Gamer's Perspective

This is arguably the best extreme sports game series ever made; it completely redefined a genre and took the gaming world by storm. We begin our feature by taking a look back at each installment from the past eight years in the hopes of discovering just how this beloved franchise became so popular.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Year : 1999

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, the game where it all started. Before this, extreme sports games were pretty non-existent and the ones that were available were pretty damn awful by anyone's standards. There were exceptions but these were few and far between and they were neither skateboarding games nor games that focused particularly heavily on pulling off tricks.

From the moment you picked up and played the game it became pretty apparent just how deeply the developers cared for skateboarding, yes it was more fun than you could shake a stick at, but it also incorporated an element of simulation that would surely appeal to people connected with the sport outside of video games. I guess that's the main reason Tony Hawk lent his name to the franchise in the first place, it was a way to get kids into the sport from the comfort of their own home.

The controls were solid; the goals were challenging yet fun and most importantly the trick system was like nothing gamers had ever experienced before. It wasn't just about completing a set list of goals in order to progress to the next level; it was about achieving a high score and then topping it in bigger and better ways than ever before.

Game Rankings Score: 93.1%

The following video shows the popular Warehouse level.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Year : 2000

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 had a whole lot to live up to, it wasn't just about riding the success of the first game, it was about improving upon it in every single way. Thankfully it delivered with bigger and better environments that offered up more variation in the way you were able to approach the game, better graphics that brought the parks and the skaters to life and arguably the most revolutionary feature in any Tony Hawks game to date - manuals.

Manuals were performed via a quick push up and down on the D-pad, this sent your skater into a wheelie of sorts and from that you were able to link tricks together for bigger combos. Now instead of relying solely on grinds to get from one place to the next you were able to maneuver across the level any way you liked.

Another major addition to the series was that of the create-a-park and create-a-skater modes. Now you didn't have to settle for playing the game the way they wanted you to, you could construct a park and set up lines that suited you best and customize a skater to match your style of play. A feature that was pretty ground-breaking at the time and one that many developers have attempted to incorporate into their games ever since.

Game Rankings Score: 94.6%

The following video shows the popular Hangar level.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Year : 2001

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 was the first to make the leap onto the next generation of consoles and what a leap it was. Not only was it considered the best Tony Hawk game up to that point but to this day is widely considered as the best extreme sports game ever made. In fact it was so far ahead of it's time that the PlayStation 2 version even had online capabilities before Sony had released a single network adapter.

A major part of the games success was due to the introduction of the revert which allowed skaters to come down off a half pipe and then make the transition into a manual at the push of a button. Many believed this was the final piece of the jigsaw and granted gamers the full ability to continue a combo for as long as their talents would allow. With this skill came an increase in difficulty however and you were now required to hit scores exceeding a million which served to split players into those who could and those who inevitably couldn't.

It is also believed to have some of the best level designs of the series, although many would argue that they are all far too easy to navigate, with simple lines running throughout the majority of them.

Game Rankings Score: 93.5%

The following video demonstrates how easy it is to abuse lines.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
Year: 2002

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 was similar to the second installment in one major respect; the pressure was placed firmly on its shoulders to succeed. The basic game play mechanics were in place, now it had to take them and implement them in ways that would keep things interesting.

They did this by completely overhauling the story mode, scrapping the 2 minute time limit and allowing gamers to roam free throughout the level for as long as their hearts were content. Now they had the choice of whether to partake in tasks or simply flit around the level perfecting lines and discovering new gaps that would never have been found while restricted to a timer.

The game also introduced to us some great new features that are still used to this day, such as flatland tricks which let you manipulate manuals with double button pushes, spine transfers which let you ascend vert ramps and cross to others on the opposite side (back-to-back) and finally skitching which lets you grab on to the back of a vehicle in order to gain speed during combos.

Game Rankings Score: 92.6%

The following video shows off the new features the game introduced.

Tony Hawk's Underground
Year: 2003

Tony Hawk's Underground is considered by many to be the last half-decent game of the series, the point at which things began to plummet.

Take the career mode for example, were Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 gave you freedom to complete goals as you seen fit, Underground restricted you to only a few at a time, forcing you to sit through the story whether you wanted to or not. It wouldn't have been so bad if the story was good or the goals were utilized well but they weren't and began to get agonizingly repetitive after short periods of time.

The new features within the game play weren't all that revolutionary either, while they did throw in one or two nice additions others served to deter from what made the game fun in the first place. The 'caveman' for example, while great outside of a combo wasn't quite as welcome during, offering perhaps one too many 'outs' and taking large portions of skill away from the player.

It wasn't all doom and gloom though, the create-a-skater and create-a-park modes were given healthy expansions, including the ability to add custom goals into your parks which you could then take online and share with the world. Sadly this wasn't a big enough pay-off for most and the plethora of poor decisions made by the developers triggered a concatenation of mediocre games to follow.

Game Rankings Score: 90.9%

The following video demonstrates the ability to face map. 

Tony Hawk's Underground 2
Year : 2004

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 saw things take a turn for the worse as it added more useless features into the mix, each one doing more harm than they are worth. The first real mistake saw Bam Margera taking the reigns as he looked to challenge Tony Hawk in a World Destruction Tour, this was essentially an excuse to act dumb whilst they attempted to out-do each other in a series of whacky events around the globe. As stupid as it sounds there was no preparing for just how atrocious it was to play through and how entirely unnecessary it was in every single way.

There were plenty of new tricks on offer this time around, each one failing as miserably as the next. The bigger probably coming in the form of focus mode, this allowed you to slow down time and perform tricks with a more refined precision. Sounds cool right? It wasn't. It turned out to be more trouble than it was worth and made the task of pulling off multi-million combos a breeze. Then there was the natas spin which saw your skater jumping on to the top of poles and fire hydrants and spinning rapidly on the spot, these little moves lost the realistic feel that previous Tony Hawk games had. Finally, the game granted you the ability to throw various objects at people as a way to increase your score multiplier, I don't even want to get into how rubbish an idea this was.

One saving grace about the game, however, was the introduction of C.lassic Mode which allowed you to play Tony Hawk's retro st.yle. So instead of blasting yourself out of cannons and riding bulls half-naked you were collecting SKATE letters, attempting sick scores and hunting down secret tapes. C.lassic Mode also brought back the 2 minute timer and while it was pleasing to see it go in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, here it makes for a nice variation in play.

Game Rankings Score: 84.0%

The following video shows off the new features the game introduced.

Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
Year : 2005

Tony Hawk's American Wasteland was supposed to rescue the series from a life of mediocrity but sadly only managed to cement the notion. Neversoft claims that the entire game takes place in one huge sprawling world that isn't hindered by a single loading screen, while that's technically true each section is separated by long mundane corridors that act as a substitute. I'm not sure who they were trying to fool but when your main slogan is a complete lie it isn't the most effective way to win the trust of your target audience.

The main reason the game falls short is thanks to yet another lackluster story mode that tries to accomplish too much and actually achieves very little. The goals presented to you are also relatively easy and when faced with one, you're usually placed right in front of it, while this is great for beginners the majority of gamers have now dabbled with at least one previous title in the series and will most likely find it all rather trivial.

Don't get me wrong there are positives, such as the introduction of the BMX which seemed a natural progression for the series, but for each thing they do right there's always a wrong lurking round the next corner. Speaking of which, C.lassic Mode makes a return, though while it helped vivify a thoroughly dire Underground 2 here it's too short to make any real impact whatsoever.

Game Rankings Score: 78.5%

The following video shows the addition of the BMX.

Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
Year : 2006

Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam is an appropriate title in many respects, not only does it see Tony and his friends darting through slalom-type courses but it also marks the lowest point of the entire series thus far.

The game focuses primarily on racing and as a result the trick system has been severely pegged back. It's not hard to see why though; you only have to take a gander at the cluttered courses that lay in front of you. There's barely enough room to steer let alone room to pull off tricks. There's also not a lot of variety either, you'll most likely find yourself navigating the same courses after only a short spell with the game and the fact that they're not that pretty serves to add insult to injury.

I'm not sure what they were thinking at the time but surely they never expected such a dramatic change of direction to be greeted with any real enthusiasm. Before they had only been interested in perfecting the trick system and compiling a solid story up until that point, so tossing those to one side tells me that they were either running out of ideas, or they wanted to release something quickly to keep fans busy whilst the main brunt of their effort was focused on the next installment.

Game Rankings Score: 62.8%

The following video demonstrates how the controls work in-game.

Tony Hawk's Project 8
Year: 2006

Tony Hawk's Project 8 followed shortly after and was probably the least anticipated title to date. That could have been due to the poor run the series had been suffering over the last few years or the games lack of a gimmick, it was probably a mix of both.

This time around the developers found a healthy balance between game play and story, that's not to say either excelled but both did a reasonable job. The goals weren't entirely awful either. While they were cluttered around the various levels and quite hard to keep track of, they did provide a nice array of tasks for you to complete. Probably the most impressive part is the fact that they're all found in a city that is seamless from top to bottom, no long misleading corridors this time around. It does take a pain-staking long time to actually get into the game in the first place, but sacrifices have to be made somewhere.

While there are no gimmicks as such in the game, it did introduce a new mini-feature called 'nail the trick.' Now every time you enter into focus mode, you can control each foot of your skater via the analogue sticks. Unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be pretty clumsy but if given time could potentially develop into a pretty cool feature for upcoming titles. The combo system also needs a bit of reworking if the series is going to go on to be as successful as it once was, they should be making it harder to rack up points with all these new features floating around, not easier.

All-in-all Project 8 doesn't take the series to any new heights but it at least stops the deterioration for the time being by providing some solid game play that can be used as a base to work upon in future titles.

Game Rankings Score: 71.2%

The following video shows off the new features the game introduced.

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
Year: 2007

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground is going all out this time around, splitting the main game to allow for three ways to play. You can choose a full-on career for your skater; living the life of a wannabe pro by vying to get sponsored in the hopes of making it into the big-time. Or you can choose to become a rigger, whose sole aim is to build the biggest and best skate park with the tools that are provided. These Skate parks can then be uploaded to the internet where they can be played and judged by others in the community. Lastly you can simply choose to take no path at all; the hardcore skaters are those who are in it for their raw passion for the game.

The 'nail the trick' feature that made it's debut in Project 8 definitely had potential and the developers decided to take the concept and move it to the next level. Now not only can you customize and control what flip tricks you're performing but also your grabs and manuals too. This now gives skaters the ability to string all these tricks together and make for some pretty stellar combos. The game will also feature a simulation mode for those obsessed with realism. Here it will be harder to jump, harder to gain speed and harder to pull off tricks.

Perhaps the biggest addition is that of the new video editor. With the video editor you will be able to record footage of yourself playing the game in a variety of ways, add cool music, and then show it off to friends. You will also be able to unlock extra features as you progress through the game to make your videos that much better, and it's here where the game looks to hold the most value.


The following video shows us what the latest game has to offer.