The Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series holds a legacy that few other video game franchises do. And even with the run after the Pro Skater games ended, Neversoft continued to put out trailblazing Tony Hawk games one year after another.

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The series had a few stumbling blocks in the late-2000s and 2010s with Pro Skater 5 and Ride, which required a strange, peripheral skateboard device, but not even those could tarnish the legendary status of the old games. Between the Pro Skater games, the Underground releases, and even the lesser follow-ups, the series is a darling amongst video game critics.

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (2007) - 73

A skater rides down a road in Baltimore

With Proving Ground, Neversoft threw everything and the kitchen sink into the game. The 2007 game is a melting pot of all the unique parts of each entry in the series, as well as adding a ton of brand new elements too, making it the biggest, most expansive Tony Hawk release ever.

However, Proving Ground comes off like a world buffet, as it might have everything players love, but they were executed better in the other games. But as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 pays respect to older Neversoft games, it doesn't leave out Proving Ground, which is still an outrageously fun release with hours' worth of content.

Tony Hawk's Project 8 (2006) - 76

A skater grinds on a ramp in Tony Hawk's Project 8

Project 8 marked the very first time the series attempted to drastically change the controls, as it reinvented the way players approached flip and grab tricks. While fans could still perform those tricks in the traditional way, there was also the option to slow down time and control the skater's feet with the two analog sticks. The new feature was polarizing, and while it was an interesting addition, it felt clunky and left players resorting back to the traditional controls.

However, there's still a lot to love about the eighth game, as it's a giant open world full of interesting set pieces. And though there has always been comedy in the Tony Hawk games, Project 8 featured the actor/skater/comedian Jason Lee as the sort-of host of the game, who injected some fresh humor into the series.

Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (2005) - 77

A skater manuals through Hollywood in American Wastelan

While American Wasteland did receive very good reviews, it's far from the best reception the series has had. The game might have been reviewed higher if it was honest in its marketing rollout. Leading up to the game's release, fans were promised a living, breathing, fully open-world Los Angeles, but that wasn't exactly what they got.

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American Wasteland did feature its own wacky depiction of L.A., but each area was connected by extremely long and narrow hallways, which were essentially interactive loading screens. But despite that, it's still another enormously fun game that has even bigger set pieces and unique ramps than the Underground series.

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (2004) - 83

Tony skates in hell in Tony Hawk's Underground 2

While there are loads of extreme sports games that aren't Tony Hawk, Underground 2 is the most extreme of them all. Though the 2004 game is called Underground 2, it isn't a direct sequel to Underground, and it seems like that title is given to the games that aren't so skate-competition-oriented.

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 is essentially a Jackass game with skateboarding in it, and it's far superior to the MTV series' proper video game. The game follows the skate team, led by Hawk, and the Jackass team, led by Bam Margera, globe-trotting between major cities and raising hell. In fact, hell is even a secret area in the Pro Skater level. The game is so entertaining, as players can control Benjamin Franklin in Boston, a matador in Barcelona, and even Bigfoot in Skatopia.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 (2020) - 89

Bullring in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 is capitalizing on nostalgia done right. The 2020 release comes after a long hiatus in the series and redeems the series for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5, which was universally hated. Pro Skater 1 + 2 isn't just a remastered version of the first two games, but it is a complete remake with stunning graphics, the most visually stunning of which is Venice Beach, the best map in Pro Skater 2.

There's also such a vast amount of customization possibilities that goes so much deeper than any previous game. The release was so successful, as it had old fans salivating and it introduced the series to a brand new generation of gamers too. Because of this, it has opened up the floodgates for more Tony Hawk remakes, but fans are still waiting for an announcement.

Tony Hawk's Underground (2003) - 90

Iron Man appearing in Tony Hawk's Underground

Underground is another landmark game in the series and the first departure from the Pro Skater games. Neversoft made the great decision to end the Pro Skater series on a high note with the beloved Pro Skater 4, and the developer totally reinvented the Tony Hawk brand.

The 2003 release is the first game in the series to be narratively driven, and it's the first game to allow players to get off their boards. It's the first that allows players to control vehicles too, whether it's lawnmowers or souped-up, Need For Speed-style cars. Not only that, but the game introduced acid drops and wall plants into the series, two tentpole tricks in the franchise.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (1999) - 92

Player collects the SKATE tape in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is where it all started, and it changed the landscape of sports video games forever. It's jarring to see this original game booted up again, as fans of the series will surely remember the levels with modern-day graphics. But back in 1999, players had to remember which ramps were where, as they wouldn't even appear until the playable character was just six feet in front of them.

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It wasn't even possible for players to connect tricks and build combos by using manuals, which makes the game significantly harder than the 2020 remake. However, nothing like it had ever come before it, and even without the best graphics, it still featured ground-breaking gameplay. So many pale imitations of the game followed, and developers applied the same mechanics to any extreme sport that sprang to mind, whether it was with Matt Hoffman's Pro BMX or the SSX series.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (2002) - 94

Tony on Alactraz in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4

There's a reason why the most recently released Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 plays like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. Though the remake focuses on the levels of the first two games, it ignores the mechanics of the original in favor of the controls of the 2002 release. Pro Skater 4 allowed players to use reverts and spine transfers, which were so useful when combining tricks, and it made for a much more fluid experience than the three previous games.

On top of that, Pro Skater 4 was a touchstone in the series for getting rid of two-minute runs and instead allowed players to freely roam around the much bigger levels. The game also had an interesting fixation on California. Instead of featuring levels based on major cities from across the globe, stages were predominantly set in California, such as San Francisco, and, the best of all, Alcatraz.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (2001) - 97

Wolverine skateboarding in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

After the phenomenal success of the first two releases, fans could take comfort in knowing that the series had definitely become an annual event. And when developers throw out a new game in a series that frequently, it usually comes at the expense of quality and content, but that was far from the case with Pro Skater 3.

The game continued to push the physics of the series forward, and the collection of levels added to the exotic locations found in the franchise too. This time, Neversoft had turned major cities like Rio de Janeiro, Honolulu, and Tokyo into giant skateparks. It was also lowkey a big step forward for diversity in video games, as the 2001 release introduced the ability to customize female skaters. That was something that hadn't been done before, and it took a while for other developers to catch on too.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (2000) - 98

Tony Hawk in the air in School II in Pro Skater 2

Pro Skater 2's graphics left a lot to be desired, and combos were cut short because reverts and spine transfers hadn't been introduced yet. But it's a testament to how instantly beloved the game was at the time that it still holds a better Metacritic score than the games that followed. Pro Skater 2 is as close to perfect a game as possible.

When fans think about the best levels in the series, almost all of them are found in the 2000 game, whether it's the expansive School II, the screeching taxicab-ridden New York, or the trippy, sci-fi themed Skate Heaven. It was also the first game in the series to be full of hidden areas in each level, which felt so satisfying when discovering how to break into them after hours of searching.

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