Altered Skateboarding

The are quite a few online skateboarding games out there. I decided to try out as many as I could find and see how they stood up. Most of them, as it turned out, were horrible. Anything on this list that rates below a 3.0 really isn’t worth trying at all. Out of all of these games, the only three I’d play again are the three that scored the best.

Game Gecko - 1.5 / 5.0
A simple and boring game.

Thrash N’ Burn Skateboarding - 1.5 / 5.0
Lots of glitches here. The controls and camera angles are bad, making it hard to enjoy.

California Skateboarding - 2.0 / 5.0
This is more like an interactive flash movie than a game. Might be worth checking out once, but the game part of it isn’t good.

Stan Skates - 2.0 / 5.0
The controls are easy to learn. The gameplay is boring and repetitive.

Yard Trix - 2.0 / 5.0
I read the instructions several times but I couldn’t get the pumping to work properly. After a couple runs back and forth I’d slow down and get stuck on the flat bottom. The game looks well put together. If you figure out how to get some speed it might be fun.

Rooftop Skater - 2.5 / 5.0
The learning curve is a little hard. A nice thing about this game is you can pick up a lot of speed and really get going. Lots of tricks and combo possibilities as well.

Skate Park - 2.5 / 5.0
This game is a little bland, but the game play seems solid enough. It’s not full of glitches, and you’re don’t fall every two seconds.

Skate Or Die - 3.0 / 5.0
The classic Nintendo game. Freestyle is the most fun. Press A and B quickly to get speed (I think).

Etnies Street Sesh - 3.0 / 5.0
This game can actually be fun for a bit. The downside is it’s too easy to fall on the stairs, there aren’t very many tricks, and there’s only one level.

Etnies Downhill Jam - 3.0 / 5.0
Similar to Etnies Street Sesh. The goal is to collect shoes while skating down a hill. All you can do it ollie, so it gets old fast. If they had a few more trick it’d be fun.

Gmax - 3.5 / 5.0
A fun and challenging little half pipe game. Probably the most popular online skateboarding game.

Skateboard Jam - 4.0 / 5.0
Skate Jam is similar to Etnies Downhill Hill, but it’s better. There are multiple levels. To progress to the next level you have to get a certain score. Each level is the same course, but with obstacles in different places. So far this is the second best free online skateboarding game I’ve come across.

Street Skating - 4.1 / 5.0
This game is hard, but once you get the hang of it it’s fun. The levels are designed in a way that you can flow through them perfectly. Watch the in game demonstrations to see the ideal path. Tips: Remember to grab your board when in the air. You don’t always have to ollie off the ramps. Let them launch you naturally and it’ll work out better. Sometimes you do need to ollie though. Usually it’s right at the last second to give you enough air to land on a far away rail. EDIT: This is now my favorite online skateboarding game. Out of all of the games on the list this is the only one I’ve gone back to play. I bumped up the score a little to make it the clear winner. If there were more levels and tricks available, I’d probably make it a 4.5.

Know of any other that are worth mentioning? Post them in a comment.

A couple of weeks ago Ben Davis was hit by a car while skateboarding in Toronto’s Kensington Market. The driver wasn’t held responsible, but Ben was charged for skateboarding. News story and video.

This kind of shit bums me out on humanity. Dude just broke his wrist, got knocked out, got stitches, and then the police spit in his face by fining him. I’m not saying the driver should have been fined instead, but they could have dropped the matter altogether. When an accident takes place it’s an eye opening experience. Lessons are learned quickly. There’s no need to tack on extra bullshit.

The Man Who Souled The World is a documentary about World Industries founder Steve Rocco. It looks like it’s going to be good.

You can view a clip over at The Hot Crew and get more info from the official site.

While gathering the clips for this post I thought to myself “Having never seen any of these before, if I watched all of these parts in one sitting it’d blow my mind.” If you’ve been a part of skateboarding for a while you’ve probably seen some of these before. Hopefully some of them are new to you too. To me they’re all amazing parts, so it’s worth a second watch anyway.

Chris Heck’s Sponsor Me Video
Chris’ part is full of less common tricks. I’d be surprised if he didn’t pick up some sort of sponsor from this video.

Richie Jackson - Killself
Richie Jackson has a flowing style that is super fun to watch. Combine that with his original tricks and you’ve got a killer video part. Unfortunately the audio doesn’t sink up properly for this clip. Still enjoyable though.

Louie Barletta - Tilt Mode Army
Louie Barletta has a handle on communicating the fun of skateboarding through his video parts. This one is from Tilt Mode.

William Spencer - Burning Daylight
William Spencer comes off as a bit of a stressball. I guess it works for him though, because he’s able to crank out some very original video parts. I don’t think I’ve seen acid drop wallrides from anyone else.

Chris Haslam - Round 3
Chris Haslam’s part from Round 3 is jaw dropping. Just watch it.

Patrick Melcher - 411 Part
Patrick Melcher skates fast as fuck. There’s a bit of a Dekline team intro, then his part comes up. It’s got a good blend of creative tricks and serious hammers. Bonus points for dressing like Freddy Krueger.

Watch

Danny Gonzalez - Opinion
Danny Gonzalez had a part in one of the first videos I ever owned, 411 Issue #26, and I loved it. I didn’t see him too much after that video. When Opinion came out I was really impressed by his part.

Louie Barletta and Jerry Hsu - Subject To Change
Nothing’s more fun than skateboarding with a friend…

William Spencer - Hollarado
This time around William Spencer gets even more innovative. The ender is amazing!

Wet Boys - Way Of The Warrior 2005
“The Way of the Warriors contest was inspired by the days where you and your homies would skate everywhere and do everything together. The days when the spots you skated were spontaneous, and the tricks were thought up moments before you tried them.”

This is the winning entry in the 2005 Way Of The Warriors contest.

Richie Jackson - Death Skateboards
This is the clip that inspired me to make this post. He looks so relaxed on his skateboard.

Earlier today I came across an article by Bryan Derballa called 12 Years Rolling. It’s sort of a photo journal of his twelve years of skateboarding. This summer marks my own 12th year of skateboarding. I wish I had more pictures and videos from along the way.

Things aren’t kicking around here yet, so head over to Heyday for a better time.