Realism and seriousness were never staples in the original Pro Skater games, but Underground 2 increased the silliness by adding a ridiculous story featuring Bam Margera, destructible environments, and even the ability to get off your board to explore on foot.
Let’s cross our fingers for a remake of Pro Skater 3 sometime soon. It was also the first Tony Hawk game to feature online multiplayer, as rudimentary as it was. Its trick system was redefined and still feels good to play today. While it didn’t introduce any revolutionary new mechanics, its level design is beloved among most fans, and with a roster of insane characters like Wolverine and Darth Maul, it’s easy to see why this is such a fan favorite. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 took advantage of the new hardware with the PS2, expanding upon many of the beloved features from the first two installments. While playing, you really will feel like a superman, doing everything you can. The combination of fun, accessible gameplay, nostalgia, gorgeous visuals, and plenty of content (at a $40 price point, no less) make this the best Tony Hawk game to date. Somehow, Activision and developer Vicarious Visions managed to keep all skaters and most of the songs from the original intact, making it look and sound exactly how you remember. On top of that, the controls have been updated, too, and are more akin to a contemporary game you’d play today. Visually, the remakes are stunning, with a greater emphasis on realism thanks to the particle effects and lighting. It takes the foundation of the original games and modernizes them for current hardware - improving upon nearly every outdated aspect from the PS One revisions. It might seem insane to put the recent Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 remake at the number one spot, but it really is that good. And let’s just try to forget about the two installments that required an expensive plastic skateboard peripheral - Ride and Shred. In this list, we’ll be covering the mainline console entries (sorry mobile gamers). With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of the games in the mainline series, ranked from best to worst. Since the original in 1999, there have been numerous entries in the Tony Hawk’s franchise, with critical reception ranging from excellent to outright terrible. No word on whether it will come to other platforms yet. That package features remakes of the first two games in the series, which originally debuted in 19, respectively, and is available on PS4, Xbox One, PC, right now. Nostalgia is a powerful thing, as evidenced by the widely positive reception to the release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2.