NINTENDO-64
10
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Neversoft's revolutionary skateboarding game didn't just create a genre — it changed how a generation thought about skateboarding, music, and sports games entirely. With accessible combo-building, brilliantly designed levels, and a soundtrack that defined late-1990s alternative culture, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is one of the most influential games ever made.
💡 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater — Key Facts
- → Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision
- → Released in 1999 on PLAYSTATION
- → Genre: Sports, Action
- → We rate it 9.3/10 — an absolute classic
- → Part of the tony-hawk franchise
- → Neversoft's revolutionary skateboarding game didn't just create a genre — it changed how a generation thought about skateboarding, music, and sports games entirely. With accessible combo-building, brilliantly designed levels, and a soundtrack that defined late-1990s alternative culture, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is one of the most influential games ever made.
Overview
In 1998, Activision gave Neversoft Entertainment an unusual brief: make a game about skateboarding. The development team, who had no particular background in skating, immersed themselves in skate culture, consulted with professionals including Tony Hawk himself, and developed a physics system that would make skating feel both accessible and authentic.
The result, released in September 1999, sold over 4 million copies and created an entirely new genre. It also inadvertently revitalized professional skateboarding’s popularity by putting pro skaters in front of millions of console players who would never have watched ESPN’s X Games coverage.
Gameplay
Career Mode places players in each of nine levels with a two-minute timer and a set of objectives: collect S-K-A-T-E letters, collect red SKATE tape from a hidden high-up location, achieve a score threshold, find a secret area, and complete a character-specific trick challenge. Completing objectives earns cash for stat upgrades, and finishing all objectives in a level advances to the next.
The skating controls are built around a simple trick vocabulary: ollie (jump), grab tricks (while in air), flip tricks (board rotations), and grinds (on rails and edges). The depth comes from chaining these through combos — manuals extend ground combos between ramps, grind transfers allow continuous rail tricks, and the multiplier grows with each additional trick. Mastering a single level’s combo lines can consume hours.
Why It’s a Classic
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater succeeds because it made the feeling of skating — the momentum, the spatial reasoning, the improvised creativity of route-finding through a public space — translatable to a controller. The two-minute runs create urgency; the open level design creates possibility; and the soundtrack creates atmosphere so specific and evocative that it defined a cultural moment.
Legacy
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater launched a franchise of 18+ games across every major platform through 2015. Its influence on music licensing in video games — demonstrating that a carefully curated punk/hip-hop soundtrack could be a commercial hook — changed how publishers approached soundtracks. The 2020 remake confirmed that the original’s design philosophy remains compelling and relevant.
Our Review
9.3
Outstanding / 10
🎮
Gameplay
★★★★★
🎨
Graphics
★★★★★
🎵
Audio
★★★★★
🔄
Replay
★★★★★
Gameplay
The skateboarding mechanics are immediately accessible but develop tremendous depth as players learn to string tricks into extended combos via manuals and grinds. The two-minute career runs create perfectly paced sessions of goal achievement and score chasing. Each level contains distinct objectives — collect S-K-A-T-E letters, find the secret tape, achieve high score — providing structured progression alongside free skating.
Graphics
Colorful, detailed level environments that accurately capture the aesthetic of urban skateboarding locations. The skater models animate convincingly for 1999, and the speed of the game is maintained at a consistent frame rate. The warehouse, school, and mall locations feel like real skateable spaces.
Audio
One of the greatest video game soundtracks ever assembled: Dead Kennedys, Goldfinger, Millencolin, Primus, Suicidal Tendencies, Bad Religion, Naughty by Nature, and more. The punk and hip-hop curation captured a specific cultural moment and introduced a generation to underground music. The track 'Superman' by Goldfinger became synonymous with the game.
Replayability
Extremely high. Career mode with goals across all levels, a high score competition loop, two-player H-O-R-S-E and Graffiti modes, and the addictive quality of perfecting combo lines sustain extensive play. Gap finding and full 100% completion are long-term goals.
Historical Significance
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is one of the best-selling PlayStation games and single-handedly created the skateboarding game genre as a commercial category. It revitalized interest in professional skateboarding, launched a franchise of 18+ games, and its influence on music licensing in games changed the industry's approach to soundtracks.
✅ Pros
- + Brilliantly designed levels that balance objective achievement with free-form skating
- + Legendary soundtrack that defined an era and introduced players to punk and hip-hop
- + Accessible combo mechanics with surprising depth for advanced play
- + Two-minute career runs are perfectly paced for repeated sessions
- + Two-player modes (HORSE, Graffiti, Trick Attack) are excellent
- + Authentic roster of real professional skateboarders
❌ Cons
- - Two-minute time limit feels restricting once players become comfortable with levels
- - Career mode is relatively short — most players see all levels within a few hours
- - Some goals are obscurely placed and require luck or guide assistance to locate
- - Bail animations can be unsatisfying and overly abrupt
- - Limited number of maps compared to later entries in the franchise
Also Known As
THPSTony Hawk's Pro Skater 1
In the Series
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater FAQ
How do combos work in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater?
Combos are chained by linking tricks together without touching the ground. During a jump or grind, tricks add to a multiplier — each additional trick in a sequence multiplies the base score. Manuals (nose manual or regular manual, performed on flat ground) extend combos between ramps and rails, allowing players to chain much longer sequences. The highest scores come from combining multiple grinds, aerials, and manuals into single unbroken chains.
Who is in the skater roster?
The playable professional skaters are Tony Hawk, Bob Burnquist, Steve Caballero, Kareem Campbell, Rune Glifberg, Eric Koston, Chad Muska, Andrew Reynolds, Geoff Rowley, and Elissa Steamer. Each skater has distinct statistics — speed, ollie height, air, hangtime, consistency — that suit different play styles. A custom skater option is available.
What are the S-K-A-T-E letters for?
Each level contains five individual letters spelling S-K-A-T-E scattered through the level, often in hard-to-reach or hidden locations. Collecting all five in a single run (they reset if you fall between letters) is a required goal for level completion. Finding all letters in every level is necessary for 100% completion and unlocks rewards.
Is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 a remake of this game?
Yes — Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 (2020, Vicarious Visions) is a full remake combining the first two games with completely updated graphics, expanded trick systems, and online multiplayer. It recreates every level from both original games faithfully while modernizing the visual presentation. It was extremely well-received and is considered the definitive way to experience the early games today.
What was Tony Hawk's involvement with the game?
Tony Hawk was a direct collaborator in the game's development, providing input on tricks, course design, and character authenticity. He also completed the legendary '900' trick (two-and-a-half aerial rotations) at the 1999 X Games just months before the game's launch — an event that massively raised his profile and the game's cultural timing couldn't have been better.
