Tony Hawk's Underground

Tony Hawk's Underground marked a major turning point for the series — for the first time, players could step off the board and walk around town on foot, and for the first time the game offered a full story mode. Instead of racking up points for combos in enclosed arenas, the player follows their own rider's journey from street races all the way to the top of the professional skateboarding scene, alongside his buddy Eric Sparrow. The story takes the player from a small hometown all the way to big cities full of opportunities for a professional career, meeting real professional riders in cameo roles along the way.

Neversoft expanded the classic trick system with new elements, such as getting off the board, vandalizing the surroundings, or filming your own skate videos, and paired them with more open levels inspired by real cities. A soundtrack full of punk and hip hop, along with guest professional riders, gave the game a distinctive underground skate culture atmosphere of the early 2000s. Players could also create their own character from the start and shape both their appearance and riding style.

The GameCube version retained smooth controls and clear graphics, allowing the game to hold up well even with minor technical compromises compared to the PlayStation 2. Underground became one of the series' most commercially successful entries and defined the direction skateboarding games would take in the following years, including the emphasis on story and more open cities in later entries such as the following Tony Hawk's Underground 2. A number of elements from Underground then became standard for rival skateboarding games as well.

Why play it: For the story mode and the freedom to move around town, which breathed new life into the series.