Top Extreme Sports Games
Jul 31, 2007
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.
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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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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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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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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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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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.
Surf's Up
It's more extreme than: Real penguins.
Right when the surfing genre starts to catch a wave, it gets washed back out to sea. Case in point: the last truly stellar boarder, Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer, dates back to 2002. But while we humans were being lax about digitally hanging ten, another species was secretly learning how to cutback and ride tubes. I'm speaking, of course, about computer-generated penguins, the unlikely kings of the next-gen console beach. Depressing? A bit, but at least the little overachievers can't fly.
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SSX Blur
It's more extreme than: Moguls.
While the Summer X Games enjoy the spotlight of sunny L.A., the poor Winter X Games has to stay in the gates until the weather worsens into a nice, unfriendly blizzard. You, however, don't, especially if you have a Wii and a copy of SSX Blur. The renowned snowboarding series goes bigger than ever in its latest iteration. New cartoonish graphics score style points and intuitive controls impress the judges.
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Excitebike
It's more extreme than: It's not actually that extreme.
Trading moustaches and mushrooms for goggles and gas tanks, legendary Mario maker Shigeru Miyamoto designed this old-school NES racer back in 1984 and it's just as good now as it was then. Cut off other racers as you rocket down brutal tracks filled with monstrous jumps, or design your own with the simple but effective level editor. Sure, there are no tricks, and granted, it's a bit repetitive, but for a mere five bucks, this Virtual Console offering is a low-emission winner.
Dave Mirra BMX Challenge
It's more extreme than: Paperboy!
If Tony Hawk is the X Games poster child, Dave Mirra is its daddy. Having medaled in every competition since 1997, the BMX legend is the X Games' winningest athlete. His video game series might have peaked a few years ago, but where other BMX games have fallen off the map, Dave keeps right on riding in this upcoming Wii exclusive. A revised port of the PSP game, the new version will feature Wii-specific controls and a wallet-pleasing $29.99 price tag.