The closest games to Skate 3 are Session: Skate Sim, Skater XL and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2. Below, 9 picks with the reason for each — what carries over from Skate 3, and what does not.
Skate's flick-it control scheme moved tricks off the face buttons and onto the right stick, so a kickflip is a gesture rather than a combination. That one decision made the whole series feel like skating instead of like a combo game, and Skate 3 added co-op and a park builder on top.
Skate 3 released on the PlayStation 3. The list below is not restricted to that console — a recommendation is only useful if you can actually play it, so it spans generations and platforms.
The most committed successor — a stick per foot, and no score at all.
Flick-it taken further, with an enormous mod scene.
The other philosophy entirely: combos, timers and score.
Skating as a 2D precision platformer, and beautifully made.
Skating and shooting, with a stunning stylised look.
Downhill on a bike, procedural, and all about flow.
If the trick lines rather than the realism were the appeal.
Grinding a city with the style turned all the way up.
Where the whole grind-a-city genre starts.
Several of these have their own page here: games like SSX Tricky, games like Jet Set Radio.
Session: Skate Sim. The most committed successor — a stick per foot, and no score at all.
Session: Skate Sim, Skater XL and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 are the closest. The full list of Skate 3 similar games is on this page — 9 of them, each with the reason it is here rather than a genre tag that happens to match.
The picks above span platforms rather than sticking to the PS3, because the thing worth copying about Skate 3 is not a property of the hardware. The PS3 list further down is the place to go for more from that library.
Because the thing you liked about Skate 3 is not a property of the hardware. Restricting the list to one console would drop most of the good answers, so the picks above span platforms and eras. If you specifically want more from that library, the PS3 list further down is the place to start.
By hand, one game at a time, on what the source game actually does — its pacing, its movement, its difficulty, its tone. Genre tags alone put Skate 3 next to games that feel nothing like it, so they are not the basis for this list. Each pick carries the reason it is here so you can judge it yourself.
No. The whole list is on this page, free, with no sign-in and no email. We earn a small affiliate commission if you buy through a retailer link, which is what pays for the site.
If you already know what kind of answer you want, these are the same list cut by genre — and each one says what it leaves out as well as what it includes:
More from the PlayStation 3 library, each with its own recommendations page: