When you think of skateboarding games, what is the first thing you think of? For me, it’s the music – whether it was being introduced to the impeccable drum work of Josh Freese in The Vandals’ Euro-Barge on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1, trying to get my voice as high as 3 Inches of Blood’s singer in Deadly Sinners in Tony Hawk’s Underground 2, or learning how to play Jack White’s part in Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine after hearing it in Skate, music is an integral part of these games.
The recent THPS 1+2 and 3+4 remasters understand this, and bring a nice mix of classic and modern music to the re-releases that (I think) represents what skate culture should always be about: honouring legacy and trying new stuff. EA’s upcoming Skate reboot seems to have got this brief, too, as today the publisher has announced that the game will have “over 100 songs” featured on the in-game soundtrack.
Pleasantly, these will vary from the likes of upcoming acts like Denzel Curry and Turnstile – yes, I know they’re four albums in, but they’re also only just breaking through to the mainstream – and more classic acts like MF Doom and Earth, Wind & Fire.