It was announced today that Neversoft have gone under. While you might know them for their Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater titles starting in 1999, what you might not know is they’ve been around since 1995 when Skeleton Warriors released. They had a long and rich history, but unfortunately it has come to an end.
To give a final farewell to one of the most prominent and respected developers of all-time, we have compiled a list of their five finest works. These are games that had profound ramifications on video game culture, titles that not only gamers remember, but parents who had to listen to the relentless begging while commercials played around the clock.
Check out the 5 best video games Neversoft ever made in the gallery below.
The 5 Best Games Neversoft Ever Made
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5. Guitar Hero 5
Released in 2009, some argue that Guitar Hero 5 was the last great entry in the multi-million selling Guitar Hero franchise. While it carried a lot of the same addictive mechanics as its predecessors, Guitar Hero 5's greatest feat was catering the experience toward local multiplayer, encouraging the use of drums, vocals, guitar, and bass. As a result, it was a crowd-winner for parties and gatherings.
Featuring 85 songs, its track list was killer with songs by Queen, Iron Maiden, Bob Dylan, The Smashing Pumpkins, and other platinum artists.
Guitar Hero 5 was a very well-rounded experience, revolutionizing the series' menu system. Within a year the series would fade into obscurity after trying to live up to Guitar Hero 5's expectations.
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4. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock
If you remember the Guitar Hero craze, chances are you first learned of it around the time of Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock's release with its legendary Gibson Les Paul controller included. It's regarded by many as the best in the franchise, going on to be the first video game to ever exceed one billion U.S dollars in sales.
Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock had everything. It was a blast to play, and had arguably the best track list of any rhythm game in history. Its difficulty would propel the franchise into the competitive spotlight, aided by a cultural explosion of the Through the Fire and Flames challenge.
Few games ever get to be as popular as Guitar Hero 3. Neversoft's exemplary execution paid off handsomely.
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3. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
The game that started it all. Before Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, skateboarding was gaining ground at a tremendous pace in America, but there were no quality skateboarding video games to play. Neversoft would change that forever.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater instantly became a smash hit. Its gameplay, visuals, music, and levels were revolutionary at the time. It was a game that prioritized fun with arcade-style gameplay. It would impact young people so heavily that it's cited as a reason for thousands getting into skateboarding.
Yes, the game had Tony Hawk's name on the cover during the height of his popularity—he landed the first X-Games 900 the same year—, but it was popular because it was just really damn good. However, it would best itself the next couple years.
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2. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Next-generation Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was just as good as people hoped. It was the PlayStation 2's first must-own game, continuing to improve upon the formula with more tricks, more skaters, and more challenges.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 added reverts, a major addition for the series which in tandem with manuals allowed players to combo tricks together infinitely as long as they kept up their speed. The Tony Hawk formula was complete.
While Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is the best game in the franchise, it wasn't as big of improvement over its predecessor as our #1 pick...
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1. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 isn't just the best game ever made by Neversoft, it's one of the best games ever made by anyone. The formula of the game that preceeded it would be refined to a point that it was extremely cohesive, and there was a colossal amount of content packed into the game. It was a cultural phenomenon, earning dozens of perfect scores and quickly being ported to a variety of platforms.
There was just something about it. It felt great to skate around shredding on obstacles, constantly earning rewards. The addition of the manual provided combos for twitch-based gameplay. Local multiplayer was extremely enjoyable as a result.
