20 PS2 Games That Prove It's The Best Console Ever

13. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

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It was America's sweethearts OPM who proclaimed that "Heaven is a Halfpipe", which is totally true if they meant "heaven is a halfpipe on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3".

Mechanically speaking, the sequel is absolute perfection. The previous release brought manuals into the fold, but this follow-up introduced reverts that allowed players to rack up insane combos and chain together tricks even on a halfpipe.

Every single move in the game is essential in keeping the gameplay as tight as possible, and while sequels would add more variety, a lot of it was simply fluff that didn’t fundamentally improve the core experience.

Grinding a rail, jumping into a manual and going up the pipe to pull off a McTwist only to hit the ground and do the whole thing again felt amazing, and had an incredible flow that no amount of Jackass-inspired humour could beat in future games.

If you don’t believe me, then just know it’s the highest-rated PS2 game of all time by critics, tied only with Grand Theft Auto III - an accolade it more than deserves.

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