Tony Hawk’s series of games were instrumental in popularizing skateboarding and bringing it to the mainstream. Not only were the games influential on young kids by introducing skateboarding to them but it also helped shape their taste in music. The mix of punk, ska, rap, and more influenced any young, impressionable, rebellious kids who may have played these games.
At one point, these were some of the biggest games around and were getting the annual release treatment which is one of the biggest reasons the series had declined after awhile. Because the first games are being remastered, it seems like a good time to take a look back at the series of games that made skateboarding a crucial cog in today’s pop-culture.
10 Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5
There are many that really do not like this game. It is seen as a cash grab with very little effort involved. A big reason this was looked down on so much was due to everyone desperately wanting a new Tony Hawk game and this seemed dated and rushed. The graphics were described as Playstation 2 quality - not sure if they have seen a Playstation 2 game lately - and the overall quality of the physics were touted as wonky at best. If you brush away all of that, you may find something enjoyable if you were into the original series.
9 Tony Hawk’s Project 8
Tony Hawk’s Project 8 introduced the ‘nail-the-trick’ mode. As you were flying through the air, time would slow down, and you could flip the board in a variety of directions as a way to create tricks on the fly.
Like many games in the series, Tony Hawk Project 8 has 2 different versions, one for the Playstation 2, Xbox, and Gamecube, and one for the then-new consoles, the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Both games play somewhat different, with the one for the other generation of consoles playing like the first four games in the series.
8 Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1
A little known fact about the Tony Hawk series of games is that they actually started off as a game featuring the action star Bruce Willis. The original prototype of Tony Hawk Pro Skater actually had the star of Die Hard skating around until Neversoft made a deal with Tony Hawk following his first successful 900 at the X Games in 1999.
As mentioned previously, Tony Hawk Pro Skater really put skateboarding on the map and the existence of this game is responsible for many of today’s professional skateboarders getting into the sport.
7 Tony Hawk American Wasteland
Tony Hawk American Wasteland introduced a pseudo-open world to the series by strategically placing long halls throughout the world with little detail that you could skate through while the game loaded the next area. While it’s not exactly an open world, being able to play the game while it loaded was a definite improvement.
Tony Hawk American Wasteland also introduces many other new things, such as BMX riding, doing flips on foot, and more. The game also attempted to follow a story, similar to the Tony Hawk Underground games before.
6 Tony Hawk Underground 2
This is the point where it seemed the series was starting to lose its way. So many unnecessary things were added to Tony Hawk Underground 2 like characters who don’t ride skateboards and a freak out meter for when you bail. It did, however, add sticker slaps, which were a great way to extend combos if you happen to run into a wall.
Though the additions to Tony Hawk Underground 2 did seem needless, it was still overall a fun-packed playthrough with plenty to do and many levels to explore.
5 Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2
The second entry in the series, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 is when the series really started to gain some traction and find a personality all of its own. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 sits as the second best-reviewed game of all time, being bested by only The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Added in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 was manuals which allowed you to travel through the entire level with a single combo for a massive score. They also added secret characters with the most notable being the wall-crawler himself, Spiderman.
4 Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2x
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2x is an Xbox original exclusive remake of both Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 and Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. The game collects all of the levels from the first 2 games and adds even more content.
This is possibly the best way to enjoy the first 2 games as they retain all of the original levels plus a few extra levels that are exclusive to this game, all with updated visuals. Unfortunately, the addition of the manual in all of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 levels results in the challenges being far too easy but its a fair trade-off.
3 Tony Hawk Underground
Tony Hawk Underground tells a story about what it is like to attempt to become pro in the skateboard industry with your character even getting a voice! You start off in your small town then eventually rise through the ranks and become a pro.
The game introduces the ability to get off your board, walk around and climb up buildings. You can get off of your board mid-combo and your combo will continue until the timer runs out, making big scores even easier. The also updated the stats system so that when you do a certain type of trick enough your stat raises as opposed to just finding or buying stat points.
2 Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 changes up the way levels are structured so you can skate around a level and interact with people to start missions while in the first 3 games you would have a 2-minute timer to do as much as you can.
Freestyle tricks were also introduced in this entry - now when in a manual you can press a few buttons and do tricks such as pogos, caspers, and handstands with the ability to also do a flip trick that correlated with the trick you were currently doing.
1 Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3
The first entry to see release on the Playstation 2, Tony Hawk Pro Skater set the foundation for all of the games that would follow. The most important addition implemented by Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 is the revert.
In previous games, when going off of a ramp, when you landed, your combo ended. With the addition of the revert, you could land, revert, manual, and continue your combo. With this intricate set of skills predicated on score building, the game played liked an old arcade game, allowing for endless replayability and fun.