It’s seriously impressive what developer Iron Galaxy has pulled off here in bringing these games back to life. Revitalized locations like Foundry, Canada, Los Angeles and Suburbia as well as College, San Francisco, and Alcatraz look better than ever, which have been rebuilt from the ground up. It’s still a blast to grind rails over scolding pits of molten metal in Foundry, or skate around a (loose) recreation of one of the most iconic skating spots in the world along San Francisco’s waterfront, and even the wackier elements like unlocking the haunted house in Suburbia. It’s all a tremendous homage to not only the classic Tony Hawk video games, but to the world of skateboarding.

New for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 will be the Waterpark level. Set within the Mojave Desert, this location is directly inspired by Tony Hawk and his crew who used to sneak in and skate abandoned waterparks growing up. This soon-to-be legendary skating spot is a tremendously fun creation from Iron Galaxy, with a variety of pools to carve up, unique challenges to complete (try restoring power to the Arcade), and huge water tubes to skate down — grinding the Bowl Slide, weaving down the Twister Slide, or pulling off a loop inside the Funnel Slide are all worthwhile efforts you should undertake here.

Like real-life skateboarding, playing a Tony Hawk Pro Skater game takes some practice — it’s practically a fighting game on wheels, where you combine button presses while pushing your analog stick in a particular direction to pull off a variety of tricks. String a couple of these together and you start to charge your Special meter, which then unlocks more advanced tricks for you to attempt that yield many points; wipe out, the meter resets.

It can be punishing at times, especially when you’ve tied together a 9,000+ point combo only to miss the landing. Thankfully, getting back on your board is nearly instantaneous so you can start up a new combo. Personally, I’ve always had the most fun grinding rails while executing flip tricks to build up my score, but I still struggle to this day with the more vertical challenges on the half-pipes, something I’m still pushing myself to perfect. And when the game looks and plays this well, I don’t mind having to repeat these challenges time and time again.

Landing tricks are only part of the fun. Scattered throughout every level are a series of challenges that range from a collect-a-thon, like finding all the letters to spell S-K-A-T-E, to landing some insane jumps found throughout the level, or harassing some of the onlookers. There’s a ton to do here on every level to keep you busy. Also, the game has an excellent in-depth tutorial narrated by Tony Hawk himself to walk you through how to play – highly recommended for new players to check this out or those looking for a refresher on how all this works.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 will also launch with a tremendous number of professional skaters to play as, with specific attributes that seemingly tie into their own real-life counterparts. For example, playing as Tony Hawk, who is a master at vert, can gain some serious air in the game with incredible spin control. Whereas someone like Rodney Mullen, who has pulled off some incredible flip tricks in his day, can execute these much more quickly.

Finding one of these legends that compliments your specific style of play in-game is the first step in getting a handle on it. Personally, I liked rolling with Eric Koston who has some balanced stats across the board, meaning I could approach just about anything in most of the levels and have some degree of success. The roster is also full of new and upcoming skaters like Rayssa Leal, Yuto Horigome, Nora Vasconcellos, and many more — you’re sure to find someone that can fit your approach. You’ll also have the option to create your own skater, but this wasn’t available for our hands-on time.

The Tony Hawk series has not only been a gateway to the world of skateboarding, but also a showcase for a lot of artists across the punk rock, hardcore, metal, and hip-hop scenes. Music has always been integral to skating and so many musicians themselves have tied themselves to it as well (Ian MacKaye is someone who immediately comes to mind). And the soundtrack this time around is no exception, mixing a blend of artists from the previous games, like Motorhead, The Faction, and Run-D.M.C., while weaving in modern alt musicians like Idles, Thee Oh Sees, and Fontaines D.C., all blend seamlessly with the feel of something you’d put on your headphones while skating around the park.

I love that the core gameplay loop still feels fresh and challenging in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 , figuring out the ideal run while building up your Special meter, discovering wild combinations and occasionally finding yourself asking, “How the hell did I just do that?” It’s that perseverance of wanting to try and try again until I could land that trick just right – that’s what keeps me wanting to come back for more and I can’t wait to dive into the full package when it launches July 11.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is available for pre-order today on the Xbox Store for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Xbox PC with support for Smart Delivery, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Xbox Play Anywhere. Pre-ordering Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 Digital Deluxe Edition on the Xbox Store will grant you three days of Early Access and the ability to play as both the Doom Slayer or a Revenant along with themed skate decks, Create-A-Skater items, and bonus soundtracks. Pre-orders will also grant you access to the Foundry Demo that’s set to arrive in June.