During my high school years there wasn’t anything cooler than the Tony Hawk games. Back in 1999 Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was a cultural phenomenon that helped put skateboarding on the map for many. Unfortunately, the series would eventually fall from grace and the last entry we are likely ever going to see is 2015’s abysmal Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5. Now in a recent interview with Noisey, the Birdman himself has taken a look back at his franchise and ranked each game according to their soundtrack!
13. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 512. Tony Hawk: Shred11. Tony Hawk: Ride10. Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam9. Tony Hawk’s Project 88. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 37. Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground6. Tony Hawk’s Underground 25. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 24. Tony Hawk’s Underground3. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 42. Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland1. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
“Whatever was connected to skating and my history of skating was my first go-to. Like, Dead Kennedys and Primus, those were top of the heap. It’s funny, because I threw out Dead Kennedys thinking there’s no way we could ever use a Dead Kennedys song because of the lyrics. And when they came back and said, ‘Oh, yeah, we can use Police Truck.’ I was like, ‘Did you guys listen to Police Truck? Do you know what they’re singing about?’”
Pro Skater understandably takes first place on this list and Hawk’s surprise by what Activision allowed was a wonderful tidbit into the games history. Personally I find this ranking of soundtracks to be mostly in line with my own. Though, I am surprised to see Pro Skater 3 ranked so low since it is my personal peak for the franchise in most regards. Regardless of personal feelings about the rankings, I think we can all agree that the Tony Hawk series has seen its share of fantastic soundtracks! Now if you will all excuse me I need to go listen to Superman by Gold Finger!