Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

There are no words to describe the greatness of this game. It's something you have to experience for yourself. Hawk, Burnquist, Rowley, Lasek, Muska, Campbell, Reynolds, Glifburg, Thomas, and Steamer are all here, not to mention all the secret characters you can get, including Officer Dick and Private Carrera. You can break glass in the Warehouse in Woodland Hills, gleam the pools in the School in Miami, grind the escalators at the Mall in New York, pull killer rotations at the Skate Park in Chicago, plant taxi cabs in Downtown Minneapolis, jump river gaps at the Downhill Jam in Phoenix, glide the spines and bowls of the Burnside in Portland, ollie off huge stairs on the Streets of San Francisco, and cruise past captive aliens in Roswell, New Mexico. There's no limit to the # of objects you can plant, grind, slide, ollie, ride, etc.

I know I said this is the best game for N64; maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but for me it is. I also know the Playstation version is better, but I have to do without that for most of the time. The cinematics are half the fun; you can see Hawk pull both the Full Pipe run and his historic 900 at the '99 X Games. See Bob Burnquist pull his famous One Footed Smith, Chad Muska do his little rail grind with his backpack and stereo (forgot the name of the trick), and many more.

The 2 Player mode is also great. You can do Horse (though that kinda sucks), Graffiti, in which you tag every object you can your color, and Trick Attack, in which it's just you and your opponent bustin' out the best s*** possible.

Free Skate allows you to do whatever level you want, with whatever skater you want, for however long as you want. It's genius.

Career Mode is pretty well manufactured: Warehouse, School, and the Mall prep you for your 1st competition: the Skate Park. Next, Downtown and Downhill Jam prep you for #2: the Burnside. Finally, you can hit the mean streets of SF before hittin' the final competition: Roswell. Along the way you can collect medals and tapes for unlocking levels and skaters.

Go and rent this game if you have never played it. And if you do have it, play it as much as you can, 'cause you're playin' a classic!