Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater from Neversoft launched one of the most influential sports series in video game history in 1999 on PlayStation. The player controls professional skateboarders, including Tony Hawk himself, and within a strict two-minute time limit collects points for tricks, combo jumps, and grinds across a series of compact, open levels ranging from skateparks to streets and school campuses.

The PlayStation version defined the system the series used for years afterward – a combination of ollies, grinds, and manuals linked into long combo chains, a soundtrack drawn from the punk and nu-metal scene, and a clear system of goals in each level instead of the linear progression known from other sports games. The controls were designed specifically for the PlayStation gamepad with its analog stick and triggers, which allowed smooth control of spins and rotations of aerial tricks that later ports to weaker hardware still had to adapt to. This version was also the first to introduce iconic levels such as Warehouse or School.

The game featured nine professional skateboarders with their own special tricks and stats, from Tony Hawk through Bob Burnquist to Chad Muska, letting players choose a style to match their preferred way of riding. The soundtrack, made up of songs from bands like Dead Kennedys and Primus, became an inseparable part of the game's and the series' overall identity. The scoring system for combo tricks, with multipliers for risky maneuvers, encouraged replaying the same levels to beat one's own records. The clear level selection from the main menu, without a continuous open world, also made it possible to play in very short bursts, which proved ideal for quick sessions between other activities and contributed to the game's mass popularity among players who never skateboarded in real life at all.

Why play it: The cornerstone of the entire arcade skateboarding genre – for players who want to experience the version that everything that followed in the series and in competing games was built on.