Session: Skate Sim: All DLC Maps, Ranked

As someone who continues to skate well into their twenties, I know a thing or two about kickflips, 50-50s, and the like. And by extension, I also know a thing or two about skating games.

I have a lot of time for the arcade style, over-the-top action of the THPS series, and I equally adore the true-to-life take brought about courtesy of EA Skate. However, if you’re looking for realism, then nothing compares to Session: Skate Sim.

This phenomenal skating title feels as close to the real thing as possible, making even the most basic lines feel like an achievement. Which is accented by the wonderful real-world locales you have at your disposal to skate to your heart’s content.

That being said, the best skate spots tend to be found in this game’s DLC map content, and lucky for you, I know each of these maps inside and out.

I’m going to rank each of the Session DLC maps, allowing you to make an informed decision about which ones are worth spending money on and which aren’t worth tearing up.

6 Prague

A Slavic Session

Sadly, the most recent DLC map, Prague, which was released just a few days ago at the time of writing, is a bit of a bust. Prague is a very pretty map, and it has some nice stair sets, ledges, and DIY additions.

But the problem is that, when you strip it back and look at it for what it is, it’s just a park. The base game has an abundance of these park areas, and almost every one of them is more interesting than Prague.

Unless you’re really into technical ledge lines, there isn’t an awful lot of fun to be had here, and there aren’t any standout or distinct spots that make the map a location you’ll return to time and time again.

It kind of feels like one of those parks you’d end up throwing together yourself in the THPS park editor. There is far too much open space and not enough standout areas to fixate on for hours on end. It’s not awful, but it’s the only park I would say isn’t worth the money.

5 Phat Nugget Mall

No Mall Grabs Allowed

I might get a little heat for putting the Abandoned Mall map so far down on this list, and to an extent, I get that. aesthetically, it’s incredible and feels like a love letter to the Mall level in the original THPS.

However, this map is a little too dilapidated for its own good. Many of the slopes and drops are hard to skate consistently, and the verticality of the map due to the various floors doesn’t really mesh with the game’s mechanics.

It’s also very tricky to put together lines and get into a flow state, as you’ll constantly need to hop off your board to get where you need to go.

It’s very compact, but the upside is that it does have little pockets of brilliance, like the neon corridor with neat ledges, rails, and curved benches. Not to mention holes in the floor and well positioned kickers for gnarly drops.

If there was a little less crap lying around, and it was a little more spacious, it would be a brilliant map to just zip around, but despite having its moments, it’s a map that looks the part but fails to deliver.

4 Paris

Patiner et détruire

Next, we have Paris, which was released around the time of the Paris Olympics, where skateboarding enjoyed its second appearance at the age-old sporting event.

This map has some of the same issues as Prague, with a lot of vast open spaces and some rough around the edges spots. But it more than makes up for it with a wealth of eye-catching spots that are fun to skate, and a variety of different obstacles.

You have the Siene bank with nice ledges and drops, you have the incredible overlook of the Eiffel Tower with great ledges, stair sets and banks, and you even have a park area with a modern take and a bowl that’s loads of fun to skate, albeit with some minor issues on account of the games trouble with transition.

All in all, it’s a phenomenal real-world locale worth skating and has enough variety to warrant a purchase.

3 The Sewers

Skaters In A Half Shell

You would have thought that with the TMNT crossover being a free DLC update, the associated map would be a little less grand in scale when compared to the paid DLC.

But surprisingly, this map is one of the better DLC offerings and provides an awesome, flowing skating gauntlet run through two huge sewage pipes of your choosing, each leading to an underground skate park with lots of amazing obstacles.

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It’s the blend of ways that players can engage with this one that makes it so great. You can bomb down each pipe akin to Downhill Jam and hit ledges and ramps as you go. Or you can get technical and hit the park section to piece together an intricate line.

Not to mention, all the cool graffiti and TMNT crossover content is a welcome bonus. For free DLC, you really are spoiled by this one, so pick the turtle of your choosing and get stuck in.

2 Chris Cole’s Waterpark

Slip & Slide

Our runner-up feels like Session doing its best EA Skate impression, and trying to replicate Danny Way’s Super Ultra Mega Park. It’s not quite as obscenely over the top as that, but it’s definitely as close as Session can do without throwing realism out the window.

This waterpark is a huge map with a lot of nooks and crannies with awesome obstacles to skate. Naturally, you’ll want to hit the slides first, because you’re only human, but there’s much more to this map than a couple of colorful waterslides.

There’s a bunch of awesome DIY elements to the park, there’s some great banks and stair sets, there’s so much verticality in the best way possible, allowing you to go at obstacles at speed, and the place looks incredible, too.

The only thing that stops this place from taking the top spot is that a lot of the things that look most fun to skate in this park are the least satisfying as the game isn’t transition-oriented, leading to some parts of the park that feel very awkward to skate. But the fact that you get to roll around as the legend that is Chris Cole somewhat makes up for that.

1 Schoolyard

As someone that played a lot of Skater XL before hopping over to Session, I still miss rolling around Easy Day High School. It was an amazing map, but I would argue that Session’s Schoolyard DLC might be just a smidge better.

You have everything you could ever want here, bleachers for long grinds, gnarly stair sets, ledges on raised banks, and plenty of techy spots for flowing lines.

However, the real star attraction here is the legendary stair set, El Toro. Any skater who knows their stuff knows how daunting El Toro is, and being able to take in on and own the spot yourself is a wonderful thing.

It’s a map that allows you to channel your inner Daewon Song and rule the school, and for me, it’s the best map that Session: Skate Sim has to offer by some distance.