kateboarding has grown incredibly over the last few decades, and along with it, the digital representation of the sport. Where most sports just evolve by changing rules or upgrading equipment, skateboarding has grown both by skaters feeding off of each others energy and individuals driving to better themselves as riders. It’s a sport that is mainly fueled by creativity. Because of this, it’s difficult to capture both the riding and culture of skateboarding in mainstream media – including games. But as years go by, technology gets better and new doors are opened for developers. Following our coverage of Skate It, we decided to take a look back at the history of Skateboarding video games and how they’ve grown.

The Early Years
When video games really started to kick off in the 80’s, it coincided with one of skateboarding’s high points. Movies like Gleaming the Cube brought the culture to the big screen and skaters like Tony Hawk were just getting started. Because of that, companies saw a chance to capitalize on the trends by bringing them together. One of the first dedicated skateboarding games was 720° from Atari Games. This arcade game featured a skateboarder that had to perform tricks to advance the game. Failure to compete would result in a swarm of bees attacking the rider. Set in a decidedly middle America suburb with a skate-rat twist, players could openly explore the neighborhood and find one of four skate parks to ride and compete in. The goal of the game was to perform the ultimate trick, two spins in the air also know as a 720 – the game’s namesake.

In its aftermath, EA stepped up with the now legendary title Skate or Die. In it, players would compete in five different events featuring everything from rap contests to downhill races. The game also introduced Rodney Recloose (a Rodney Dangerfield clone) and his son Bionic Lester, two colorful characters still known by any gamer who spent more than five minutes with the title. The game would go on to be successful enough to get a sequel in 1990 in the form of Skate or Die 2. The name of the game would go on to become legendary within the skateboarding industry.

Skate or Die and 720°

Within the same timeline as Skate or Die, a miniature explosion of smaller budget games popped up, a majority of which landed on the Commodore 64. Some of the other games that hit the scene were Rollerboarding, Skateboarding, Skateboard Sam and Cheap Skate.

16-bit, A Skateless Generation
Aside from a few games that featured skateboarding segments like California Games 2, skating video games suffered the same fate as skateboarding itself – a huge lull in popularity. During this time, skateboarding was undergoing a huge transformation. No longer were the riders seeing how many times they could spin on one wheel but instead, pushing themselves to ride bigger handrails and execute smoother fliptricks. Because of this, systems like Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo went an entire console lifespan without a respectable skateboarding game. This silence would be broken when Sony put their hat into the console market.

An Icon Becomes a Legend
While the arcades were burning it up with Top Skater, a cabinet game from Sega that actually allowed players to stand on a board, Activision was working on what would later become a video game mainstay. When the Sony PlayStation was released; a whole new way of looking at games was born. The 3D graphics thought only available on an expensive computer had made it to the living room in an affordable console. In 1999, Tony Hawk landed a 900 at the Summer X Games and the landscape of both skateboarding and skating games changed forever. With that, Activision released Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, a near perfect blend of arcade gameplay and skateboard style and became an instant classic.

“Believe it or not, Pro Skater 1 started out as a mostly downhill racing/skating hybrid.” explains Scott Pease, director of development at Neversoft. “There just wasn't a precedent for a game that was about ‘tricks’ and sessioning areas. In fact, people were scared of that idea. All anyone knew was Coolboarders and Top Skater. So there was a point during development where we took the risk, and stopped making more downhill levels and started making more open, skatepark-like environments that you could really explore. Out of that came the idea of lines and combos, etc. That was a critical point. If we had stuck to ‘racing,’ THPS might have been one and done. There might not be a Tony Hawk franchise worth talking about.”

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2

Tony Hawk became a household name and his game became a series. Spawning nine console titles and countless spin-off and handheld versions, Pro Skater even contributed to new kids picking up a skateboard and trying out the real thing.

But the Birdman’s game wasn’t the only contender around that time. Many other skateboarding titles popped up within a year of each other. EA decided to get back into the skateboarding market by publishing Micro Cabin’s Street Sk8er, but it failed to impress or make an impact. Grind Session and MTV Sports: Skateboarding featuring Andy Macdonald also hit the scene around that time but skaters sill latched onto the Tony Hawk bandwagon. The only game that could be noted as a real contender was Z-Axis’ Thrasher: Skate and Destroy which was published by Rockstar. The game did not share the sales of Activision’s hit but was well received by both game critics and the skateboarding industry because of its attention to detail and sim-style play.