The year was 1999 and I was in eighth grade. Pizza Hut ran a promotion. You buy a pizza and you get one of two PlayStation demo discs, each containing demos of upcoming games. I cannot remember nine of the ten games (although I think Ape Escape and Sled Storm were among them), but I remember the crown jewel of the collection: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. It contained one level – the Warehouse – on which you got two a two-minute run as either Bob Burnquist or the Birdman himself, while a single song – Goldfinger’s “Superman” – played on loop. It might have just been the greatest thousand two-minute sessions of my youth.

And thus began a magical eight-year friendship with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Tony was great. He was always there when I needed him. And although he gave me the freedom to hang out with his friends Mat Hoffman and Kelly Slater, it was always back to me and Tony.

And then things got weird. Tony kept wanting us to play with these dumb little toys. Tony called them “peripherals.” In his defense, it was the all rage back then. But there were these new more mature, more realistic group of guys around that I could Skate with. Danny Way, PJ Ladd, Rob Dyrdek, Chris Cole, Mike Carroll, among others. And the more I hung around those guys, Tony and I kind of drifted apart. And then about five years ago, those other guys left too.

But now I’m hearing Tony is back in town. More specifically, he’ll be back on September 29 for you people with your new fancy consoles and November 10 for the late adopters like me. I’m really excited to see my old friend again. He promises it will be just like the old days but better. Before he gets here though, I thought I’d think back to some of the really fun things he and I did together.

Honorable Mention:

Spider-Man, Wolverine, Darth Maul, Jango Fett and Iron Man because… Spider-Man, Wolverine, Darth Maul, Jango Fett and Iron Man.

Video: Sargon Akkad

5. Hey, Tony! Remember that time when we destroyed a major American city?– Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3

THPS3 sold 2.4 million copies worldwide and is one of just 10 games to ever receive a perfect score on GameSpot. There were a lot of fun levels in this one, but the one that stands out the most to me is Los Angeles, a city apparently so horribly designed that just grinding on four rails brings an entire freeway down around you.

Video: aaer eear

4. Hey, Tony! Remember that time when I almost leaped to a very bloody death? – Tony Hawk’s Underground

Well, over it anyway. In the Hawaii level, your own personal protagonist (I named mine Colby) and his friend who should have been kicked in the balls three times by this point in the game Eric Sparrow are out getting footage for the big team video. And you have the idea to perform a McTwist over a helicopter between two hotels. Sure! Why not? Makes totally zero sense why anyone would ever try that but okay. Even though it wasn’t a particularly difficult challenge, it still left you with a “Holy crap, I just did that” sense only for Eric to go and edit you out of the footage. That son of a…

Video: Sargon Akkad

3. Hey, Tony! Remember that time when you stopped rushing me? – Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4

THPS4 was a game changer. We still couldn’t get off the board but at least we could take our sweet time pushing ourselves through the grass thanks to the elimination of the two-minute timer. My favorite levels in the series have always been the realistic ones either based on real skateparks or look like they could be real skateparks. So when I think of the fourth installment in the game, as much as I love racing down the paths of Alcatraz in a shopping cart, I think of Kona. Vert, street, bowl, snake run, ample room for flatland. It was just a perfect environment for just skating around which is what I came to later admire most about EA’s Skate series.

Video: Ace Reject

2. Hey, Tony! Remember when we died? – Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2

So you’ve completed the game 100% for every character (even Officer Dick) and your reward is… you die. But… you get to go to Skate Heaven, a cosmic mix of iconic skate spots including the San Dieguito High Ten Stair Rail, the ramp from the Bones Brigade “Animal Chin” video, Tony’s backyard and the Sadlands, plus an active volcano and the voice of (presumably) God telling you how much you suck when you fall off the course into the abyss of space. Add in the flight mode cheat (hold L1 and press up four times, X, square, up four times, x, square, up four times) and you have yourself a hell of an afterlife.

Video: durden77

1. Hey, Tony! Remember when we first met? – Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater

As I stated before, it all began with that single Warehouse level courtesy of Pizza Hut. It was a small, simple level and every run started the same way. Down the tall drop in from the top room, over the halfpipe, through the secret room, ollie the taxi cab, either grind or aerial the back wall quarterpipe, grind the crooked rail back towards the front and air over one of the channels. And despite a raging case of ADD, I never got bored with it.

Video: Kanal von 16roach

Colby Primeaux

While some might consider him young for the retro genre, Colby Primeaux has been playing video games since he was old enough to pick up a controller and eagerly seeks out games from before his time to study and appreciate. Primeaux is a sportswriter from Houston, TX.