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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchThere is no objective winner: the best Tony Hawk game depends on whether you want tight timed challenges, deep combo-building, a story, or a newer version that is easy to play today. This ranking covers the main console and PC releases, handheld and mobile games, and major spin-offs, but not ports, compilations, or remasters as separate entries. It weighs controls and trick systems, level design, how well each game’s central idea works, replayability today, and historical impact; nostalgia matters, but does not decide the order by itself.
Every Tony Hawk game ranked
The order runs from the weakest fit for its own ambitions to the strongest overall game. Spin-offs are judged on what they set out to do, not simply penalized for departing from the Pro Skater formula.
17. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5
Pro Skater 5 returns to the familiar park-and-combo structure, but the series’ core appeal depends on precise, responsive control and satisfying level flow. This entry is difficult to recommend over the stronger classic games or their remakes. Its place at the bottom is about the overall package, not the size of its soundtrack: Tony Hawk’s comments about the soundtrack, relayed by PlayStation LifeStyle in 2018, addressed its scale and budget context rather than endorsing the game’s quality.
16. Tony Hawk: Ride
Ride made the skateboard peripheral the point: players stood on a board-shaped controller rather than using a conventional gamepad. That is a genuine change in how the game asks you to play, but it also makes the experience dependent on specialized hardware and movement controls rather than the quick, exact button inputs that make combo lines easy to refine. It is an interesting experiment, not the best entry for learning the series.
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#1 Best Overall
- Get hyped for the legendary franchise to return with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4. Revamped with more skaters, new parks, gnarlier tricks, eardrum shattering music, plus a whole lot more.
- Reunite the crew with cross-platform online Multiplayer** for up to 8 skaters in new and returning game modes, as well as expanded Create-A-Skater and Create-A-Park modes where you can create and share custom goals with friends for the first time!
- Whether you’re a total casual or a grungy pro, the same smooth handling and simple-to-learn controls from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 will have you shredding like a Pro.
- Shred harder than ever with more challenging goals and an enhanced New Game+ mode.
15. Tony Hawk: Shred
Shred continues the peripheral-led approach and shifts further toward an accessible, action-oriented experience. Its distinct premise gives it a reason to exist, but it is not a substitute for the precision and replayable challenge of the strongest Pro Skater games. Like Ride, its appeal is narrowest for players who specifically want to use the board controller.
14. Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam
Downhill Jam is a racing-focused spin-off rather than a conventional skatepark score attack. That makes its goals easier to understand than a standard combo challenge, but its downhill courses and race-first structure offer less of the open-ended line planning that defines the series at its best. Choose it for the change of pace, not as the definitive Tony Hawk experience.
13. Tony Hawk’s Motion
This Nintendo DS entry built around motion controls makes hardware interaction central to the experience. The idea is unusual, but it does not deliver the same dependable control depth as the best gamepad entries. It is mainly of interest to players curious about the franchise’s handheld and control experiments.
12. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3D
Pro Skater 3D brought the series to Nintendo 3DS, but a handheld format and its own control compromises make it a less satisfying way to play than the more complete versions of the classic games. Its value is portability and historical curiosity rather than a top-tier series campaign.
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- Comes with exclusives like the Limited Edition Full Size Birdhouse Wings Skateboard Deck, and Digital Deluxe Edition Content which includes Doom Slayer and Revenant playable skaters, Create-A-Skater skate decks, bonus songs, and much more!
- Get hyped for the legendary franchise to return with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4. Revamped with more skaters, new parks, gnarlier tricks, eardrum shattering music, plus a whole lot more.
- Reunite the crew with cross-platform online Multiplayer*** for up to 8 skaters in new and returning game modes, as well as expanded Create-A-Skater and Create-A-Park modes where you can create and share custom goals with friends for the first time!
- Whether you’re a total casual or a grungy pro, the same smooth handling and simple-to-learn controls from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 will have you shredding like a Pro.
11. Tony Hawk’s Underground 2: Remix
This PSP version adapts Underground 2’s story-and-chaos approach for handheld play. The source game’s irreverent objectives and freedom to leave the board are a welcome contrast to traditional score runs, though the portable adaptation is not the strongest way to experience that design. It belongs on a broad list of distinct releases, but not above the more fully realized console entries.
10. Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land
American Sk8land is a handheld take on the series for Nintendo DS, distinct enough to deserve a place when “every game” includes handheld releases. It translates the familiar skating structure to a portable context, but the small-screen, handheld presentation is a more limited way to enjoy the level and combo design than the console games. WatchMojo’s ranking explicitly excluded handheld entries such as this one, illustrating why rankings need a stated scope.
9. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 (mobile)
The mobile edition adapts the second game’s iconic structure for phone play. It offers a compact route to its familiar goals, but mobile controls are a meaningful trade-off for a game built around exact timing and chained inputs. It is included here as a distinct release, not as a replacement for the original or the modern collection.
8. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
The original established the formula: compact parks, timed objectives, and the urge to turn a short run into a better line. It remains historically essential, and its straightforward structure is easy to grasp. Later entries expanded the trick vocabulary and level possibilities, however, so newcomers may find the first game less flexible than its sequels.
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Rank #3
![Tony Hawk's™ Pro Skater™ 3 + 4 – Standard Edition – Nintendo Switch 2 [Code in box]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51TbNrO-2BL._SL160_.jpg)
- Get hyped for the legendary franchise to return with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4. Revamped with more skaters, new parks, gnarlier tricks, eardrum shattering music, plus a whole lot more.
- Reunite the crew with cross-platform online multiplayer* for up to 8 skaters in new and returning game modes, as well as expanded Create-A-Skater and Create-A-Park modes where you can create and share custom goals with friends for the first time!
- Drop in to new parks or tear it up across the timeless classics from both Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 & Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4, authentically remade in jaw dropping HD resolution with streamlined goals and the epic 2-minute format.
- Whether you’re a total casual or a grungy pro, the same smooth handling and simple-to-learn controls from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 will have you shredding like a Pro.
7. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4
Pro Skater 4 loosens the earlier timed-run structure with larger environments and objectives encountered while exploring. That shift gives players more room to roam and discover tasks, though it changes the brisk rhythm that makes the first games so immediately replayable. It is a strong bridge between classic score chasing and the more expansive design that followed.
6. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3
Pro Skater 3 sharpens the classic structure with strong parks and the series’ increasingly expressive combo possibilities. Its timed goals keep runs focused while leaving room to improve routes and scores through repeated play. It is one of the best examples of the original formula, even if later games offer more variety in how to approach a session.
5. Tony Hawk’s Underground
Underground gives the series a created-skater career and a story-driven progression, and lets players get off the board. Those choices make it feel like a substantial change from the park-and-score template rather than a simple sequel. Its appeal is strongest for players who want progression and personality alongside skating; it is less purely focused than the tightest score-attack entries.
4. Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground
Proving Ground is a later, more expansive entry that gives players different ways to shape their skating career and approach the world. It has more ambition than a straight return to compact parks, but its broader design does not always have the same effortless focus as the best classic levels. It earns its place for the range of ideas and the way it extends the series’ freer, story-oriented period.
Rank #4
![ACTIVISION Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 [video game]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41lmnz51wNL._SL160_.jpg)
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3. Tony Hawk’s Project 8
Project 8 pursued more grounded movement and a different sense of physicality from the arcade-style games. That experiment gives it a distinct identity, but a more deliberate feel is not automatically better for the fast, repeatable combo-building many players come to the series for. It ranks highly for trying to evolve the skating rather than simply repeat it, while remaining a matter of taste against the more immediately responsive classics.
2. Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland
American Wasteland builds on the story-and-exploration direction, emphasizing a connected world and the ability to move between skating and on-foot activity. Its identity is more about a continuous adventure than isolated park sessions, making it one of the clearest alternatives to the Pro Skater format. Players seeking a focused score challenge may prefer the top-ranked entry, but this is the strongest choice here for a broader, story-led skateboarding game.
1. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
Pro Skater 2 is the most complete expression of the classic loop: learn a level, set goals, link tricks into longer combos, and return to make a run cleaner or more ambitious. It balances approachability with enough depth to reward practice, and its compact design makes replay feel purposeful rather than simply repetitive. Its influence is part of its legacy, but the decisive reason to rank it first is that its central play remains so compelling.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which Tony Hawk game should you play first?
For most newcomers, start with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2. Activision describes it as an HD rebuild of the first two games, and it provides a current route into the classic timed goals and combo-driven skating. If you want a more modern collection of the numbered classics, Pro Skater 3 + 4 is another option; Activision lists it as released July 11, 2025. Store availability and editions can vary by region and platform, so check the relevant storefront before buying.
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How to choose by what you want from the series
- For classic score goals and repeatable runs: Start with Pro Skater 2, or the 1 + 2 collection if you want a modern way to play the first two.
- For a story and a created-skater career: Try Underground, then American Wasteland if you want a more connected, exploration-oriented world.
- For a racing detour: Downhill Jam is the clearest change of pace.
- For hardware experiments: Ride and Shred are built around a skateboard-shaped peripheral, so confirm you have compatible hardware before choosing them.
- For the first four numbered games on current platforms: The 1 + 2 and 3 + 4 collections cover those entries in pairs; neither collection represents the whole franchise.
What counts as “every” Tony Hawk game?
Published lists use different boundaries. DBLTAP’s July 2025 ranking weighs original impact and satisfaction on a return visit, while WatchMojo limits its scope to console mainline games developed by Neversoft and Robomodo and excludes handheld releases such as American Sk8land. This list uses a broader release-based rule: distinct handheld, mobile, and spin-off games are included, while ports and bundled remasters do not receive duplicate slots. The precise count can vary if a list treats regional versions or platform adaptations as separate games.
How the ranking weighs the series’ different eras
The games are not all trying to do the same thing. Pro Skater emphasizes timed goals and score-building; Underground and American Wasteland lean into story, progression, and getting off the board; Downhill Jam is a race; Ride and Shred center a peripheral; Project 8 explores more grounded movement. This ranking rewards a game when its controls, levels, and objectives work together, while also considering how satisfying it is to revisit. That is why a focused classic can rank above a more ambitious experiment without making the experiment pointless.
Current collections and access
Activision lists Pro Skater 1 + 2 as released September 4, 2020, with listings for PS5, Xbox One, PS4, PC/Steam, and Nintendo Switch; its support information also names Xbox Series X|S and PC storefronts. Pro Skater 3 + 4 is listed for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC storefronts, while its official site also names Nintendo Switch 2. Exact storefront options can differ by territory. The official 3 + 4 page advertises cross-platform online multiplayer, new parks, more skaters, expanded Create-A-Park with custom goals, and a Digital Deluxe edition; do not assume every character or feature is included in every edition. Its Game Pass availability is also subject to catalog changes by time, region, and device.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
