Top Extreme Sports Games

With X Games 13 shredding its way through Los Angeles from August 2-5, legions of amateur skaters, bikers, surfers and drivers will watch in awe as some of the planet's most daring athletes go for the gold in a variety of events.

But remember: Just because it looks easy doesn't mean it is easy. So unless you know your kickflips from your tail spins, play it safe by playing these high-flying extreme games.

PLAY TOP EXTREME GAMES VIDEO

WATCH TONY HAWK'S PROVING GROUND TRAILER

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground

It's more extreme than: A frontside 180 indy over a lava pit!

We're not sure what the Tony Hawk franchise has left to prove -- it's inarguably the greatest skateboarding franchise ever. Maybe it has low self-esteem, although you wouldn't know it from the awesome scope of the ninth official Tony Hawk game. A brand new class system lets you experience the enormous, streaming world in three completely different ways: Career skaters aim for fame and fortune, the Hardcore keep it real and the Riggers turn the world into their own personal hardware store. New Nail the Manual and Nail the Grab features add even more depth, while a robust, built-in video editor lets you capture your sweet grinds and killer wipeouts on tape. Nine times a charm? We wouldn't ride against it.

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WATCH skate TRAILER

skate

It's more extreme than: That hoverboard scene from Back to the Future 2.

What's this? A skating game without the words "Tony" or "Hawk" in the title? If it weren't for several live demos and a few amazing trailers, we wouldn't believe this newcomer stood a snowball's chance in hell. But the fact is that it looks and feels great. Eschewing gigantic air in favor of a stripped-down, realistic setting, skate's "Flickit" control scheme is a godsend for those baffled by Tony Hawk's combo-obsessed button mayhem. With a gorgeous graphics engine and plenty of street cred, it's the first game in ages with the potential to steal the gold from the Hawkman.

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WATCH DiRT TRAILER

DiRT

It's more extreme than: Those lame Colin McRae games.

Now that it's an official X Games event, rally racing is hoping to get some respect in North America. That's sure to be an uphill drive. Nobody west of the U.K. knows a lick about rally racing legend Colin McRae, which might explain why Codemasters finally decided to take his name off his latest racer in the States. But whatever you want to call it, DiRT is simply a fantastic rally game. The graphics are brilliant -- cars slowly tear apart as you barge down off-road tracks that are as beautiful as they are deadly -- and a horde of single-player content keeps the engine running hot.

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WATCH MOTORSTORM TRAILER

Motorstorm

It's more extreme than: Everything.

It might be more Mad Max than McRae, but Sony's PS3 drive-by nails everything that's great about extreme racing -- huge speed, huge crashes, and huge carnage. Among Motorstorm's standout features is its automotive agnosticism; you can drive big rigs, SUVs, dune buggies, and even motorcycles on the same track, often with dire results. Great physics and insane track design form a sumptuous combination of high- speed racing and a sort of vehicular pinball, cars bouncing off one another until they explode into runaway fireballs. How long until this is a sport, by the way?

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WATCH EXCITE TRUCK TRAILER

Excite Truck

It's more extreme than: A Ford commercial.

Long before the Wii became a cultural phenomenon, it was just another Nintendo console hoping to scrape a few flecks off Sony's dominant market share. And if you were one of the lucky few to own a Wii at launch, chances are you also owned Excite Truck. A spiritual successor to Excitebike, this off-road racer makes up for its limited content by tapping into the unique Wii controls. Hectic and fast, it's great way to pass some time between X Games events.

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