Highlights
- MXGP 2020 is a highly customizable motocross game with a high skill ceiling, offering an enjoyable and exhilarating experience.
- Steep is a snowboarding game that allows players to freely explore an open world, participate in various extreme sports, and expand their experience with additional locations.
- Descenders is a downhill mountain biking game with procedurally generated levels, offering fluid mechanics and a solid experience for fans of the sport.
From the mid-90s, the profile of extreme sports grew considerably as it began to take over modern culture. From rollerblading and skateboarding to BMX riding – sports, music, and fashion overlapped for a whole generation. With names such as Tony Hawk and Mat Hoffman becoming well-known figures, gaming was soon to follow.
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Extreme sports video games have become a regular part of the gaming landscape, with titles offering players high-octane, death-defying action with often intricate mechanics to learn. The genre has moved forward in recent years, with developers incorporating other game genres and higher-quality graphics into the mix, creating new and immersive experiences for gamers to enjoy.
1 MXGP 2020 – The Official Motocross Videogame
Metascore: 70
MXGP 2020 brings players into the world of Motocross like never before. Across a range of terrain, players can customize their bikes and tracks, and compete online against other players. For fans of motocross, this is the ideal game to scratch that muddy itch.
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On release, the game was well-received and has become a favored title for fans of the sport. The game has a relatively high skill ceiling, as there is a lot of detailed customization available, new players may struggle to get the hang of the racing, but overall, this is an enjoyable and exhilarating game to play.
2 Steep
Metascore: 71
Steep
- Released
- December 2, 2016
Snowboarding games have been a staple of gaming since the late 90s, giving players exhilarating gameplay and complex mechanics all set against stunning mountain backdrops. One of the best games in recent years to recreate the feeling of adrenaline-pumping winter sports is Steep.
This online multiplayer game allows friends to freely explore a breathtaking open world, centered around the Alps, and participate in various extreme sports. Some of the sports players can enjoy include base jumping, snowboarding, skiing, and paragliding. Later expansions included different locations, including Japan and Korea.
3 Descenders
Metascore: 75
This 2018 downhill mountain biking game gives players the chance to experience all the thrills and falls of mountain biking over various terrains. With each level being procedurally generated, the game has a lot of replayability.
The game was well-received by critics on release. Although it suffers a little from repetitive gameplay, the mechanics are fluid and smooth and offer a great experience for anyone interested in downhill biking. With a selection of tricks to learn and trials to beat, the game is a solid title for fans of the sport.
4 Rush
Steam Reviews: Very Positive
Rush recreates the heart-pounding thrill of wingsuit flying. Played within five different settings, Rush uses VR technology to its fullest, creating a terrifying and immersive game that allows players the chance to experience something they may never do in real life.
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The game is perfect to play with friends. With its multiplayer mode, groups of up to 11 people can experience the game together. Rush has over 100 courses to learn and various challenges to achieve, making this the perfect game for anyone wanting the excitement of wingsuit flying with none of the danger.
5 Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer
Metascore: 77
Considered the greatest surfer of all time, Kelly Slater went on to win the World Surf League championship 11 times between 1992 and 2011. With other greats of extreme sports moving into video games, Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer is the surfing equivalent to Tony Hawk and Mat Hoffman’s titles, and he even featured in Pro Skater 3.
The game allows players to compete in various modes, all recreating the thrill and excitement of real surfing. These include a career mode, multiplayer, and challenge mode. Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer is one of the best surfing games in the genre and will appeal to fans wanting a fluid yet challenging experience.
6 Rollerdrome
Metascore: 79
Not just another extreme sports simulator, Rollerdrome plunges players into a vibrant, retro-futuristic world, where they must compete in gladiatorial arenas against an array of heavily armed enemies to then proceed to the next level.
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Rollerdrome at its core is a rollerskating game, taking a lot of influence from classics of the genre such as the Tony Hawk titles, with a large assortment of tricks and grinds to learn. Adding in the action mechanics takes the game to a whole new level. Pulling off a trick reloads the player’s gun while perfectly timing a dodge allows for higher damage and longer combos.
7 Mat Hoffman Pro BMX
Metascore: 80
While skateboarding had Tony Hawk, BMX had Mat Hoffman. Considered one of the greatest vert ramp riders in history, he helped to lift the profile of BMX to a higher level.
Never achieving quite the same impact as his skateboarding counterpart, Matt Hoffman’s Pro BMX was the direct competition of Pro Skater. Released in 2001, the game leans heavily on trick-based gameplay over 10 levels and features various playable professional BMX riders. With a classic soundtrack to play along with, Pro BMX is the ideal companion game to the Tony Hawk classics.
8 Aggressive Inline
Metascore: 85
Skateboarding had Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, BMX had Mat Hoffman’s Pro BMX, and Rollerblading had Aggressive Inline. Further proof that the early 2000s were a peak for extreme sports culture, the game allows players to experience the free-roaming, trick-heavy sport that caught the attention of a generation.
Like its extreme sports counterparts, the game features an array of tricks to learn and master, over a selection of well-designed open levels. It was well received upon release and was later recognized as a leading game of the era, bringing many new features that would innovate the genre further.
9 Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3
Metascore: 97
One of the most famous names in extreme sports, Tony Hawk took skateboarding to a whole new level, not only with his unarguable talent but also with his generation-defining video games.
Altogether, there are 20 Tony Hawk video games, making him a household name for millions of gamers. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 was released in 2001 and is one of the best of the entire series. With improved mechanics from the first two games and a legendary soundtrack, the game was a landmark moment for the culture.
