Hey, wanna listen to some tunes? throws a tape at your head, causing Out With The Old to play

Introduction

Legends come in many forms. For some, it's charting unknown space in a wildly complicated ship. For others, it's carving their own path as a pirate on uncharted seas. And for many gamers, it's stopping every "big bad" you can think of: chaotic embodiments, pantheons of mythic gods, egocentric wizards, and so on.

But this month, we're not chasing cosmic threats or fantasy epics. We're hitting the skatepark to prove our mad boarding skills, with Tony Hawk himself as the centerpiece.

He's the same guy who landed the first-ever documented legendary 900° aerial spin in competition on June 27, 1999, popping it out of a half-pipe in a single leap. He'd later land two more 900s in the 2010s, get credited with inventing 88 named tricks, and appeared in countless videos, films, and TV shows, both as a skater and as himself.

Just ten days ago, the second and final day of Vert Alert, his own vertical skateboarding competition in Salt Lake City has wrapped up. That pedigree is exactly what backs the entire Tony Hawk's franchise, especially the first four Pro Skater games and the gloriously unhinged Underground series.

Pro Skater 1 took the bare-bones fundamentals of real-world skate tricking and mapped them onto a video game blueprint. Suddenly, you could chase mastery without wrecking your body through endless falls.

The core loop has you choose a skater and board from a roster, each with different tricks and stats that shape your playstyle. Then, drop into one of several skate parks to chain stunts for big scores and complete literal fetch-style goals within a tight time limit.

Our CGA Game of the Month, Pro Skater 2, expands and refines that foundation in almost every way, including:

• Manuals: The game-changing addition that lets you chain tricks on flat ground without being forced into a stop when you run out of rails or airtime.
• Bigger, more varied levels: More complex park design with more routes and secrets.
• Deeper Career Mode: Instead of just grabbing tapes, smashing objects, and chasing high scores in 2-minute runs, you get more varied and elaborate objectives.
• Expanded roster and tricks: More skaters, more moves, more ways to play.
• Create-a-Skater and Create-a-Park: Full customization for both your rider and your levels.

The one big mechanical piece still missing? Reverts to chain aerials into each other. That wouldn't arrive until Pro Skater 3, and is finally addressed in the 2020 remake, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, which also folds in various gameplay tweaks from later entries up through Underground 1.

My Personal Background

When I was a kid, I vaguely remember seeing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2 everywhere: for sale and rent in every store, featured in strategy and tips magazines, and even in those massive Sears holiday catalogs. We also had friends who were always messing around on real skateboards.

All of that eventually convinced my brother to rent Pro Skater 3 on GameCube. We both took turns with it. We loved how addictive and technical the gameplay loop was, but we didn't end up buying it, or any of the sequels, because we assumed it would be a short, shallow experience that wouldn't stay relevant.

We were wrong.

In 2004, our parents bought us a PS2 copy of Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 instead of renting. That game blew us away: twice as many intricate, unique levels, plus new gameplay elements layered on top of the already addictive core.

A few months later, I beat both Story and Classic modes, which unlocked a set of hidden characters. The most shocking (and hilarious) one is tied to a movie finally coming out in 2027, an icon of the 2000s both commercially and as a meme.

The fun didn't stop there. I accidentally discovered a bunch of out-of-bounds glitches thanks to weirdly programmed boundaries (the Los Angeles level sticks out in my mind; I loved those rebounding invisible walls I could endlessly jump off). I also managed to clip Player 1's position marker into odd places in Create-a-Goal mode. We felt like we were game developers, which might be what inspired my brother to pursue a career in the video game industry. Good times.

Fun fact: at one point, he even helped debug the then-upcoming Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5. Many of the bugs he found and documented still made it into the critically panned final release, because the game had to ship before the licensing deal between Activision and Tony Hawk expired at the end of 2015. And it barely had any development time… Yikes!

Regardless, I'm looking forward to trying the original PS1 version of Pro Skater 2 for this month's CGA, warts and all. It has the gameplay loop I know and love, and I can get over the fact that I can't walk off my skateboard anymore, something I haven't dealt with since beating American Sk8land on Nintendo DS over a decade ago.

Game Information

Years of the release: 2000, 2001, 2006, 2010, 2020, 2021

Platforms: PS1, PC, GBC, Dreamcast, Mac OS, GBA, N64, Xbox, Windows Mobile, iPhone, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 1

Genre(s): Action, Sports

Links: Original - Mobygames, Original - Wikipedia
Windows - Mobygames
GBC - Mobygames
GBA - Mobygames
2x - Mobygames, 2x - Wikipedia
1 + 2 - Mobygames, 1 + 2 - Wikipedia

A brief overview at some of the versions:

• PS1

  • Easiest to access in terms of controller layout and emulation.
  • Great baseline "classic" feel.

• Windows

  • Potentially the most authentic way to experience Pro Skater 2 if you're comfortable with modding and tinkering.
  • Requires tracking down a out-of-production software and configuring it properly.

• Dreamcast

  • Similar to PS1 in feel, but with a noticeable visual fidelity boost.
  • Often considered the best-looking original-console version.

• N64

  • The most technically compromised 3D version.
  • Still functional, but stunts feel awkward with the C-button layout.

• Xbox (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x)

  • Essentially "what if Pro Skater 1 + 2 came out right after Pro Skater 3?"
  • Adds mechanics and quality-of-life improvements from later entries.

• GBA

  • A surprisingly playable top-down/isometric conversion of the full Pro Skater 2 experience for a low-powered handheld.
  • Requires adjusting to the perspective and controls, but it holds up.

• GBC

  • Drastically different due to hardware limits and too few buttons.
  • Becomes a sidescrolling, scope-limited version of Pro Skater 2 with mediocre controls, despite being an improvement over the GBC Pro Skater 1.

Where to find the game:

• Physical Release: Prices seem to be fairly reasonable on eBay. A loose cartridge/disc is usually much cheaper than a Complete-in-Box copy (which includes the game, manuals, and box), but not by much.
• Digital storefronts: A convenient fallback solution, especially with its frequent sales. Only applies to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2.

Game Setup

The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the game. As such, it's recommended that you:

• Share what hardware you're playing it on
• Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
• Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
• Ask questions if you need help

Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the game and its time period:

• Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
• What about its system or era?
• What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
• What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
• What are you expecting from this game in particular?

Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:

• Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
• Ask for help if you get stuck.
• Offer help to others.

It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.

IMPORTANT: Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.

IMPORTANT: Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.

<details>
<summary>Spoilers</summary>

Spoiler text goes here.
</details>

FAQ

Without further ado, let's hit the parks and go buck wild with tricks and stunts!

> CONTINUE

(Credit to @Boojum for the splash screen. Still rock-and-rolling after a year!)

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September 2026's Humble Choice is now available with the following eight Steam games.

Does anyone have experience with any of the games and, if so, would you recommend them? Is there anything in here that you're particularly excited to play?

I have two 40k Armies, Orks and Necrons. I don't know current point values, but if I were to venture a guess, it's probably somewhere on the order of 6000-7000 points worth of stuff. I have something like 200 Ork Boys, 40-50 Nobz, Trukks, 15+ Deffkoptas and all kinds of stuff. Necrons are significantly smaller, but probably something like 3000-3500 points.

But I hate 40k. I don't like the Lore, I don't like the game and I don't really enjoy painting the models. The last time I played was 7th Edition about 8 months or so ago and I didn't have any fun with it and prior to that, I played a handful of games of 10th, both full scale and campaign and really didn't enjoy myself all that much then. So it's only been about a week since I came to the conclusion that I should finally sell my armies.

I've been thinking about selling my Orks for quite some time, but only recently came to the conclusion that I should dump the Necrons as well, because I just have no interest in playing the game or even painting the models. But I'm struggling with the decision. 40k is what introduced me to Wargames and I thought it was pretty neat at the time, but not too long after that, I discovered historical Wargames (Bolt Action, in particlar) and those are very much my jam.

I still have a bunch of Age of Sigmar, as I prefer it to 40k, though it's still far from a favorite of mine (Something like 3500 points of Gloomspite Gitz and 3500ish of Nighthaunt), so I still have access to Warhammer if friends want to play, but...yeah.

I'm not exactly certain why I'm making this post. I went and bought boxes today for when I'm ready to start the process of taking pictures and selling stuff on eBay, but I just feel weirdly attached to some of these models, even if I have absolutely zero interest in them anymore. I do think I'm going to keep one kitbashed Ork Battlewagon I made, but beyond that I'm ready to just let go all of this stuff.

• The top 7 chillest Genesis games YOU NEED IN YOUR BUSY MODERN LIFE
• Best video game barrel explosions, ranked
• Five games that defied your expectations (plus one you'll never guess!)
• These 3 console flops make the Ouya look like a success
• The best magical swords of the 16-bit era

The internet is loaded with clickbaity articles like these (note: I specifically made these up, so apologies if any sound interesting). They were already somewhat low effort content, but they've gotten far worse in the age of AI.

As such, I thought it might be cool if we could make our own hand-crafted, artisan, bespoke humanslop ones here. You know, for fun.

1. Choose a list topic.
2. Populate it with games/mechanics/series/consoles/controllers/whatever.
3. Explain how each fits the theme.

Be as serious or as nonsensical as you like. Be as generic ("top games of 2025") or as specific ("games that kfwyre spent more time setting up than playing") as you want. Create the video game listicle of your dreams, with as little or as much clickbaitiness as you like.

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(Cross-ref: INSERT CARTRIDGE topic)

Thanks to everyone who joined me on playing A Link to the Past this month!

Whether you were playing it very first time or the twentieth time, and whether you were playing vanilla, randomized, or multiplayer randomized (!), I hope you had a good time. I definitely look forward to hearing about everyone's experience, e.g.:

• How do you think it held up for a nearly 35 year old game?
• How do you like this style vs. the newer franchise entries?
• Would you likely play it again?
• Did you 100% it and find every last heart piece for a full health bar?
• Any particularly tough puzzles or fights that stood out to you?
• Did you have to resort to any hints or guides?
• If you did a randomizer, what was the craziest thing you encountered?
• Who was your favorite NPC?

(Personally, I had a blast trying the randomizer for the first time, with oddities like getting the flute for fast travel in the first two minutes while going without a shield for several dungeons, not to mention seeing the quirky changed dialogue and trying to get faster at my runs. I'll definitely be playing the randomizer more in the future.)

Next month, we'll be taking a break from our recent sword-and-sorcery run (Castlevania -> Lufia 2 -> Zelda), with u/J-Chiptunator hosting Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 as the final game in this season of CGA.

I love gaming and I love lots of different genres of games. Yet somehow I can’t get into gta. I’ve tried. I played it a couple of times. I looked at the extended gameplay reveal. Yet, it doesn’t seem to click.

Now that’s all perfectly fine. Not everyone has to like everything. But because it’s such a huge game in terms of people playing it, I am really curious.

Is there anyone here who does love playing gta? And do you mind sharing what you love about it?

I don’t want to argue or convince or be convinced. Just really interested in learning about your perspective!

Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

Rules:

• No grey market sales
• No affiliate links

If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.

All previous Save Point topics

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For all the Morrowind enthusiast here - GOG.com has added OpenMW and Tamriel Rebuilt as curated mods for Morrowind. They say on the website: "GOG’s curated selection of the best Mods, directly packed with the game for the smoothest installation ever. Install and play right away."

I haven't tried it yet, but I guess it means GOG Galaxy (that I don't use) will automatically install OpenMW and enable Tamriel Rebuilt as a mod in it and launch OpenMW instead of old Morrowind executable. Maybe someone will know if it works this way.

I just wanted other people to know, as Morrowind is my beloved game and I see it as a nice addition to have mods on the GOG as well as the game, even more so if it can be installed alongside the game hassle-free.

For people who doesn't know:

• OpenMW is open source multiplatform engine for playing Morrowind. You give it original game data files and it runs on modern hardware in modern resolutions. While it isn't v1.0 yet, it is perfectly playable. It let's you run Morrowind on various things like Raspberry Pi or ARM laptops, at one time even Android port existed (OpenMicroWave?)
• Tamriel Rebuilt is a community mod that adds big-ass landmass with new cities, new places, new characters, new quests... Morrowind takes place on isle of Vvardenfell, but the game bears the name of the whole province of (game world of) Tamriel. This mod adds the rest of the province, basically.

The thing is - Is it good that GOG adds such mods and integrates them with the game (somehow)? Will the mods be kept up-to-date when I install them with the game?

Figured I'd make a general discussion thread since there's a lot coming out of the event.

What are your thoughts on the games being shown? Are there any which you're excited to see more of or disappointed by?

I made this thread on mobile, so apologies for any mess-ups.

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The server operates on a soft whitelist. Anyone can log in and walk around, but you need a Tildes account to gain build access.

We recommend you install our mod web-chat so that you can chat while in your web browser. It turns the server into an old-school chat room.

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The eclipse is over! Dracula is sealed. Again. Kinda? Who knows, man, this was a weird bout for him. Nostradamus has gotta have some more stuff in the tank for another Belmont, but for now let's just enjoy all the Axe Armor souls we farmed.

I hope you enjoyed Aria of Sorrow! Playing it again, I've found this game is comfort food - simple and straightforward, but clicky and fun. How does it match up to the rest of the genre, or series, for you? Did you try any mods? HOW DO YOU GET PAST THE WATERFALL?!

Join us in July when u/zod000 presents Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals!

Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

Rules:

• No grey market sales
• No affiliate links

If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.

All previous Save Point topics

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Introduction

The Legend of Zelda series celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, and A Link to the Past will have its 35th later this year.

So cast your mind back and let me set the mood. Picture this: the year is 1992 and you're a middle school kid who has saved up enough chore and birthday money to finally get your first new game for the SNES (the one you worked so many chores to save up for when your parents finally allowed you to have a console like the other kids you were so envious of.) You've beaten the Super Mario World game your SNES came with and you're definitely ready for something else.

You're sitting in the back seat of the car as your mother drives you home from the store, holding the box for A Link to the Past in your little hands. You open it up and find a cartridge (of course!). You carefully set that aside.

Next up, there's a detailed manual, because of course nearly all games back then came with some kind of little manual of some kind, or at the very least an instruction pamphlet. You read it cover to cover, because you're that kind of kid.

In the box you also find a little hint pamphlet sealed shut with a bit of adhesive. Tempting, but you want to challenge yourself to get as far as you can before peeking. (You give in a few days later.)

Finally, the ride back from the mall is done and you race downstairs to the den, pop the cartridge into the top of your SNES, and turn everything on. You're greeted with a Triforce in 3D that spins and assembles itself (3D on a console? Witchcraft!), while a short harp arpeggio plays:

Doodloodlooodloodloodloodloodloodl do do do do do Do!

Then the title screen, a sword drop, and a pictaresque castle, moat, and mountains behind them while a fanfare plays:

Bumpa deeee! duhduhdudludlut deeee! duhduhdudludlut deeee! Dee DEE DELAAAAH!!

A moment later, the intro prologue begins giving the back story as tense chords play. Then, the now-famous fairy fountain theme plays as you name your game save ("Link", of course!) and so the game begins. The mood is set as you step outside your house into a storm with a layer of splashing rain, flickering lightning (Wow! Amazing graphics!), crashing thunder and a reprise of the tense music. You binge through the first dungeon or two that day.

It's nearly summer, but school isn't done yet. So each day as soon as you get home from middle school, you can't wait to race down to the shade and the cool relief of the basement den to conquer the next dungeon, get the cool new piece of equipment and see what new areas of the game it opens. (Homework? Homework can wait!) That's the rhythm: one day, one dungeon, just an hour or two a day, until you get to the end.

That's how I first played it and why this game is so special to me. :-)

For First Time Players

Don't be afraid to check the manual and hint book that I linked above. Yes, they spoil things a bit, especially the hint book. But the game shipped with them and they were part of the original experience. And if you pace yourself to one dungeon a day, you should easily get through the game by mid-month. It's not a terribly long game, all told.

I think you're in for a treat, and I look forward to hearing your experience with the game, as seen fresh through 2026 eyes.

For Experienced Players

There's a popular randomizer for the game, complete with a Reddit community.. I've never tried it before, but as I've played the vanilla game many times, CGA seems like a fun excuse to finally try the randomizer.

I'll be using this seed if you'd like to join me on it. It uses the "Beginner" preset which seems a good place to start with the randomizer, but with the "Hints" turned on (which I understand means that the telepathic tiles in the dungeons are changed to tell you where some things are). I'm eager to see what insanity the chaos produces.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Versions:

• Super NES (1991/1992): The original!
• Game Boy Advance (2002): A rerelease as part of the The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords. I've never played this version, but there's a list of differences here.

Platforms: Super NES, Game Boy Advance, Wii, Wii U, New 3DS, Switch, Super NES Classic Edition

Genre(s): Action-adventure, RPG, Puzzle

Links: Mobygames, Wikipedia

Stores: Free under the Nintendo Classics library if you have a Nintendo Switch Online or Nintendo Switch 2 Online subscription.

Game Setup

The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the game. As such, it's recommended that you:

• Share which version of the game you're playing
• Share what hardware you're playing it on
• Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
• Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
• Ask questions if you need help

Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the game and its time period:

• Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
• What about its system or era?
• What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
• What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
• What are you expecting from this game in particular?

Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:

• Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
• Ask for help if you get stuck.
• Offer help to others.

It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.

Important

• Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.

• Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.

<details>
<summary>Spoilers</summary>

Spoiler text goes here.
</details>

FAQ

I have a group of work friends where we were playing D&D 5e (pretty infrequently) for a year and a half. We've been on a long hiatus from TTRPGs since last year after a couple problems with the game came to surface that some of them didn't like. One of which is the 5e gameplay. Out of the 3 players, none had any hands on play experience with any TTRPG. I had extensive experience with 5e so naturally I was the GM and it was the simplest way to jump in a play with my solid grasp of the rules. One player in particular did not have experience with games (table top or video games) beyond a few simple card games and classic games like chess and was more there to be happy to socialize and have fun with a story. She had a lot of trouble grasping the rules and feeling comfortable with polyhedral dice sets. The other issue was mainly the infrequency of playing and the players remembering the story and previous sessions, so that isn't really related to the system.

Having said all of that, several months later that less familiar with games player came to me and said one of her main issues was she would get stressed when told to roll, then blanking on which dice is which and what she is rolling for. She thinks a big fix to this is playing a game "like" D&D 5e with story and socializing (a TTRPG), but with "normal" dice (D6's). Until then I had given up on the idea of a TTRPG with them but that reinvigorated me. I wanted to find a game that is D6's only, with simple enough rules for those inexperienced, but preferably with some numbers, crunch, and customizable characters to satisfy those with more gaming experience. Do any come to mind as favorites of yours that you'd suggest?

TL;DR suggest your favorite D6 only games. Preferably simple on the surface for the inexperienced, but enough numbers and customizable characters underneath to satisfy more experienced gamers.