Summary
While video games solely focused on riding and pulling off tricks on a skateboard existed long before the 1999 release ofTony Hawk’s Pro Skater, the urban extreme sport arguably gained much of its modern appeal fromthe series' cultural impact. As a result; multiple sequels, spin-offs, and competitors often made use of the original title’s arcade-like gameplay and twin-stick movement.
That is not to say that there isn’t a plethora of incredibly notable titles that either fail to usePro Skater’s pseudo-patented style or evolve the formula far beyond the limitations imposed by the series. From arcade and NES titles making use of pre-analog stick hardware to more modern evolving and interpretingTony Hawk’s Pro Skater’s control scheme.
6Skate Or Die!
EA’s 2D PC & Third-Generation Skating Title
While Neversoft’sTony Hawk Pro Skaterseries prides itself on its pick-up-and-play nature and accommodating gameplay, Konami’s 2D 8-bit skating title channels arcade difficulty and high-score chasing like many of its 80s contemporaries.
Skate Or Die!challenges players to skate across five events of NES-era difficulty with some less-than-ergonomic controls. As such, it can be interpreted as an isometric precursor to the arcade roots of Tony Hawk’s fifth-generation titles. However, with only four inputs for movement on their virtual boards compared toPro Skater’s fluid analog boarding, controlling this retro title from theMetal Gear Solidpublisher is a far cry from modern skating experiences.
5720 Degrees
A Pseudo-3D Skating Game From Atari
With the constant threat of deadly bees chasing players throughout itstraversable hub world,720 Degrees' coin-operated arcade roots clash withPro Skater’s much more leisurely pace.
Controlling an 8-bit boarder to various skating challenges, Atari’s 1986 venture into extreme sports puts pressure to keep moving and raising players' high scores ever higher. With no real focus on providing players with a virtual skating playground to hone their skills,720 Degreespushes players right into the action.
Crea-ture Studios' 2019 skating titleSession: Skate Simis widely acclaimed as an enjoyable installment for any fan of the extreme sport. However, the Sim moniker in the game’s subtitle is emblematic of the studio’s hyper fixation on takingthe grounded gameplayof titles like Electronic Arts’Skateseries, which was already somewhat removed fromTony Hawk’s Pro Skater’s arcade roots and developing it further.
While skating around the game’s urban setting, players take advantage of nearly all inputs available - from sticks, face buttons, and triggers - to pull off tricks and stunts that were a flick of a stick away in an Activision skating title.
With the 2007 release ofSkateby EA,“a new contender"for the reign over skateboarding video games was instilled in the gaming space. In a fervent attempt to differentiate itself from Activision’s crownedTony Hawk’s Pro Skaterseries,SkatecontinuedPro Skater’s arcade lineage while tweaking gameplay and board handling into the realm of realism.
Three years later, as the penultimate installment of the originalSkatetrilogy,Skate 3continued this more grounded approach to twin-stick analog movement while improving on an already established formula. Nearly 15 years later,Skate 3isstill touted by manyas; “the definitive skateboarding game of the last 10 years — maybe of all time”.
2The Ramp
A Minimalist Isometric Take On The Skating Genre
While theTony Hawk’s Pro Skaterfranchise is not the most dynamic or intricately controlled skating series in the industry, its simplistic arcade roots can appear overwhelmingly endless when compared to the minimalistic nature ofThe Ramp’s control scheme.
Published on mobile devices, alongside PC and Nintendo Switch, Paul Schnepf’s 2021 skating title proudly boasts that there are “NO unlockable stuff, No score, NO missions”. This minimalist mantra is extended to the title’s movement, which does nothing to restrict the player from pulling off some slick tricks on the title’s halfpipes and bowls.
When Activision first publishedTony Hawk’s Pro Skaterin September 1999, the video game industry was in the throes of a graphical leap in console gaming of gargantuan proportions -from the second to third dimensions.More than 15 years later, the 3D polygonal graphics of Neversoft’s initial installment are standard, and there are titles likeOlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwoodthat are reverting to 2D worlds to reinvent the skating genre.
Focussing on a state of flow, with seemingly endless strings of tricks and grinding, theOlliOllifranchise perfectly contorts Pro Skater’s twin-stick movement into something perfectly suited for the 2D plane.
