Skate Series

With Activision dominating the skateboarding game genre for so long, it seemed as if noone could step up to the challenge.  That was before EA games developed a new game called Skate in 2007 selling more than Activision's Tony Hawk's Skater by a ratio almost 2 to 1. One of the reasons the game is so successful is probably the great gameplay. To pull off tricks the player is required to use the thumb sticks in a way that really feels like you were doing an ollie or kickflip. For example a player would have to control the characters foot by sliding the thumbstick towards the top left or right edge of the deck to pull off a kickflip or heelflip.  This kind of realistic gameplay made it fun and challanging to land flip tricks, grind rails or air out of transitions.

 Each game in the Skate series has great gameplay, soundtracks and character customization options, I would definitely recommend playing all three.