It's all about Thrasher today

Currently Listening to:
Anarchy Club
Blood Doll




Thrasher: Skate and Destroy was released in 1999 and it represents a very real milestone in my life. It is one of the influences in my life that led me to go out and pick up a skateboard. I first played it as a demo on one of the Official Playstation Magazine monthly demo discs. It was the first skating game I really played. I hadn't yet experienced the beginning of the juggernaut that is the Tony Hawk series. Thrasher came out near the time the first Tony Hawk game was released, but was mostly overlooked by the public. I figure this is probably because Tony Hawk's gameplay is more forgiving style of gameplay. Another reason Thrasher might not have caught on is its lack of professional skaters. Players want to be able to attach a name to a product and Tony Hawk delivered in that department. Thrasher was definitely more authentic and felt as real as a skateboard game could get at the time. Skateboarding games have become so dependent on the perceptions provided by the Tony Hawk series that the game itself has become a method of judging other skateboard titles. (even to the point that I can't help but do it myself Thrasher featured gameplay so different from Tony Hawk it could be considered a Skateboard sim. Instead of auto push, which is the default form of control of Tony Hawk, you are pushing wood whenever you want speed and momentum in Thrasher. Also, instead of ollieing to perform fliptricks, the tricks are mapped to a different button, This keeps ollies and nollies (modified by use of the L1 button) just ollies, and not kickflip to shove it to late 360 flips.

The game features six characters with their own individual styles. Each character were comfortable with different terrains, just like real skaters. Naturally, in real life, everyone has a different style of skating and this game emulates this well. No two skaters play the same in the game as opposed to Tony Hawk, where you're playing a carbon copy with your pro or custom character of choice. In true Rockstar fashion, this games got grit. The Levels are dark, but lush and full. The characters are all badass and have style for miles. The Locations in the game all simulate real live skate spots all over the world, such at the Brooklyn Banks, the Embarcadero, and the L.A. river and a few international spots. The approach to levels was nice as well, you were able to free skate the level until you were ready to start a 2 minute run. Basic skateboard game run rules apply: As many tricks as possible in 2 minutes. Your skater also had a damage meter, which filled from falls, bails and crashes. If the meter filled, you broke your board. At the end of the runs duration, your skater had to make sure to high tail it before getting busted by muggers, police dogs or the cops themselves. The Camera would switch from behind the skater to an first person view of these antagonists with a taser or a wooden plank while you run out of their reach or to an exit.





Though the game didn't have the best graphics, it included impressive ragdoll physics for its time.



The game also featured one of the best line ups of Old school rap ever.(coming from someone who doesn't like rap). The sounds of the Sugar Hill Gang, Run DMC, EPMD, Public Enemy, Eric B and Rakim and more set an independent tone to the game as well. Skating is often seen as punk rock centric. Many people from different walks of life often choose to skateboard and this game(if not even intentionally) sets that tone in a respectful manner. Overall, Thrasher was a fantastic game and was seriously overlooked for what it was: a genuinely fun and badass game.