What are the best ‘skateboard games online’?
I remember as a teenager that when it rained, snowed or was just simply windy beyond control that I was stuck indoors and I couldn’t get out to skate. There was zero local indoor skate parks worth travelling to in my local area, so I would resort to playing the good old Tony Hawks Pro Skateboarder games. However, these were great skateboarding games, but they lacked that community feel that you get when you hang out with fellow skaters. With easier access to technology now and the ability to go online, the question I’m left asking now, is, can I play skateboard games online with fellow skateboarders? The answer is yes!
History of skateboard games?
There’s been many skateboard games over the years, with possibly the most famous series coming from Tony Hawk and the developers behind his games. The first release being in 1999 by Neversoft and coming out on the Playstation (1), but the PS1 couldn’t go online. Then the Playstation 2 could go online, but it was limited functionality and games. If I remember correctly online gaming started to explode in the mid 2000s and it started on PC’s but the consoles were not far behind. By the time we hit PS3 and definitely on the PS4 we had online gaming and it was a major component. Therefore playing skateboard games online was starting to become a possibility. If you fancy exploring other skateboard games, I have a list of PlayStation skateboard games here.
Community feel missing from games?
Why would you want to play skateboard games online anyway? Well I personally felt that once you got tired of the soundtrack in the game, you needed some input from friends (all huddled around one TV with a couple or remotes, or online). They added a new dimension to the skateboard games, for example you could have a gaming session and see who could pull off the greatest skateboard trick (highscore), you could just chill and cruise around chatting etc. This was missing from my childhood for the skateboard games, so online accessibility came as a good addition.
Current skateboard games online?
So what skateboard games can actually be played online? Lets start off by explaining that online can mean many different things, from multiple players on the same map at the same time, through to simply downloading new maps, posting to communal score boards or having a chat room in the game.
Skater XL
Skater XL is the first in my list of online skateboard games. In the Steam listing (see the link below), it highlights that it is possible to play Skater XL in an online Co-Op play style. This is available on the PC, Xbox One and PS4.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/962730/Skater_XL__The_Ultimate_Skateboarding_Game/
SKATE 3
Available on the PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, this is one skateboard game that can function nicely online. There is a nice online multiplayer mode. The gamestop page below highlights that you can go multiplayer online with 2-6 players. This should be enough for your crew.
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 + 2
The classic Tony Hawk series is now also online multiplayer, but I’m not 100% sure of it’s functionality. ShackNews actually has an article about this, so I think if you want to know how does Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1+2 work online, I’d advise reading their article. I’ve dropped the link below. https://www.shacknews.com/article/120239/how-to-play-with-friends-tony-hawks-pro-skater-1-2#:~:text=You%20can%20have%20up%20to,your%20closest%20friends%20and%20rivals.
For the moment it looks like these are the main two that can go online. Hopefully Session: Skate Sim will join them in the future because there seems to be some demand for this. We will wait and see.
Therefore it’s fair to say that multiple platforms across multiple games, it is possible to play skateboard games online. The primary gameplay mode for this is multiplayer online, and it looks like it’s something that will stay around for quite some time.
