Vicarious Visions would have thrown back in the day when they were in charge of the franchise, and Iron Galaxy is adding fuel to the fire with their additions.

We sat down with game director Kurt Tillmanns to shed some light on the new additions, and find out how this crazy crossover happened. We also got some hands-on time with the game to test out the two extra levels beyond Waterpark (Pinball and Movie Studio), which were born out of two completely different design philosophies. While the loss of Tony Hawk 4's career mode is still felt, the new parks feel like a great compromise.

The New Levels Are A Combo Of "Forbidden Places and Fantastic Spaces"

Pinball And Movie Studio Waterpark As Brand New Tony Hawk Stages

New levels in a classic Tony Hawk game are kind of a big deal, and a step beyond what was done with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2. According to Tillmanns, this is something that was always on their mind: "It seemed like something that people would love to get their hands on, you know? The first new Tony Hawk levels in over 10 years? It was a big thing, so we think about, man, what are the things that people are going to be excited about? The new parks. That puts it over the top. So we try to approach it thinking about it like, what if we found a [design doc] from Neversoft, and it contained a bunch of levels they didn't do."

Having played them both, Pinball and Movie Studio operate at completely different wavelengths, and Tillmanns and his team had that on their minds the entire time: "So it was kind of like, we have a bunch of stuff in there like a classic skater fantasy [Waterpark]. It's part of the heritage in these games, to do a crazy level, so [Pinball] was something we're ionate about. So we're a Chicago studio, a lot of our devs came from Midway Games, so pinball heritage is part of our studio. Something that spoke to us as Chicago fans."

The more we chatted about the levels, the more they made sense to be included, all as part of the Tony Hawk 4 segment of the game. Tillmanns expands on this: "When we think about Tony Hawk in general, we think about them in two categories. One is forbidden places, and the other is fantastic spaces. So the first, is a place you otherwise wouldn't be allowed to skate in, like the shut-down waterpark or the movie studio, and it's still set in southern California, it fit the vibe. We wanted to do some fan-service."

Waterpark in particular is arguably one of my favorite stages of the entire 3+4 package, including the classic parks. It flows extremely well, offering tons of classic-feeling trick lines, as well as some dastardly challenges, and even a THUG-like reference with a prank objective. Finding ways to climb up all the slides was a blast, and it'll easily be one of the stages in my rotation when I'm practicing tricks in the lab for the full release.

Nickelodeon Was "Giddy" To Have Michelangelo Involved In The Tony Hawk Series

All It Took Was Reaching Out

According to Tillmanns, it wasn't hard to get Michelangelo the turtle in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4. All it took was a figurative phone call: "Oh man, it was...someone had the idea for it, and we reached out to Nickelodeon, and they were just all about it. So it's really amazing anytime we're able to collaborate with something new on this game, so we collaborated with Bethesda and id for the Doom Slayer, and we reached out, and they were super giddy about it. With the collaboration stuff it's like a blessing, anyone we talk to, it's like, 'we get to be involved in Tony Hawk? Of course, it's Tony Hawk.' We ask if people wanted to be a part of it, and they're happy to jump on board."

You have classic skaters like Rodney Mullen, and you have Bam Margera, who is paying homage to everything that came before him.

Mikey comes with a few unique tricks of his own, including a manual that has him spinning on his shell: an ability that can be shared among other skaters, including Tony Hawk himself. Tillmanns and I got to talking about secret characters, and when we got on the subject of the Doom Slayer, he brought up a little reference in there for Spider-Man, a classic secret Tony Hawk roster member: "So the Doom Slayer, one of the tricks we gave him is a direct homage to Spider-Man. He kicks the board away from him and uses the shotgun meat hook to grab it back."

I also wanted to check in on Bam Margera's late inclusion in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4, and was still wondering how that all came to be. As a long-time follower of Bam, Jackass, and CKY, it still feels odd that he was added last-minute, if not for the intervention of Tony himself. Tillmanns explained: "We're really excited to have him back in the game obviously. The skater list is something we're all ionate about, there's a giant list of skaters we want in the game...we just get together with a bunch of stakeholders and see what the best roster could be. You have classic skaters like Rodney Mullen, and you have Bam Margera, who is paying homage to everything that came before him. So it's a mix of old and new."

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 will arrive on July 11, 2025. A demo is available featuring Foundry and College today for pre-orders (PC, PlayStation, Xbox), as well as Tony Hawk and Rayssa Leal as playable skaters. Digital Deluxe Edition players also get access to the Doom Slayer.