Best Arcade Games Like SSX Tricky

The best arcade games like SSX Tricky are SSX 3, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 and Steep. Below are 8, each with the reason it is here — and, at the end, what filtering to arcade costs you.

Why Arcade Is a Good Answer for SSX Tricky

Filtering to arcade means you want short runs and a score, not a campaign. It is the right filter when what you liked was the one-more-go feeling.

What you get: A complete experience in twenty minutes, and a skill you keep. Arcade design is measured in the moment after you lose.

What made SSX Tricky worth playing in the first place is covered on the full list. This page is the arcade part of that answer, and only the arcade part.

8 Arcade Games Like SSX Tricky

  1. 1. SSX 3

    The peak of the series — one mountain, top to bottom, no loading.

  2. 2. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2

    The other great trick-combo game, remade properly.

  3. 3. Steep

    If you want the mountain to be open and the tricks to stay arcade.

  4. 4. Riders Republic

    The closest current game to SSX's noise and speed.

  5. 5. Rocket League

    For the same trick-scoring rush in a different shape.

  6. 6. Amped 3

    Xbox 360 snowboarding, funnier and stranger than it needed to be.

  7. 7. Shredders

    Modern snowboarding that leans arcade rather than sim.

  8. 8. Jet Set Radio

    Same era, same loud style, same trick-line thinking.

What This Filter Leaves Out

Story and progression. Arcade games repeat on purpose, and if you want to be pulled somewhere they will not do it.

Specifically, these are strong answers for SSX Tricky that are not arcade games, so they are not on this page:

  • Descenders — Downhill on a bike, procedural, and all about flow.

The full list is on games like SSX Tricky — 9 picks, no genre filter.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best arcade game like SSX Tricky?

SSX 3. The peak of the series — one mountain, top to bottom, no loading.

Are all of these on the PlayStation 2?

No. SSX Tricky released on the PlayStation 2, but a recommendation is only useful if you can play it, so the picks above span platforms and eras. What they share is the genre and the reason.

Why are arcade games so hard?

They were designed to end. A machine that let you play for an hour on one coin did not earn its floor space, so difficulty was the business model.

Do arcade games still get made?

Constantly, mostly by small teams. Several of the best beat-em-ups and run-and-guns of the last decade are new games built on forty-year-old design rules.

How are these chosen?

By hand. Each pick was written for the full SSX Tricky list first, on what the game actually does, and this page is the part of that list that is arcade — never a genre tag lookup, which is how "best racing games like Super Mario 64" used to be a page on this site.

Other Angles on SSX Tricky

More Arcade Games Recommendations

Or read the arcade guide for where to start in the genre generally.