10 reasons we still love Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

Tony Hawk games are superb score attack games. Some might argue superlative. The key to its success is the balance between risk and reward. Introducing the 'manual' was a masterstroke for THPS2, allowing you to link combos from one rail or ramp to the next. But the key element is the balance between risk and reward. Seeing a 20 second mega-combo smashed by your skater's ass as he upends himself on a flatland trick is devastating.

There's nothing quite like loading up an old file from Tony Hawk's and seeing yourself as you were some ten years ago. The long hair, the baggy trousers… even the black hoodie. Not that we were teenage hoodlums or anything. Though we did meet people at uni who became skaters just because of THPS2. By their own admission. That's the kind of power the 'Birdman' had.

Multiplayer modes are superb in the old Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series – in particular Horse, which sees you trying to get your opponent to spell out the word HORSE (or any other insulting word you could dream up, like 'bum' or 'twatface') by scoring higher combos than them. Hours of juvenile fun. We plumped for LEMON... which still whinnies like a horse.

During the making of this feature, we all had a go on Graffiti mode in the GR UK office (after it turned out Cundy was a LEMON, that is). One of us was overly competitive, one of us only knew one trick and one of us couldn't remember the controls. But you know what? We all had fun - and that's the key. Just do a better trick on each section of the scenery to turn it your colour. Simple, yet devastatingly effective.

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." And it probably did. The number of virtual teeth we must've lost over the years... Then there's the blood that splatters after a particularly impressive faceplant onto a cheesegrater-like surface. We became desensitised... until we tried skateboarding ourselves and twisted our ankles. Back to the PlayStation it is, then.

The GBA version remains one of the finest handheld games ever made. But it's something about the trick system that means the core game works as a handheld 5-minute blast or a marathon 'TV and sofa' session. That's the sign of a great videogame.

What started off as a savvy but serious skateboarding sim soon turned into a quirky game, but soon added a gentle sense of humour. Best of all, it did this without making skaters out to be complete dicks. Well, at least until Bam Margera showed up...

Since the first sequel, creating your own skatepark has been part of the package, arguably making a Tony Hawk game the only game you'd ever need. You can make your own maps, there's impeccable multiplayer and score attack goodness whether alone or with a mate… Honestly, the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series was on top of the world in the early 2000s. We're glad it's coming back in its true form.