In the late 1990s and early 2000s, extreme sports were the biggest phenomenon in the world. The name “Tony Hawk” was held alongside the biggest celebrities of the time, and every kid wanted to make it to the X Games and shock the world. From skateboarding, BMX biking, parkour, snowboarding and beyond, extreme sports were not to be trifled with.
Due to the extraordinary nature of these sports, video game adaptations were an absolute must. So many games tried to front-flip straight into the hype, and many came and went but some maintained their legacy long after the trend kickflipped out of the mainstream.
10 1080° Snowboarding
Created near the beginning of the extreme sports craze, 1080° Snowboarding was a beloved N64 title that boasted realistic graphics (for the time) and exhilarating gameplay, and it still holds up today.
Snowboarding was always a close second to skateboarding in the popularity department, but games like 1080° Snowboarding gave the sport a fighting chance. It would receive a sequel on the GameCube (1080° Avalanche), but the original is still held in high regard among fans.
9 Nail’d
A very overlooked and nearly forgotten title, Nail’d is a blistering fast, nail-biting motocross game, with ATVs and dirt bikes as the main focus. Releasing in the PS3/360 generation, Nail’d was unfortunately lost in obscurity behind many other high-profile motocross games that frequented those consoles.
It’s a worthy hidden gem, because Nail’d finds players needing precision focus to traverse the intense downward landscapes, and landing safely after otherworldly jumps.
8 Freekstyle
Freekstyle released during the GameCube/PS2/XBOX era, and was a very overlooked entry during the craze of extreme motocross racing. Freekstyle had intensely fast gameplay, genre-defining attitude, and immense difficulty that made the game very engaging and an absolute challenge to complete.
Freekstyle’s voice-acting sticks out in many players’ minds, because it wasn’t afraid to say some ridiculous things to cement a feeling of slick attitude that most games couldn’t match.
7 Mirror’s Edge
As quickly as the parkour craze seemed to come and go, its impact was certainly left on the extreme sports landscape. A few games in that timeframe tried to grasp the feeling of risk and danger, but the most successful one had to be Mirror’s Edge.
Surrounded within a story of a strict dystopian society, players had a first-person view as they climbed up walls, jumped fences, and leapt between buildings. While a few of the game’s mechanics could be clunky, the core experience was something that really delivered the thrills. The world misses you, parkour.
6 Jet Set Radio
An extreme sport that wasn’t as prominent in the gaming landscape was in-line skating, but Jet Set Radio made sure that it was represented well and given a ton of unforgettable style and attitude.
The cell-shaded graphical style still looks amazing, and players were able to pull off sick tricks, spray paint walls, and escape the police. It was every kid’s dream to question authority like cool kids in Jet Set Radio, and it was a very well-realized fantasy.
5 Tony Hawk’s Underground
The name that started it all, Tony Hawk was a superhero to many aspiring sportspeople. While many of the earlier games in the Pro Skater series made the greatest impact, Tony Hawk’s Underground embraced the attitude that was defining many extreme sports games of the era.
This was the first game of the series where skaters could hop off of their boards and walk around freely, which opened up the game to a brand new sense of exploration, while still continuing the groundbreaking combo-based gameplay that made the series so huge.
4 Trials Fusion
Starting out as an internet browser-based series, Trials Fusion was released on console and perfected the formula of precise movement over very specifically designed courses that satisfied players as often as it infuriated them.
The game was very well-received and reignited the excitement of motocross games by changing what a motocross game could be, as an action/puzzle hybrid. It wouldn’t be hard to believe that it also boosted controller sales, because of how many would break from frustration.
3 SSX 3
In the prime days of extreme sports, SSX 3 came in and perfected the modern snowboarding game with maximum thrill, sleek style, instantly recognizable characters, and addictive gameplay.
One of SSX 3’s most defining features was the ability to board through every summit in the game in one continuous shot, without load times. The challenges and the atmosphere were unmatched in the level of fun, and it is a series that fans have been craving a new entry from.
2 Skate 2
Around the time that the skateboarding fad was slowly fading away, the Skate games gave it its final breath, and Skate 2 was the title that had fans fighting for its survival. Skate 2 had a huge focus on skateboard simulation: players weren’t necessarily pulling off unrealistic and high-flying spine transfers, and instead focusing on the intricacies of what it takes to pull off a singular trick.
This attention to detail, as well as the clear passion that the creators had for the skateboarding scene, made the series an absolute classic.
1 Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1-4
No other extreme sports games could come close to the impact that the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series had. It could be argued the Pro Skater series is the reason why real life skateboarding had the huge increase in popularity that it had, and for good reason.
The ground-breaking and addictive “one more combo” gameplay had players always competing for higher scores, the course layouts were intelligently designed and made it easy for players to link tricks together, and the soundtracks were absolutely iconic. Whether fans’ preference would fall with Pro Skater 1-4, each game provided players with very similar gameplay experiences, which isn’t even close to a bad thing. With the recently released Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 Remastered, fans are hopeful that the series may come back in a big way, and it more than deserves the chance to do so.