Before Activision drove the Tony Hawk franchise into the ground with the painful peripheral-based Tony Hawk: Ride and Tony Hawk: Shred variants, the Birdman lent his name to some of the best skateboarding games ever seen. This was most true in the early days of the series, when the games were light on features, game modes€ fluff. The first release was a blast, although it was rough around the edges, a brilliant foundation for a follow-up where the development team found their mojo. We can't call Pro Skater 2 the most authentic rendition of skating - EA Black Box did a better job of translating certain aspects of the sport with their Skate franchise and it's dual analogue stick configuration - but it revolutionised skateboard gaming with its incredibly fluid gameplay. Relatively simple, focusing more on a feeling than on technical skill, transitioning between empty swimming pools, massive ramp constructions and rails to grind was handled with impeccable balance and style. It was fast but never reckless, your skater often sent reeling through the air to deadly heights only to carve back down the face of the half pipe with perfect grace. Even the PC version, which you might think would suffer with it's keyboard control, was sleek was a joy to play even without much experience. This syrupy flow, backed by a soundtrack oozing with cool, made Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 one of the most intuitive and delectably smooth games of its generation.
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
