Thrasher: Skate And Destroy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7ALJ7MGGZo
Probably the game on this list I have the haziest memory of, Z-Axis’ Thrasher: Skate And Destroy was pretty much proto-Skate. Released in 1999 for the original PlayStation, Skate And Destroy was a hardcore skateboarding simulator that, not unlike Skate nearly a decade later, honed in on precise board control over gravity-defying tricks. The control scheme was a bit clunky, with dedicated buttons for moves like 180s, but this complexity forced you to learn how to set up what’s known as a line—a series of individual tricks chained together in one line or spot. You couldn’t button-mash to a high score like you could in the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, but Thrasher: Skate And Destroy was a solid game that oozed all the cool you’d expect from its titular skateboarding magazine.
