Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD soundtrack detailed, 50% new music

News by Brenna Hillier Contributor

Published on May 23, 2012

Robomodo has released the full 16-track playlist to be included with Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD, half of which are brand new, and half nostalgia cannons.

Speaking to Sound and Vision, producer Ken Overbey said Robomodo anguished over which tracks to include.

"We definitely wanted to bring back some of the songs from the original soundtrack, but wanted new songs as well. The most difficulty we had was our budget, which was very small, and the scope and time frame; it was a lot of work to get it all lined up and get the songs in," he said.

"You have to put out a risk analysis report and you have to point out to the publisher what the biggest risks are in the development. Soundtrack, Patrick and I both agreed, was the number one. Anyone who knows the game knows the music is just as important as the gameplay."

Overbey said that after the release of the Spike VGA 2011 trailer, "at least 90% of the comments and posts on the forums were about the soundtrack", which helped solidify the team's ideas - especially as regards brining back favourite tracks from the original games.

"To this day still, we hear the soundtrack every single day, there isn’t a day that goes by and I hear a song where it takes me back to 1999. I remember sitting in the basement at my house. Every song brings back a memory," he reminisced.

Lead designer Patrick Dwyer said that as a digitally distributed title, Tony Hawk Pro Skater only had about a quarter of the soundtrack budget of a full retail game.

"That’s one of the most impressive things about getting all these songs; it’s kind of a double edged sword when people were talking about how they wanted “Superman” in the game," he said, referring to a much-loved Goldfinger track.

"We thought we were going to have to hurry up and buy that before they realized every single person wanted that song in the game and the price was raised."

Check out the full list below. Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD mixes content from the first two games in the series, and will receive DLC from later titles if successful. It's due in June on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade.

Previously licensed: