This 2000 Classic Was Ranked the Best Sports Video Game Ever

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was ranked the best sports video game ever made by Bleacher Report.

Released on Sept. 19, 2000 for the original PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast, and Game Boy Color, Pro Skater 2 predates the era of modern graphics and online multiplayer gameplay. It even predates the original Xbox.

Bleacher Report named the title No. 1 for its seamlessly meshed elements, from its elegant control scheme to its addicting gameplay to its legendary soundtrack. "In many ways, THPS2 brings together everything that makes the rest of the games on this list so great," they wrote.

The game also combined open-world exploration with goal-oriented sports gameplay. "The levels in THPS2 were huge and open to exploration, where working your way onto the roof of the School felt like you were actually skating outside of the level, getting a blissful few seconds to look down on the beauty that Neversoft had created before smashing back to the concrete," wrote a reviewer for EuroGamer. "We were going places we had never been before."

Like all the games in the Pro Skater series, Pro Skater 2's soundtrack was just as iconic as the game itself. Featuring bands like Papa Roach and Rage Against the Machine with that unmistakable late '90s rock sound, the music cultivated a vibe that made the game's world so immersive. "What game had the best soundtrack and why was it Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2?" one person asked on Reddit in 2023, cementing the soundtrack's staying power.

Some songs, like Papa Roach's "Blood Brothers," became big just from being featured in the game. In January, the band uploaded a video to Instagram of guitarist Jerry Horton playing the song on his couch while gameplay footage plays above his head. "Who discovered P Roach from playing [Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2]?" the caption read.

from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/VTEgO7W