1. Skate
Here's the thing; Tony Hawk's was a fantastic game, a point-in-time success that found its footing with a devoted demographic that championed its every move - but that's precisely why it's having such a hard time catching back on in 2015. By comparison, EA's treatment of the Skate series went from strength to strength. By the third instalment they were leaning a bit too heavily into the whole "Create a community and go digi-skating yourself!"-stuff, which personally seems antithetical to why gamers get so lost in these titles anyway - to avoid doing exactly that. Gameplay-wise the idea of flicking the right analogue stick to control the board directly was a masterstroke; something that has within it the perfect amount of pick up n' play, alongside a really huge depth of precision once you got a look at what more skilled players were capable of. Pulling off an Ollie, kickflip, forward flip or Christ Air all came with huge rewards and benefits for you as a player; you were literally learning how to skate trick-by-trick, the end result being a symbiotic sense of control that instilled just as much confidence as it did experimentation. It all combined to establish a mindset within every player of treating each rail, disused swimming pool, abandoned warehouse and more with a curious "Can I skate that?" mentality, and that alone, is exactly why it'll always have more to offer than Mr. Hawk. What extreme sports game would you rather have back than THPS 5? Let us know in the comments!