Move over Tony Hawk, the new kid has rolled into town. Tony Hawk Pro Skater has dominated the skateboard genre for nearly 10 years. I don’t think you can even call it a genre because the Tony Hawk series is pretty much the only skating game made. Only thing I can think of that comes close is Agressive Inline and that was years ago.

For me (and many people) the TH series is stale and boring. The 9th console game is coming out very soon and even though they have managed to add more stuff to do (there is a mindboggling amount of tricks you can do, they expanded the “Nail the Trick” mechanic that was introduced in Project 8 ) it feels like more of the same. Grind for 700 feet, jump over a helicopter and then grind for another mile and a half.

So skate finally comes out (I think I first saw it in early 2006) and has pretty much reinvented the skate game. It’s more the compeition for Tony Hawk, it’s the champion. The control scheme is totally different (use the control sticks to do just about everything) and the skating is much more reality based. The learning curve is steep, but once you understand it you’re in for a great experience. The flow and feel of skating is truly amazing (it helps that the game looks and animates so well). Landing some crazy line is an accomplishment and a true reward. You can edit replays which is really cool and then share them with people on the internet. The community should be huge for this one and it looks like it’s going to be a smash because I had to go to 3 stores to find it.

It’s a bit more limiting than Tony Hawk (can’t leave your board to run up to a spot, there are no flatland or lip tricks) but it’s definitely the better game. Highly recommended.