Tony Hawk’s Underground Unreal Engine 5 remake leaves fans stunned
Fans have long wanted a remake of Tony Hawk’s Underground and I fully support that concept. Now that Microsoft has finalised its acquisition of Activision, this could be the ideal chance for Microsoft to revitalize one of its newly acquired intellectual properties.
Tony Hawk’s Underground was developed by Neversoft in 2003 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Game Boy Advance and PC; one year later for PC port release in 2004. I remember this game fondly; rather than simply featuring professional skateboarders it featured an enjoyable amateur story mode that kept players coming back again and again! Though no remake plans are announced or available currently one fan named MitchMakesGames has taken upon himself the task and begun recreating this gem using Unreal Engine 5.
MitchMakesGames was an extraordinary hero. Citing that Tony Hawk’s Underground had long been one of his favourite titles and could no longer ignore its 20th anniversary celebration, as Neversoft later folded into Infinity Ward it seemed unlikely we’d see any remake, so MitchTakesGams took upon himself the task himself and organized this special tribute event himself.
MitchMakesGames began his project by importing New Jersey into Unreal Engine 5, where he could adjust collision and test movement before transitioning onto remastering. Unreal Engine 5 provided much of the foundational work. Once that was in place, MitchMakesGames then began cleaning up unneeded assets (such as fake shadows) or replacing low-quality trees and fences with higher quality versions of themselves.
Textures were updated, making a huge impactful change – although this process took several days. Remastering character models also went smoothly; last step involved testing actual skating mechanics thanks to CodeLikeMe having created them already and MitchMakesGames being able to customize. Once testing had concluded, Mitch was able to complete one run through with incredible results! Ideally now I just wish for an overall remake.
