The games in the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, for all intents and purposes, shouldn't have been anywhere near as good as they all were: as a bunch of games that literally feature the name of a real-life person in their titles (when has that ever resulted in a tile of notable quality?), it seemed pretty doomed from the outset. And yet, as anybody who has ever played a game in the franchise will tell you, these brilliant, addictive and relentlessly fun titles have provided gamers with some of their ever best console-based memories. Really. What's more, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 - with its wonderful handling, rockin' soundtrack and epic side-missions - is often regarded as not only one of the best sports games ever, but one of the best games ever made in general. At one time, there really didn't seem like a better way to pass an afternoon than with this.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
