Thrasher Presents: Thrasher's Top Ten Video Games, Part Five

This pick is a very special one for me, as you'll soon find out. But let's recap first:

Everything or Nothing (PS2)
Freedom Fighters (PS2)
Crazy Taxi (PS2)
NHLPA '93 (SNES)

(Needless to say, this is not from the PS1 version of Thrasher. Did you know there was a Game Boy Color version that got dusted before it could be released? Me neither, and it's too bad.)

Thrasher Presents: Skate and Destroy (PS1)

I believe I covered this one in depth for GameFAQs when I was 13. Honestly, with an opening salvo like "I am a true diehard skater," how could you not want to read on? Furthermore, what I liar I was at that age. I couldn't even ollie. Still can't. But I did know every inch of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Thrasher was an awesome alternative to its outlandishness. This was the Skate 2 of its day. Where THPS went over-the-top, Thrasher pushed for realism. Tricks needed to be planned carefully in Thrasher, as opposed to the more accessible THPS, where slaming the buttons would more often be rewarded than penalized. Both have their own place in my heart, truly, but this game had a few things going for it, principally the old-school hip hop soundtrack, which was presented with an honorary Code Redd Net Award. Bails were humorous things to see as well, especially when Chicken Man and I hooked up for a multiplayer mode called Sick Fix, where we competed to land the most impressive slams (most involving an oncoming subway train). And those were good times, breaking bones in deserted stations. THPS made me a fan of skateboarding, but it was Thrasher that got me on a skateboard for the first time, and it was Thrasher that got me into Run DMC. Plus, I got my alias from this game. Big surprise, I'm sure.