these professional sports features by presenting gameplay in a normal environment. Therefore, the developers simply began to look for places for tricks among their surroundings, step by step coming to the conclusion that they just needed open cards for constant trickery.
From a technological point of view PlayStation would not be enough for a full simulation of skating on a virtual board, because it was for this platform that the release was being prepared. Therefore, the emphasis was placed on entertainment and drive. Helped with the correct transfer of tricks to the virtual world Tony Hawk, in whose name the entire future series was subsequently christened. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was ready by 1999 on PlayStation. At release it went quite well to the masses, but after Tony Hawk’s legendary record with his 900 degree rotation, the release became similar to a bomb explosion.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
September 30, 1999
It had everything: a new gaming experience, rich graphics, interesting gameplay, celebrities from the world of skateboarding and, of course, a cool soundtrack consisting of punk rock compositions and hip-hop. Every little detail in the game played into the atmosphere of street sports. The locations were typical habitats of skateboarders: schools, training parks, city gateways and Los Angeles, as the center of skate culture, was attached.
The set of playable characters was in color: Tony himself, Rodney Mullen, and others. Everyone had individual characteristics, some had better balance, some were better at rail-trick, and some were ramp masters. In addition, the game depended on the selected board, suspension and wheels. The essence of the game was as follows: we chose the character we liked, completed tasks, increased characteristics, and as we passed, we unlocked secret videos and hidden characters. But there was also a game mode for two players using split-screen.
The game mechanics were truly ingenious and simple. Pressed one button and got tricks involving rotating the skateboard in the air, pressed another and did a trick with grabbing the board in the air. Thanks to easy (to master, but not perfect) controls and slightly unrealistic physics, it became possible to combine tricks into unimaginable combinations worth several million points (this is more about the subsequent parts). But they won’t let you endlessly earn points; over time, balancing on the railing and in the manual becomes more difficult during one combo. In the end, the outcome begins to depend on your skill, dexterity and luck.
The developers did a great job on the animation. And there shouldn’t have been anything else in a game about skateboards and falling off them. When you fall from a virtual skateboard for the first time, the “athlete” writhes from injuries so naturally that you yourself involuntarily feel all the pain.
It was a new word in the genre. And a lot of money in the budget Activision, for whom this fact meant that they finally had their own Madden (series about American football from Electronic Arts). Naturally, the sequel was confirmed and started work, and Activision very quickly bought Neversoft with its giblets. However, these were not all surprises: the day before the publishing house received the rights to produce games based on Spiderman and rapidly growing after the success of Neversoft was a good candidate for the role of developers. As a result, part of the team began to make Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 (further THPS2), and the other began to sculpt Spider Man‘A.
The game was made on the same engine as THPS. The concept of the game itself was very bold – more or less open three-dimensional locations, flying on the web, combat. As a bonus, Stan Lee himself took part in the voice acting, and he also acted as a narrator. The development process took a little longer than the first Tony Hawk and eventually the release took place in 2000.
Spider Man
August 30, 2000
The game from Neversoft, in a sense, determined the direction for the entire subsequent series of games about Spidey. There have already been flights on the web over New York. The fight was Beat-m-up using a web, and, of course, sticking to everything was implemented. This was supported by good design and an interesting plot written by Stan Lee specifically for the game.
The narrative thread leads the hero through a wide variety of locations and tasks, where he has to deal with such “celebrities” as Scorpio, Daredevil, Rhino, Venom, Lizard, Mysterio. Such a huge number of villains made the game varied. Every boss in the game was interesting to fight. Plus Black Cat, Human Torch and Captain America as partners added to the fan service.
Graphically, the game was pleasing, the spirit of the comics was conveyed to the maximum, thanks to the covers of the issues at the beginning of each chapter, painstakingly recreated in 3D by character designs and beautiful animation of the spider itself.
Neversoft did a great job. The end consumer was satisfied with the product, critics responded, quote: “Perhaps the best Spider-Man game”. Activision counted the money from sales, and Neversoft continued to work on the second game in the series Pro Skater. This time everything was done according to the rule of sequels: bigger, better, cooler, more diverse.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
September 19, 2000
Skateboarding has become faster, new tricks and skaters have been added. There were also great additions, such as creating your own alter ego. Allowed you to choose your nationality, hair color, shirt, pants, shoes, as well as information right down to your skateboard stance. A function has been added to create your own small and cozy skate park, with rails, ramps, trampolines and other interactive objects. We added several new locations and voila, good sales again, Neversoft’s reputation and people’s love.
Naturally, this is not all, because the devil is in the details. The community agrees that this particular part was the best in the series, but as for me, it was simply their first. But I’d rather leave the analysis to the specialists.
The series successfully entered the production line when the team decided to use RenderWare from Criterion Games. The engine turned out to be quite flexible and was quite convenient for porting work.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3
October 28, 2001
PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox
THPS 3 appeared on the shelves in 2001. Basically, the new Hawk has new maps, more advanced and responsive controls, updated character and park editors. A new selection of music, closely consisting of popular artists in the punk and hip-hop genres, perfectly complemented the dynamics. In general, every element was adjusted to the new engine without any losses, but stagnation was still felt. I wanted the series to start moving forward.
Neversoft understood this, even after 10/10 GameSpot. Next time such a trick wouldn’t work. This means it’s time to introduce something new, since the new engine has been mastered and you can start experimenting with the format.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4
October 23, 2002
PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox
Another year is already the fourth Pro Skater appeared on the shelves and was radically different from the previous part. The graphics have improved (but it was still painful to look at the faces of the NPCs), all locations and maps were completely new and very inventively made. The skateboarder editor has become even more advanced, it has added more settings, including physique adjustment. The skate park editor has expanded, there are more elements, but to open them all you need to go through the story campaign.
Yes, the “company” became a plot point and it was precisely in it that the main changes took place. If earlier the company mode consisted of completing ten tasks in a two-minute limit, now we were offered large locations with scattered NPC with tasks. Time restrictions were now only within tasks, which had become so varied and exciting that it was simply impossible to tear yourself away from the gameplay. On the other hand, it was the regime free-skate from previous parts crossed with career mode. But this only benefited the game and refreshed it.
In addition, the player needed to collect money scattered throughout the level if he wanted to buy his avatar new hats, skateboards and other junk to show off in full-fledged multiplayer. Experience points are no longer scattered throughout the levels, but are awarded for completed tasks, along with money. The gameplay was still the same Tony Hawk, the tricks became faster and more varied, it was still fun to ride.
In general, the game came out well and it’s a holiday for skateboarding fans again. By the way, this part turned out to be the last numbered part of the Pro Skater subtitle that Neversoft made, because then the series changed again. Having received positive feedback from the audience regarding the new approach to organizing the gameplay, the studio took a logical step.
Tony Hawk’s Underground
October 27, 2003
PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox
Series Tony Hawk’s I was able to surprise everyone again. Yes, these were skateboard rides again, yes, the editors of the skateboard and the park were still here, yes, the graphics were again embellished a little. But now with Underground the series has a full-fledged plot! Choose the difficulty level, create a character and start the story. Are you new to skateboarding who wants to get to the top, we have a friend with us who wants the same. Through a series of tasks and locations you climb to the top. The path is thorny, during the plot there will be ups and downs, betrayal and incredible adventures. The player will be guided by famous skaters, and will meet a variety of colorful personalities as if taken from the streets of the informal movement. Sometimes drama will develop on the screen, and sometimes sheer idiocy, and you will find it interesting. Neversoft and their writers did a great job and the plot turned out like in a good youth film about extreme sports.
Conceptually THUG advanced version of the previous part. At locations that have become even larger, there are NPCs with tasks. The money is gone, now everything is open at once, and what is closed is revealed as you progress. Attribute points are now earned in a special way. We have a list of tricks and values to perform and achieve accordingly. For completing each, we receive a point of a certain characteristic. It started to smell like an RPG component. The ability to steer various vehicles has been added, but only during story missions. We added several completely new tricks based on key combinations, such as Spine Transfer, but the main innovation of the game was still the ability to get off the board and walk, climb somewhere higher and from there effectively continue skating.
The traditional multiplayer has been supplemented with several new modes. On the version for PlayStation 2 it became possible to glue your face to the model of the character you are creating using the camera EyeToy (many games basically did this, see. Rainbow Six: Vegas). New editors have appeared: creating tricks, deck art and tasks. Tricks were molded from several parameters applied to the time line, keys for action were assigned and the individual trick was ready. Creating a drawing on the deck was also simple, stencils and pictures were applied, and it was all painted together. Creating tasks was more difficult. On one of the maps we placed an NPC, the starting point of the task, and then we chose from the list what nature it would be: collecting the letters COMBO or SKATE, breaking the score record or performing tricks. The conditions changed: time for the task, point limit, zones, etc.n.
The result is a big, high-quality and not boring game. The beginning had been made and no less was expected from the announced second part of UG.
At that time, Neversoft had become a successful and quite respected studio all over the world. Her games were talked about and expected. And brands were even more drawn to them; adding real models of clothing and shoes for skateboarding was a tempting offer. But some went even further. At that time, the show became very popular in America MTV — Jackass (in Russia Oddballs). The essence of the program was this: several notorious scumbags did things on camera that a real person would never do. For example, sniffing a little wasabi through your nose, or trying to cross a rope when there are a bunch of predatory crocodiles below.
Neversoft liked the idea of putting a show into the game, and the developers, in general, did just that.