Top 50 Favorites: #48

The perfect Tony Hawk experience, one last beautiful swan song to a revolutionary video game series before immediately crippling in quality for over 15 years. Takes a snapshot of the mid-00s carefree punk surface without wallowing in the actual ugly filth of it - providing some of the most evocative, sumptuous levels in the entire franchise (nothing beats busting tricks on the Santa Monica pier by the seaside Ferris wheel while "What's Up Fatlip?" plays real chill in the background). Texturally almost dreamlike, wrapped up in an enchanting haze and sure the 'open world' is connected by loosely-disguised loading areas but the combos you can crank out between each of them are unreal and feel great to pull off. The progression system feels nuanced by the series' standards, the customization is rock-solid, I still think the story rules way more than it has any right to - with no shortage of lovable characters, endless quotables, and engaging narrative beats. Then it just goes and has one of the most fucking elite, top five in ALL of gaming soundtracks ever conceived - partially comprised of covers of classic punk songs by then-current bands specifically for this game, which all surpass the originals imo; along with top-tier bangers like "Unconditional", "Like Eating Glass", "Holiday"... oh man, it snaps right to the game's world like a fucking magnet - creating this unstoppable energy that's impossible to defeat. I don't care how many dozens of times I replay this, it just never ages on me - one of the best games of the 2000s. Period.