Tony Hawk's Proving Ground is a sequel to Tony Hawk's Project 8, this time letting the player be able to choose their own storyline by making different choices during the game with the ability to skate in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.

There are four different classes of skaters (Rigger, Hardcore, Career and Street), which influences the story's direction. It also features an expanded Nail-the-Trick system with moves such as Nail-the-Grab and Nail-the Manual, Bowl Carving, Aggro Push, Skate Checking, Climbing/Exploration, Environment Altering, and Rig-a-Kit.

During the game the player can get advice from professional skaters to help mold their own created skater and learn new moves and tricks and has the ability to create their own skate park.

Unlike the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, the PlayStation 2 and Wii editions do not offer online multiplayer but still share the main story. Gameplay is however much different on the PlayStation 2 using the analog controller while the Wii uses the remote and nunchuk during certain motions to pull off various tricks. There are also different characters in these versions.