10 Reasons Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Soundtrack Was More Influential Than The Beatles

The THPS soundtrack was not only a masterful combination of top-tier anthems; it was also a trail-blazer when it came to video game backing music as a whole. Before the first game’s release, we were accustomed to the beloved yet simple 8-bit tunes of consoles past and half-assed, afterthought theme songs that had clearly been tacked on at the end of a game’s development in current-gen.

Then came the mavericks at Neversoft who reinvented the wheel, papped it on some trucks, bolted those to a deck, and landed a sick McTwist on it. Delivering banger after banger as the player skated through the game’s many iconic levels, these songs kept us glued to the game for hours, then had us begging our folks for a few Parental Advisory labelled CDs.

This soundtrack was so powerful that it’s one of the main identifying factors of the original game. This trend continued across all of the entries in the franchise, with games often being recognised by referencing the songs featured in them. This had never been seen before, and no franchise has done it better since.

Did The Beatles’ music even feature in a video game? Tree Hugger Simulator 2, perhaps? Precisely. The Beatles clearly had nothing but contempt for gamers.