Tony Hawk's Underground is Special 

You forgot the alternate ending. There's one were you walk away with the tape and another were you knock Eric out.

The bam stuff hits hard man, viva la bam was a huge part of my childhood

Surprisingly melancholic look at time and art that is lost and can only be recreated through incomplete looking glasses and the weight of proceeding knowledge that has added sad context to an otherwise innocent time capsule of youth.

Idk why, but that melancholic ending is so... cathartic. I recently watched the documentary "Tony Hawk: Until The Wheels Fall Off," and it gave me the same vibes near the end. Skateboarding may not be what it once was, nor will it likely ever be that way again. Same with the video game industry. We have our memories and love to look back on and to hold on to

This game is gonna be 20 years old in 2 weeks. I am in tears

I recently played thug for the first time on an actual ps2 and let me tell you I was missing out. It took me back to the old days of me being a kid and just playing a good ass game. I can't even put in words properly how it was like an experience, the mood, the feel, the soundtrack of the game made feel joy again in life

This is the best THUG 1 retrospective on RU-vid hands down, seriously great production value. This struck a huge nostalgia nerve for me

I'm a full adult with kids now and haven't played this since it came out but I will NEVER forget the betrayal and vindication of this games story and that rat bastard "friend". It hit at the perfect time of my life where skating and ps2 were all I had to worry about. And the customization affected many board purchases through my life.

This game will be 20 years old in October

Tony Hawks Underground will always have a special place in my heart. Give THUG 1 the remaster it deserves!!

Holy freaking crap, this was such a solid breakdown of the history and THUG. Your music choices and editing brought a ton of feeling to the script. Well freaking done sir!

How have you not gotten a bigger following here? Your content is fantastic!

Feels like yesterday. But its 18 years since me and the neighborhood skate kids lives revolved around skateboarding, video games and having fun. Actually thought about getting rid of my skateboard since my dad passed 2 weeks ago. Things that once meant everything now just bring back memories.

The fact that this game has so much love from an entire generation of gamers but has so little hope of being remade is heart wrenching. THUG updated would be insane now a days.

It's by far the best TH game IMO. It had a legit story mode that felt like a movie.

Your skating history is exactly the same as mine. I couldnt ollie, riding a board felt like a death wish - so I filmed and loved it. I spray painted a HIM heartagram on my board. I wanted to be Ville Valo so bad. Now im a fat fuck 28 year old and hopefully going to actually try sometime within the next year, pads and all.

The THPS games were a huge part of my childhood. Chances were, about %50 of the time, there was a Tony Hawk game in the disc tray/slot at any given time. THUG was and still is the best in the series in my opinion. It felt like the natural progression, for years, we've been playing as pros in the games, but now, we could make ourselves in the game and become one. It was the first game in the series that felt like more than just another yearly update, as Activision was becoming known for doing. THUG2 and THAW are great for their own reasons, but the original THUG captured the amateur skateboarding culture which was missing from the series.

Chad muska is currently putting a skate park in my area and also his hometown Lorain Ohio , he seriously is such a good genuine man

First time viewer I have to say this was fantastic big fan of Tony, hawk underground. Glad there’s a community that share my same views.

Absolutely loved this video! I actually live around the same area as you, so seeing that skatepark in the beginning was super funny. THUG is one of my most beloved video games from my childhood, me and my brother have beaten it multiple times and it will always hold a special place in my heart. Your video encapsulated that nostalgia and charm perfectly, please keep making videos like this cause you got a gift for it.

Awesome video , just pulled this out to play after almost 15 years. Awesome game and brings back so much nostalgia. Love the Hawaii level

This needs WAY MORE views. Great content man! Keep it up!

I had it on my brother’s GameCube when I was a kid. I fondly remember sitting on his bedroom floor playing it on his small CRT TV then going out to skate afterwards. I recently played the emulated PS2 version last month and I got teary-eyed, because it’s still as good as I remember it being as a kid, and the memories came flooding back.

Wow the relevance is crazy I just started underground yesterday! this was a great video 👏👏

This made me smile:) thanks for this nostalgia trip!

this video deadass had me tearing up, seeing the z boys stuff when you talked about stacy peralta, literally had me in the feels.

Gorgeous light in that end shot. It's the way I remember sk8ting; i remember the light.

THUG is pretty sick. Thanks for making this to bring it to more ppl

beautiful video on such a nostalgic video game for me. i related with pretty much everything you talked about. thanks for making this

you know what brother.. this was a surprisingly enlightening monologue into the inner sanctum of your person that I was, and have been unaware of for years now. I would have never taken you for a skateboarder or someone of that variety in the long time i've known you, as it appeared you had vested interest in other things obviously.. but its incredibly blissful to hear someone else talk about things they hold nostalgically close to their soul. I love your final fantasy videos because as its one of my favorite game series ever, its ALSO one of my favorite THINGS, ever.. and i can close my eyes anytime and recall how i felt as a little kid playing through those worlds, and hearing those soundtracks.. meeting those heroes and considering them my real friends..my mentors who would guide me into being a powerful and strongwilled person, who would never falter in the face of fear and adversity. I cherish the feelings and memories those worlds gave to me in my youth and hearing you speak so lovingly on something you consider so innate to who you were and are, i teared up man.. this is your best video, by leagues, and its not the editing.. or the script.. brother its YOU! speaking YOUR truth through the lenses of YOUR human experience and how these worlds gave you something that you carry with you even today.. be it swords or skateboards, you learned something and felt something and you explain it so vividly clear here. i genuinely hope you do more content like this Drewbs.. this was incredibly beautiful and i hope that you never feel sorrowful for loving the things you love. dont let anybody tell you that the things that shaped you, arent worth it. they are. love ya man.

OH MAN YOURE IN BRADENTON!! I used to skate that bowl like 3 days a week when I lived there back in 2020. Love that park

What a great essay! You are a very strong and inspiring writer. If skate, XL or sessions had an update with a story mode like THUG, it would be monumental. What I would really love is an RPG aspect that required you to manage worn out equipment and clothes. Bumming hand me downs from the homies. Getting free stuff at demos until you get flow from companies. Different clothes would have perks to ad pop, speed balance, flick, catch and rotation. Mini games to do odd jobs for the skate shop. Events like KOTR and the like.

A phenomenal video, like always.

Great video it really did touch me especially talking about element and Bam Margera, I was a big fan.

This game is so nostalgic for me, it brings back very good memories. I played it now and then on PC where you can add your face to the character. Amazing game, silly but kinda real story. Good job man

Neat secret I discovered un umpteen playthroughs of THUG: When you are confronted by Eric over the tape at the end, you get the skate challenge as he waves the tape between the two of you. When you finish the story and fire up a new game, and play through the story again, this scene changes where Eric says "winner takes the tape" and then taps the tape on your chest - to which you respond by punching him in the face and taking the tape in one swift motion, leaving him knocked out on his car. The final skate challenge is skipped and you go right into the lost footage. Each time you complete the story it alternates between giving you the skate challenge and skipping the challenge. :D

One of my favorite game series of all time. This was my introduction to the series back in 2003. My cousin let me borrow it and I was hooked. I was a skater in my early teens because of this game. I remember being SO HYPED when I would see the commericals for THUG 2 and THAW. Such great times... Take me back

Beautiful video bro. I miss this era so much

Loved the video. The first THUG was my favorite game growing up. I loved the rags to riches story. It felt like I was actually going pro in skateboarding.

Everything you touched on really resonated with me. Seeing that American Wasteland menu screen took me back to 2008, when I had played it (revisited) at around 11 years old. I had just gotten into Green Day and I got really excited to hear Holiday in THAW's soundtrack. When I originally played the game in 2006, i had no idea about Green Day, i wasn't into music. At 11, it was awesome. Being able to skate as Billie Joe Armstrong was so cool to me. Seeing this just took me back to the entire feeling of that time. The way my room looked, still had my CRT TV, coming home from middle school. THUG is still my favorite iteration, hands down. I love a good rags to "riches" (or rags to humble riches) story mode and the customization. Also realizing how the music of these games (along with GTA soundtracks) really shaped my taste.

The abandonware PC Version of THUG is missing the FMVs because it is based on a pirated version that removed the Cutscenes for Space Saving reasons. I think you can simply readd them if you have the original file names Which due to the help of the net ain't hard to do...Might even be able to find Hi Quality versions

Great review mate, very heartfelt - particularly that part about Bam.

Activision did dirty on the franchise, I was introduced to it with 1+2 and kinda fell in love with it, then emulating 3 and playing it 2 times, and now I just finished underground for the first time. You did a good video on the subject, I got a little annoyed with the volume of the music being too loud, but the video itself and the script are pretty good, I hope both the franchise and your channel get the recognition they deserve

I love this game so much, it still holds up. I told myself I was gonna do a playthrough once a year after I played recently

This is so well done. Anyone who has grown up alongside these releases feels the same sentiments you do, myself included. I'll always favour THPS 3 & 4 as they were my gateway games, but I can't forget the new challenges THUG brought in.

super well made video, really brought me back to the good old days of firing up my gamecube and playing through the thug games. My music taste was really shaped by both thug 1 & 2 as well as guitar hero. Miss those days!

I collect old consoles, and whenever, and i mean whenever i plug in my xbox, you bet your sweet ass im throwing in some Underground. Listening to my ripped Pink Floyd and Chili Peppers while skating around the world is just... Nothin beats it man. Nothin.

I remember when I got underground for my 12th birthday. I played it so many times. What a trip down memory lane. Thank you ❤

Great video dude, love the balance between objective review and document and personal nostalgic retrospective

are those skate park shots filmed in bradenton looking into palmetto? i grew up there with thug1 myself and its a very un-talked-about place. my favorite memories are from that area. the mini skate park was implemented about a year before i was forced to move out of that area. never got to check it out. you can reply to this question with anything and then delete it if you feel like im doxxing your location. great video.

Love it that you put Avrils skater boy melody in it ❤. My story was the same: underground 2 brought me in, then I picked up the older ones :). Good times :)

I‘ve they didnt decide to develop more of a freestyle arcade than a downhill race, i wouldnt be commenting here. Thank you! Great History Throwback

I really liked the cup noodle sidequest in FF14. Fun little side adventure that went along with the idea, that I liked about the game, of being a fantasy road-trip. Seeing the sites; experiencing what the world has to offer before settling down. My favorite use of product placement in a game is Pikmin 2.

This was beautiful, thank you.

thug was the one game i had for all 3 consoles at the time. I got it for GC first, then I loved it so much that I got a ps2 online adapter to play online, which was mind blowing at the time, then I ended up getting it for the xbox because it was truly the best running/looking. Now I sometimes play the THUG Pro mod on PC with my friends. It doesn't have story mode, but it does have online mode with maps from most tony hawk games

Great video! Yeah this one has always been my favorite in the series. But it's also the first game I got for my ps2 for that Christmas

Loved this game as a kid too! Great video!

18:59 Glad I’m not the only one who likes “She Said” by Angry Amputees

Bro this was a beautiful video essay

You know, I still have my slim ps2 and Tony Hawks Underground. Though watching your video on this game, you're right, that this game on ps2 is looking fuzzy as far as graphics but plays well still and it's also my favorite Tony Hawk game to this day. I do feel sad that this game is uncertain as far as remastering on the current gen-consoles. I'd love to see this game being remastered. In fact it needs to be remastered. Well I hope they do.

This was so good. Why am I crying omg

No the sk8er boi accordion cover in the background that’s brilliant

lmao the advertising for mcdonalds in both thug1 and two

if we could get one more underground with an amazing story i would be happy

The background music is fucking immaculate

George Powell wasn't really a homemade skateboard maker. He was a laid off aerospace engineer who revolutionized the way skateboards and wheels are made.

Bro, you rock. I found this video just as I'm about to make my very first RU-vid video, on T.H.U.G. Such an incredible breakdown. I'm gonna be sure to shout you out as an inspiration! (Also, I always chose Element in Story Mode, because of Bam. Respect.) This is one of the greatest games ever made. Regardless of age.

i have a shaun white birdhouse poster on my ceiling from when my uncle was a kid it was so cool seeing that little jumpscare of him skating there for the birdhouse video btw the poster is him airing between 2 half pipes

Amazing content, and the writing is incredible.

This game is just amazing

Yes, this is the fifth retrospective of the best skating game ive watched this year. Great job!

❤Been replaying this over Xmas... Love it

Great video, really well said.

The end of this video is really just a prime example of corporate greed, you cant play these amazing old games anymore because the developers want you to pay top price for these new "games" that hardly have any content let alone actually being finished. this reminds me of many franchises where people have to resort to pirating because its not sold anywhere such as nfs midnight club gta and its sad for me that all of these old retro great games that i can enjoy are lost to these big companys that arent what they used to be.. some companys do still have titles released such as id softwares classic doom game which is great and i hope in the future we can see more classic games living once more or maybe developers should take inspiration from what they have done many years ago.. This is a great video and im defiantly subscribing to your channel because your work is great! Amazing video bro!

Great skatepark. For the sake of your privacy I won’t say where it is but I live in the next “big city” over from there and used to make hour drives just to skate there. Instantly recognized it

As someone who’s last name is also Vallely I just wanna thank you for pronouncing it correctly. Made my day.

Man.. This game takes me back to when I was a kid, I was a huge fan of the Tony Hawk games, THUG, aka Tony Hawk Underground, was honestly one of the best games, out of all the ones I played. I remember buying the second Underground game, and honestly was disappointed, yes it was fun, but it didn't have that gritty feel that the first game did, and the story of the first game was better too.

Bam is doing better than he was a year ago. He's skating again!

Dude the first photo, of the skate bowl, that's my hometown park!

This game was so important to me growing up. THUG 2 was also great but even as a kid I knew where the heart and soul of this franchise flourished most. THUG 1. THPS1-4 were all amazing stepping stones in their own right.

I live right by that skate park. Shout out riverwalk

Beautiful video

20 year anniversary!

You did such a good job

I always loved watching the older kids play THUG. I only played it myself a few years ago but the nostalgia was real. Now I started skating last week and I can already ride around fairly ok! Also started a new playthrough in THUG, it just feels right.

21:17 I still got the Fat Ps2 with my original Safecard and original Safes from ProSkater 3 / 4 and Underground 2

what was that last song? Great video!!! I also grew up playing this on Ps2 on a CRT. I miss those days. THUG holds a certain allure the rest could never capture. I tried booting up my ps2 and playing recently but the laser is dead. Id love to give this game one more play thru one day.

This was the only game i played for years. Funny me and 2 of my buddies builts a mini ramp in my back yard at 15. Only thing we messed up on was making,it too short ramp to ramp

Would absolutely love more tony hawk reviews🤘

8 bit Powerman 5000 was awesome nice touch

so glad i've still got my gamecube and this game

Good thing I kept my PS2 and never sold any of my games. I can play this whenever I want, and your video made me want to play it again.

Jesus, i spent so many hours playing this on my ps2 Great, great memories ❤❤❤ This were the times For me , one of the greatest and easiest skate games to play Great, really great memories

this was the first gamecube game i remember owning. huge nostalgia

Huh, I may know your news reporter friend in San Antonio

lol the accordion playing sk8er boi is funny as hell

You’re absolutely right about timing. 2 huge things that had an impact on my childhood was wrestling & the tony hawk series. The peaks of both were during that time.

It features me, the greatest skater of all time!

Dude, almost cried on this video!

then boi I'm glad got this for the ps2