Best case scenario is the offer a "pure" experience option that leaves the games as they were as well as the level challenges and then an enhanced that adds in tricks that weren't in the originals.. It will never happen though as I seem to be in the minority opinion that combo continuing tricks took away from what made the games enjoyable. It went from over-the-top approximation of skateboarding to batshit crazy. Oh well. I'll still get this as THPS2 is one of my favorite games of all time.
the revert to me was the single most important thing added to THPS franchise. It turned the game from finding the best developer made skate line, into finding and creating your own. Levels were looked at completely different after that to me and allowed for that speed runner type mentality of “where can I get an extra trick, or extension to make my score that much better”.
The creativity just opened completely up. That is what THPS is all about.
I can appreciated the perspective because big numbers are fun but it felt like score attack morphed into finding an easily exploitable loop that let you continue a combo on for the length of the timer rather than finding a series of different lines and performing tricks that best suited those lines.
Can confirm this. I loved THPS but I gotta admit I'm hindsight they knew how much revert broke the games because score attacks went away after 4 and it turned into "challenges" where the game pretty much turned into platforming with a skateboard.
For me, it's breaks down like this:
THPS1 - Score system is part skill, and part puzzle.
THPS2 - Score system is part skill, and part puzzle.
THPS3 - Score system is pretty much all skill now.
Ideally, we'd have "classic" goals and classic systems, with an option to play with the revert and a whole new set of modern goals. THPS3 didn't ruin the game, but it changed the design considerably. Before that, getting a high score was a puzzle of sorts. Ironically, it also could be argued that it required more skill than when it became purely about skill, because part of the challenge was was figuring out ways to hit a big ramp, but still land on a rail, or on flat ground with enough speed that you could continue your combo. And if you missed your combo attempt, you missed your run.
Of course, it sounds like Tony is insisting that the revert be added to the entire game, which kind of ruins the idea of getting a pure THPS and THPS2 experience. It wouldn't be the first time he insisted on adding something that I don't agree with, but adding the revert in some capacity really is arguably the right call here. And there is definitely a strong appeal to being able to play these classic maps in ways that were never possible before. Just using the manual on THPS1 maps is going to make that a completely different game.
I still wish it would be optional to protect the game design for purists, but it's hardly going to keep me from buying the game on day one.