Way back in 2001, Activision continued to up the ante in the video game world with their third installment of the Tony Hawk series, once again giving wannabe skaters (like the 17-year-old version of myself) opportunities to skate even better than the pros.
While this third version wasn't a whole lot different than its predecessor in terms of game play, it did happen to be the first release of the franchise on Playstation 2 (this was the reason I begged my parents for a Playstation 2), and there were some awesome new levels. Who hadn't dreamt of skating around an airport or even a cruise ship? Well, maybe just those akin to skating.
Another thing that helped Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 become a great game was the addition of an awesome soundtrack. While the previous two games had included some quality tracks, Pro Skater 3 took it to another level with the much needed addition of some underground hip hop from Hieroglyphics member Del the Funky Homosapien, and everybody's favorite Irish rappers from Boston, House of Pain.
There also continued to be some skate-punk from the Australian band Bodyjar, who cut their teeth touring with punk veterans Pennywise. 80s punk heroes Adolescents also made it onto the soundtrack, with the dark sounds of AFI's "The Boy Who Destroyed the World" providing the perfect backdrop for competing with your friends for the highest trick combo score.
Before you go look to dust off your PS2 and manual into a varial kickflip, give a listen to some of the best songs the game had to offer.
