Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (Sony PlayStation 2, 2001)

Not only is that quote by Selema Masekela true of the sport, it is also true of this game. The graphics are very detailed and jaw-dropping at points. Wait till you see the airport level...wow!

I just got through playing the game for several hours and am thoroughly impressed! Adding to the level of detail and realism are new animations, including some wicked looking falls, which can make you wince and even laugh. There is also a big increase in interaction with the more background elements. Certain levels' goals call for the player to directly get involved with people who are standing around watching you. When you get to the point where you have to free Chuck from his painful predicament, you'll laugh out loud. Then, when you meet up with him later, you'll laugh even harder. There is also quite a bit of talking by the background characters, both to themselves and directly to the player. Even some of the messages upon bailing are funny!

As far as the skaters themselves, everyone from Pro Skater 2 is present, with the exception of Bob Burnquist, who has been replaced with Bam Margera. Every character has tons of tricks, which can be hand-picked by the player if he/she so desires. Another thing that will help players is the ability to increase or decrease certain stats at will. This can be very helpful if certain objectives require a higher level of a certain skill.

Gigantic combos, bigger than ever before, are now possible. The addition of the revert can allow a player to continue a string of tricks once they've landed after going up a ramp. The revert can then be turned into a manual, which can be used to reach a rail, gap, etc...thus creating very long strings of tricks. Those who are fleet of thumb will be impressed at the scores they can rack up in a very short amount of time.

With the ease of combining tricks, you can even take a guy like Rodney Mullen, who combines old-school freestyle with new school street skating, and semi-successfully re-create some of the runs you see him do in such videos as Rodney Mullen vs. Daewon Song, Parts I & II. I was quickly doing truckstands to caspers/anti-caspers to rail flips, etc...with my eyes bugging out of my head all the while. It looks so real!

Basically, this is a perfect game. The best skateboarding game ever created. Even if you can't stand the sport of skateboarding itself, I can't see how any video game player would not have fun with this game, especially since it is so easy to get into, with excellent controls and even a tutorial, with voiceovers by tony himself. Even though this game will be released on other systems, they would have to do something incredibly drastic to improve on this version. It is an absolute masterpiece. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION POSSIBLE!

This was one of my favorite games back in the early days of the PS2. The variety of locations to skate and missions to complete make this a super-fun game to play. The controls are responsive, the graphics stand the test of time, the soundtrack is awesome and the unlockable characters give the game a very high replay value (considering you don't use cheats to unlock them all at once). If you can find a new copy of this game, you must BUY IT!!!

This is a great skating game. Fun, controls well, good graphics, great soundtrack, not too hard to learn, but with plenty of options and levels, you won't get bored anytime soon. This is the most fun I've had playing a skating game since 720, many years ago. Has easily become the number one free-time activity in my house.

Great game by Tony Hawk!!!! I hear that 4 is a lot better for many reasons. However, I would play this game BEFORE playing 4.

It's not easy. It builds on itself and you have to constantly outdo yourself and your scores.

There are many tricks, levels, and characters (as well as, building your own character).

Get it if you like skateboarding games or just the sport.

5 out of 5!!!! Awesome game!!!!

For an old tony hawk game this is a great one because the music is good, the skaters are and I like that you can create your own skater. The graphics are decent and the multi player mode is awesome.