In 1986, the world’s first skateboarding video game was released. Since then, the gaming genre has progressed to the point that it is difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction.
A lot has changed in the world of video gaming. All you had at first were pixelated characters and low-resolution objects and environments.
Modern console video games are being generated in 4K resolution and can more accurately simulate body movements, architecture, and weather patterns than ever before.
Best Skateboarding Games have evolved alongside gaming technology, with photorealism and virtual reality becoming industry standards.
In less than 30 years, the titles have progressed from riding a digital skateboard on a single-colored surface to flying through the air at a virtual indoor skate-park.
Today, Best Skateboarding Games are available for PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, PC and Mac computers, as well as iOS and Android mobile devices.
We can take a gaming controller and play a skateboard game on the couch, or we may play it on our smartphone while traveling to work.
We’ll highlight the greatest skateboarding games to play in 2022, including the top Best Skateboarding Games for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, in this list.
We’ll be adding new titles to this list in the future, so check back and let us know if we missed any of your favorite Best Skateboarding Games.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2(Best Skateboarding Games)
Platforms: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
It’s, of course, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2. And, sure, we are guilty of ranking the double-barrel package first. But, let’s be honest, both skate chapters absolutely ooze replay-ability and nostalgia, with each level striking multiple chords from our childhood, what with its distinctive setups and hidden locales.
The bottom line is that both Pro Skater 1 and 2 are deserving of a spot on this list; we just can’t decide which to crown as overall champion. As a result, we declare the remastered collection to be the best skateboarding game of all time.
Of course, this bundle would not have existed if the original Pro Skater chapter had not been released in 1999. And it’s because of this that we’re immediately drawn back to the origins of the classic skate series.
Pro Skater is all you could expect in a Best Skateboarding Games and more. Pro Skater had it all, from the fast-paced trick sets to the checklist of adrenaline-fueled tasks, the iconic hidden collectibles to the punk rock/hip hop soundtrack. Then there are some.
Session
Platforms: Windows, Xbox One
Try Session if you want an entirely different experience than Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series. It’s a slick skateboard simulator that’s only accessible on PC and foregoes a lot of fun in exchange for mind-blowing authenticity. A simple kick flip necessitates great dexterity, and the learning curve is as severe as a half pipe.
Unlike Tony Hawk titles and EA’s Skate Series, the playable environment in Session is a very accurate recreation of a small piece of Manhattan: no vert ramps or suspiciously skate able cargo crates here.
It’s a great and stunning addition to the genre, but it’s just too difficult for anyone except the most dedicated skaters.
Skater XL
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Skater XL has generated more hype than any other Best Skateboarding Games in a decade (save for Tony Hawk’s impending remastered game) despite the fact that it hasn’t even been launched yet (it’s scheduled for a July release).
The precision and elegance are similar to Session, but PC early access users think the mechanism is more rewarding and intuitive, with a joystick controlling each foot.
There are 60 skate places in the real world to shred at, and an online community is already growing.
It’s a Best Skateboarding Games for the current console generation, something we haven’t seen before (looking at you, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5).
Wave Break
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
We ask that you stick with us on this next suggestion and also broaden your definition of skateboarding to include animals doing skate tricks on tiny boats.
Wave Break is a frantic, joyful arcade Best Skateboarding Games in which you grind, kick-flip, and blast your way through bright levels inspired by 1980s pop culture.
It has a single-player narrative, online/local multiplayer, different modes like Trick Attack and Park Creator, and character/boat customization to show off your abilities and style.
Tanuki Sunset
Platform: Windows
Tanuki Sunset, which continues the neon-heavy vaporware design, has you guiding a skillful skateboarding raccoon as they ride down highways evading traffic and pulling off incredible stunts.
Instead of a fast boat, you get a long-board with the ability to drift around corners to dodge hazards and rack up points.
While there aren’t many new game types, there are a number of places to explore and plenty of cosmetics to let your raccoon stand out.
RoboSkate
Platform: Windows
If you can accept skateboarding raccoons, then a robot linked to a skateboard is a far simpler concept to grasp, albeit nothing about RoboSkate is as simple.
It’s billed as a physics-based puzzle game in which you navigate elevated 3D stages as a one-armed robot permanently glued to a skateboard.
Much of the difficulty in RoboSkate comes from shifting your weight to maintain balance and devising inventive ways to manoeuvre the robot’s arm to climb ledges and over gaps.
Skate City
Platforms: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
Skate City, arguably the chilliest game on this list, sends players on a journey across Oslo, Barcelona, and Los Angeles in search of the perfect skate session. In this 2.5D skateboarding game, players can spend hours rocking to lo-fi tunes as they progress through each city.
Though Skate City was initially designed for the iPhone, pulling off stunts with a flick of the joystick feels ideal for a game like this.The finest part about skateboarding, it is commonly believed, is showing off your highlights.
Skate City has in-game recording capabilities to ensure that your best moments are documented; regulate the speed of clips, zoom in with the camera, and even switch to the iconic fisheye lens for the best view of the action. Skate City allows you the flexibility to enjoy the fundamentals of skating, whether you wish to conquer challenges or relax in the free skate mode.
Griptape Backbone
Platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac
Griptape Backbone is the next project from indie developer Steven Hammon Games. It’s less of a classic arcade skater and more of an interactive adventure with skateboard navigation.
With plenty of gameplay experimentation, the game leans strongly into the vaporwave style and focuses on themes relating to teen angst, the purpose of life, and the inevitability of death.
As you explore Griptape Backbone’s weird, strongly stylized open-world, you’ll be accompanied by a wonderful vaporwave soundtrack.
Skater Frog
Platforms: Windows, Mac
If you thought we were done with skateboarding animals, hold on tight because we’re about to embark on a lengthy journey.
Our next choice, thankfully, is available for free on Steam and features a cool-looking frog that can hop on grind rails and do kick flips as long as you remember to jump over obstacles in the way.
As a shoe and hat-wearing amphibian, you’ll traverse colourful, graffiti-laden 2D stages while pulling off stunts and dodging beach balls and piles of rubbish in Skater Frog.
Skatebird
Platforms: Windows, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
This game-in-the-making is about a bird on a small board with a big heart, and it’s easily the most wholesome inclusion on the list. Your Big Friend has hung up their skateboard for good and is stuck in a dead-end job they despise, according to the pitch.
You’ll assemble a temporary park out of staplers, rulers, and other odds and ends you can find around the room to cheer them up. Your following on Tweeter (geddit?) develops as your skills improve, resulting in more skater birds visiting your park.
The game’s developer, Glassbottom Games, promises on Steam that it’ll be more like the Tony Hawk games than Skate, which means less skill-intensive gameplay that’s more about the thrill of skating itself. If the calm jazz in the trailer is any indication, this appears to be a peaceful game into which you’ll be able to sink several runs. Skatebird will be released on September 16th.
Epic Skater 2
Platforms: Windows, iOS, Android
Epic Skater 2 is a 2.5D arcade skating game with platforming action powered by a combo-based trick system, inspired by the legendary THPS games.
Many classic Tony Hawk tricks, like as wallplants, acid drops, and spine transfers, are included.
Epic Skater 2 includes 40 handcrafted courses, as well as an infinite amount of procedural generated levels and over 2000 Career mode tasks to put your shredding abilities to the ultimate test.
OlliOlli World
Platforms: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
OlliOlli World is the evolution of Roll7’s beloved series, providing players with a wider sandbox complete with a colourful cast, side missions, and nasty trick opportunities. Radlandia’s universe is ready for beginners and seasoned skaters to rip up. There are over 100 tricks to learn, a Leagues system for competitive players, and a whole new sandbox mode with plenty of opportunity to express yourself.
OlliOlli 2 increased the difficulty of the game, whereas OlliOlli World is more welcoming to novice players. OlliOlli is famed for its sophisticated combo system, and that hasn’t changed instead of tumbling down after a bad trick, you’ll land, but you won’t gain as many points.
New gamers can take use of it without taking anything away from the hardcore OlliOlli fans.
And there you have it, the best skateboard games to entice any Sk8er dude or dudette. They may not be as plentiful and rapid as they were in the early 2000s, when companies like EA and Activision were pumping them out. Thankfully, a slew of small developers are keeping the genre alive and wanting to leave their imprint on it.
Skate Story
Platform: Windows
To say the least, everything we’ve seen of Skate Story has been trippy. This game is equal parts skateboarding and art – each scene appears to be from an arthouse film. Skate Story is currently under wraps; we’ve only seen a few glances of the game since its first reveal last year, but each time it has impressed.
The controls work similarly to the Skate series, relying primarily on joysticks to perform skateboard moves. Skate Story’s lack of a Steam page leads us to believe that the game is still in its early stages of development. If you want to stay up to date on the game, the developer tweets about it on a semi-regular basis.
Skate 2
Platform: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
Skate, properly called, is one of the most well-known Best Skateboarding Games series, and 2009’s Skate 2 carried things even farther. The game provided a large map and fantastic action for players to immerse themselves in while aiming to pull off the largest stunts imaginable.
Skate 2’s ability to modify different areas throughout the terrain to set up fantastic tricks and stunts was a unique feature. Move that rail or that dumpster, line them up, and then pull off a series of stunts to get the highest possible score.
Skate 3
After spending a significant amount of time with Neversoft and their pipeline of overdone skate hits in the early 2000s, players quickly began to embrace the desire for something a little more realistic, with physics that dared to return to the basics.
And, rather than having a stage where practically anything was achievable with the press of a few buttons, players wanted to feel the true difficulties that came with learning the fundamentals of skating. And, happily, this was around the time EA released the Skate trilogy.
While the first two chapters of Skate brought a lot to the table, EA undoubtedly hit on something far bigger with the series’ third and final installment. Skate 3 formed an all-around package with components carried over from previous entries, going on to become one of the best and most lifelike Best Skateboarding Games experiences ever seen in a video game.
Even now, as we welcome dozens of newcomers to the genre, EA’s beloved trilogy remains one of the best extreme sports games of all time.
Skate 4
Platforms: TBA
It still blows my mind that fans were able to will Skate 4 into life by spamming EA’s forums with comments asking a new entry in the previously dormant game for years.
Although Skate 4 is technically more of a reboot than a sequel, it is still in its early stages of production, so there is no telling what shape it will eventually take.
Tony Hawk’s Underground
Platform: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Mobile, GameCube, Xbox, and Gameboy Advance
While some claim that the Pro Skater series might have carried the Best Skateboarding Games platform for all eternity, Neversoft struggled to reproduce the joy of the first two chapters, resulting in a somewhat lacklustre third and fourth chapters.
Thankfully, despite its ground-breaking sales figures, the skate kingpin veered from the worn-out formula and created a fresh outline for the Hawk Empire; one that would go on to build the basis for every subsequent release.
Tony Hawk’s Underground was the first game in the series to allow players to jump on and off the board while still maintaining the best-selling skate physics that propelled the Pro Skater timeline. Overall, Underground crammed everything gamers loved into one very long storey, with far more than two-minute skate sessions to keep players occupied.
Tony Hawk’s Underground presented a nicely packed storey that went on to be bookmarked by all gamers and skate lovers alike, from rags to riches, scuffed deck to iconic trucks.