Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam

Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam left behind the skateparks and ramps the series had grown used to, sending the player down sloping streets full of cars, pedestrians, and shortcuts. Instead of building long combos in an enclosed level, the focus is mainly on getting down the hill as fast and stylishly as possible, with tricks serving mainly to maintain speed and score multipliers rather than to form one giant combo like before. The gameplay is simplified and sped up compared to previous entries; the game emphasizes reflexes and dodging traffic rather than carefully planning trick sequences, and it also offers racing modes against other riders on the same course, which was a relatively new approach to level design for the series at the time.

The Wii version, created by Toys for Bob, launched as one of the console's launch titles at the end of 2006 and made full use of its motion controller. By holding the Wii Remote sideways like handlebars, the player simulated tilting the skateboard into turns, while buttons handled jumps and tricks – no other home version of the game controlled this way at the time. It was one of the first attempts to translate the feel of skateboarding into gesture controls, so the game also served as a showcase of what Nintendo's new controller could offer beyond a traditional gamepad, and reviewers at the time judged it precisely through the lens of how well this idea worked.

The simultaneously released PlayStation 2 and GameCube versions were controlled purely with buttons, with no tilting at all, so gesture controls remained exclusive to the Wii edition. The game also included local multiplayer for split-screen battles between multiple players and a rider customization system, but it was precisely the combination of motion controls with the classic downhill concept that made the Wii version the most distinctive and most talked-about take on the game from that entire generation of console launch titles.

Why play it: Downhill Jam on Wii will appeal mainly to players curious what skateboarding looked like translated into motion controls in their very early days, and to series fans wanting to experience its detour from the classic ramp style toward fast, adrenaline-fueled downhill runs through streets full of obstacles and traffic.