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As for the Tony Hawk games, they have multiple assets which make them great games to pick up and play, not the least of which is music exposure. Tony Hawk 2′s soundtrack was a sublime mix of well known (Bad Religion, Naughty By Nature) and lesser known (Millencolin, Swingin’ Utters!) acts, which set the mood of the game well and exposed the millions of players to the kind of music they should be hearing. Plus the gameplay itself appealed to collectors (find all the secrets), perfectionists (max score tricks and combos), and action junkies (just play for thrills) alike.

Before I found a copy of Soul Calibur II in Gamestop, I had THUG2 for Gamecube loaded in my Wii. It’s not bad, but because the format shifted from these short arcade levels to sandboxes where you have to discover and complete obscure missions, it’s really focusing more on the perfectionist player who wants to play the game to learn and master everything about it, rather than me (the action junkie). It’s rather less like pinball, and more like Labyrinth, as steel ball games go.