What RUINED The Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Series?

[@DropsOfMars]

Worth noting for Tony hawk's Pro Skater 1 was the fact that in the exact same year as the launch of the game, Tony Hawk nailed the now famous 900, televised at that prior summer's 1999 x-games. This undoubtedly was a landmark achievement, it added an insane amount of credibility and notoriety to Tony as an athlete but also to the sport of skateboarding-- the fact that it was mere months prior to the game's release definitely helped increase interest.

[@John-Doe-Yo]

For skaters probably but my 5 year old self had no clue about anything skateboarding related. My parents would always rent random games. I fell in love with the game and skateboarding immediately lol.

[@TheSaturdaySpot]

JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN

[@DropsOfMars]

@@TheSaturdaySpot Yes I know, but you're not going to make any headway with people who don't believe by screaming this. If you're a real person, you look like a bot or just an insane person.

[@jaimeabadrodriguez1428]

@@TheSaturdaySpot AMEN

[@DarthKillerRecargado]

I had no idea about this event taking place months before the release! In all honesty, you could even argue the trick was plotted as a marketing tactic on the side! Just imagine how many times Hawk affirmed to himself “pull the trick or else the game sales will fail”

[@flyingferron]

Finally, someone on the internet giving American Wasteland the respect it deserves!

[@vahlok1426]

Wasteland rules, but I only recently got a chance to play it. Now it's my third favorite just next to 3 in second and THUG in first.

[@DarkOverlord96]

Caddicarus did say in his skateboarding games video that it's one of his favorite Tony Hawk games.

[@stevenl3265]

Still play my collector’s edition. 🔥

[@WebMasterGG]

I'm still waiting for the underground 2 praise personally

[@123451234alex]

​​@@WebMasterGG THUG2 is the best game. best maps best gameplay, it isnt my favorite ost maybe like top 5 THPS ost, nd thats saying something

[@ImSquiggs]

Rough take on THPS4... I'd call that the true pinnacle of the series so it's weird to see you slam everything about it, haha. Might be a nostalgia thing, but the controls and levels are great and the open world was way better than being limited to two-minute runs on the level.

[@havelthedeadinside1799]

Their love for the crappy ps1 games are too much to appreciate the wackiness of the 4th and the underground series especially american wasteland

[@Greenleaf_]

As someone who played from the beginning, THP4 on release didn't look exciting and I only every played a borrowed copy from a friend. It was fun but felt way less action packed which really does stem from the lack of timer. It went from feeling like an event at every level to feeling like you're just going around doing chores. The series later did that concept a lot better with thug 1/2 and AW.

[@LG-ro5le]

Thps4 is the best in the series imo even has a London level

[@finestjellybeansrawlol9486]

​@@Greenleaf_I'm playing through 4 now and while there's a lot of great stuff you hit the nail on the head here. It doesn't feel as exciting as 3 and often feels like you're meandering around just going through the motions up until you hit the later levels/pro goals and the difficulty ramps up. The experimentation with skitching, luge segments, mini games, that weird bullseye goal on Alcatraz etc are more miss than hit. Still a great game but feels less relentless than 3 while less focused/dramatic than THUG onwards

[@theobell2002]

THPS4 is definitely up there as my favorite but he's not exactly wrong. THPS4 feels more like a proof of concept for what would later become THUG.

[@Mateus_Carvalho]

What happened? Activision happened. Over and over again. Underground 2 was my entry point and I loved that game... but this was Neversoft's sixth THPS game by then. Sixth yearly game no less. By Project 8, they were knackered and that wasn't even near the end point. Activision just didn't let the series breathe and this is the timeline that we ended up with.

[@Wol1427]

Ended up with an amazing remake of two amazing THPS games..... 🤔🤔🤔 Pretty good timeline tbh....

[@Mateus_Carvalho]

@@Wol1427 Yeah, and a 3+4 dead in the womb. Fucking cheers.

[@kpns93]

@@Wol1427 and then vicarious visions were thrown in the blizzard dlc mines and thps3+4 got canned. timeline ruined again.

[@boblionia]

​@@Wol1427better than getting proper modern sequels? Not at all. I would take good new games over remakes of games I can emulate on a 10 year old phone 🤷🏾‍♀️

[@Sebbromlg]

same thing happened with COD! yearly releases were not a good thing.

[@cowboy4187]

I feel like thug through american wasteland had the best feeling controls. The bert sliding and parkour really added a lot to american wasteland. Also, the bank transfer in american wasteland was very forgiving, which was fun.

[@TheLarryburns84]

that soundtrack got me into several of those mid aughts emo bands. some punk bands too, even a couple rappers. the last truly great one all round I feel (not counting the THPS 1/2 remaster set)

[@hhgreg2969]

Bank Drops don't get enough appreciation. Being able to drop to the ground with a burst of speed over any slanted surface really opened up the possibilities in a level in a cool way. Same with stalls and being able to instantly halt your momentum and change direction.

[@rogerbee1234567]

nada spin, air rolls, double jump, the level of freedom kept increasing and peaked with american wasteland, i just wish the levels were more classic like thug

[@DioBrandoWRYYYYYY]

I think there's also the fact skateboarding hit peak popularity in the late 90s early 2000s, which also coincided with the peak for MTV.

[@miserablew1zrd916]

Maybe you did but Skateboarding hasn't peaked. This series birthed a new generation of profound skaters, arguably some of the greatest to ever live and it's still progressing. Skateboarding is in the Olympics now, that's nothing to sneeze on.

[@DioBrandoWRYYYYYY]

@@miserablew1zrd916 When I say "peaked" I didn't mean it as "the competitive pinnacle of the sport", I meant it more as in "peak cultural relevance as part of the zeitgeist". And it has less to do with skateboarding specifically and more that the 00s were the last time there was a monoculture.

[@Skater6453]

The op of this is correct. As a Skateboarder myself still a bit to this day. Not as much as when I was younger cause injuries are catching up with me. But I can say it is the case it peaked in 97 to about 2006. And there is no denying its fallen off since. Yes its in the Olympics and is still very relevant. But it is not the juggernaut of main stream like it used to be. And thats cause of several factors and timing of other things hitting their peaks at the same and falling off at around the same time as well. Like the rebellious nature of the world, Jackass, CKY, Bam Margera himself, Eric Koston, Tony Hawk and The 900, Xgames, Tony Hawks Gigantic skatepark tours, THPS and Underground Games, EA Skate Series, The brands and new style skate vids like Yeah Right and 16 Below, Malls and Stores carrying more of the brands, and more Skateshops and parks, etc, etc, could go on all day.There were so many skateboarding and skateboarding related things rising during that time. That main stream couldnt help but notice. But it still kept its roots during those years and was mostly popular with the people really throwing themselves into the sport and the culture. Then after that it started to get too mainstream. To where it wasnt the popular rebelious thing to be into anymore. And the roots and its followers started to fall off or fade away or or sell out and become a mockery of what they once were like Rob Dyrdek or even worse for people like Bam, lives falling apart. Stuff like celebrities skateboarding and things like the olympics are actually whats hurting it more then helping by being too "normal" nowadays.

[@DioBrandoWRYYYYYY]

@@Skater6453 Pro wrestling hit peak cultural relevance at the same time as skateboarding did, and it had a very similar anti-authoritarian attitude during that time, and it also fell off around the same time. And just like skateboarding, it's not like it ever went anywhere. It's still there, it still has fans and a future, but it doesn't change the fact that when people think of skateboarding, they'll think of Tony Hawk and Jackass, and it's going to take a long time for anyone else to replace them as who people think of when they think of what skateboarding is.

[@zeroattentiongaming820]

​@@DioBrandoWRYYYYYY I highly doubt anything will reach the kind of cultural status of Tony Hawk again. As you said, skateboard culture peaked years back and Tony Hawk was the face of that culture. Skateboarding, the Jackass crew and the MTV era came together to create a counter culture that was peak early to mid 2000s. It's mainstream now but I don't see such a perfect storm of things coming together to ever make it culturally relevant enough for someone to reach the levels of fame and iconic status that Tony Hawk had.

[@dakotarice1849]

The pro skater n Twisted Metal games with Crash was my childhood

[@Rhinestone_Radio]

For me it was THPS,Crash1-3,spyro 1-3,Wild 9,Gt2,Driver,TM3 and Destruction Derby 2 god i miss the ps1 era of gaming

[@shanetaylor761]

Smash Bros, golden eye, street fighter 2, ssx tricky, and Mario where those games for me. Also did you ever play vigilante 8? That was the original twisted metal for me.

[@Rhinestone_Radio]

@@shanetaylor761 V8 is god tier on the n64

[@khill64]

Add Diablo and wrestling games and same lol

[@clint6716]

​@@Rhinestone_RadioGT2 was so good

[@matthewbandieri7317]

THPS4 and THUG were my two favorites as a kid. Loved the story in THUG.

[@1SoSoTopic]

agreed, dear brother

[@Matanumi]

Never played 4 it seemed out of place with massive levels and individual goals

[@Tens_VSM]

THUG always stands out to me heavily because it featured my home town. Skating around Balboa Park and San Diego blew my mind as a kid

[@AlryFireBlade]

Lucky, when you live in another Country, like me in germany, you didn't knew this were real Citys, until you get told xD

[@slxxpyhollow]

I think it's crazy, and really cool how people can have such different opinions. I love every minute of THUG, it's my favorite Tony Hawk game by far.

[@moonposture5542]

same!!! i always wish Skate had taken on a drama-driven narrative the way THUG did.

[@rednecktruthspouter3485]

💯 that's mine too

[@RustyZonda]

Me too

[@lakewestchase]

He nailed everything but thug games

[@1SoSoTopic]

yeeeeeahhh once he got to THUG i was like 😅😅😅 nahhh bruh getting off the board was legendary and it had the best create a park and story felt amazing soundtrack....

[@planescaped]

"games were seen as juvenile to a wider audience. Something that kids did." This, and that was the less severe era. People think I'm lying when I say that when I was a kid in the early 90's, saying you played games got you bullied and made fun of for being a loser nerd. While my older brother legit had to hide his commodore 64 in the garage and cover it with a towel when friends from the football team came over lest he be ostracized, as playing games in his day could get you your ass kicked. Kids these days can't fathom such a reality.

[@adewilson132]

That was definitely a case by case basis but was by no means the rule. Plenty of teens played video games in the early 90s and didn't get bullied or made fun of. The Mortal Kombat arcade machines would be crowded with teens.

[@desuretard8654]

Dude, it's a commodore 64 in the early 90s.

[@planescaped]

@@desuretard8654 Sorry, my older brother is 12 years older than me. And yeah plenty of kids did play arcade machines, but what I am saying is that it was definitely not the socially accepted/cool thing despite what advertising of the time, and hindsight might lead one believe and remember. Attitudes changed very vast though, but I was just on the edge of that final "class of" that saw games as being for losers. Girls especially did. A big part of why the whole "tits or GTFO" and girls don't use the internet thing were so widespread in the 00's.

[@jevinday]

For me, 4 and THUG are my favorites. I get the appeal of the timer, but I loved being able to skate around the levels and explore without having a timer. The addition of Rodney Mullen's flatground tricks and all of the videos made them way more appealing to me. I grew up playing the first 3, I was 7 the first time I played THPS and immediately made my dad go buy me a skateboard. But those are my favorites. Great video

[@IITaDHGdALToNII]

4 was an amazing game, I think sandbox is better than 2 mins constantly restarting

[@jevinday]

@@IITaDHGdALToNII I agree. The Alcatraz level was my favorite. I spent what felt like hours just exploring it. I also liked the campy humor of the characters in the more story driven games. It did start to fall apart after THUG2 though

[@aplenope]

24:23, I wanted to comment on this because American Wasteland has the BIGGEST EXCUSE for being wacky. Underground 1, kind of wacky but semi-believably. Underground 2 though had Bam Margera committing acts of terrorism across the world, which is kind of ironic because he is now wanted by the Philadelphia Police Department. However American Wasteland, in the story takes place in a comic. In the starting intro, it shows a dude picking up the comic of American Wasteland, and a handful of cutscenes take place through a heavily artistic artstyle. This game has the BIGGEST excuse for being extremely absurd, and I congratulate it for at least having a reason for being wacky.

[@zeroattentiongaming820]

Fucking tragic what happened with Bam. Part of him died with Ryan Dunn and it was all seriously downhill from there, gotta wonder how different things would be if Dunn was still around. Sure he'd probably still be a crazy dick, but I doubt he'd be the complete disaster he is now.

[@Quesly1]

man I cannot believe you called Philly in THPS2 boring. If you're actually intersted in skateboarding and the culture surrounding it Philly is such a cool level. The two main spots in Philly's map are massively culturally important spots to skateboarding. Love park is one of if not the most iconic skate spots ever and FDR is a major DIY that has a huge amount of history to it. It might not translate the best because ledge skating in the Tony Hawk series isn't really a thing but the fact that the level was that accurate especially at that time in skateboarding was really huge. The reason you drain the fountain is because the city of Philadelphia would drain the fountain every winter and people would skate the fountain gap.

[@DB-fn3fz]

That's because people need to be entertained by dynamic props and features that take away from the art of skating. Philly is a great street-skating level because it requires creativity. It's like a blank canvas compared to all of those obnoxiously overdesigned international levels in the successive games.

[@Matanumi]

Yeah Philadelphia was fine

[@charleschamp9826]

I'm from a southern area of the United States that still is very rural, that never had any places to skate, and back in those days there was no exposure to the sport due to being pretty dang isolated and the population being generally very poor, most could not afford cable. So no MTV, ESPN, or any other channel I can think of that'd show skateboarding of any sort. When the PS1 Tony Hawk games came out a lot of kids in my school thought skateboarding was some fantasy sport made up for the game. Kinda funny looking back.

[@OrbitalDropper]

5:52 Do not forget Millencolin! Millencolin's No Cigar is imo one of the best songs or even the best of the franchise, along with Committed, Cyco Vision, The Worlds Collide and You. And yeah, you mentioned Powerman 5000 there, I know.

[@Gatorade69]

Yeah, that's the song that comes to mind when I think of #2.

[@BladeOpotato]

Never clicked on one of your vids faster than this one! Love your vids but was hyped for some THPS coverage. It's a shame we may not get any more of these in the future, but the memories live on!

[@GottaBeFrank]

I remember playing so much Pro Skater 2 on Sega Dreamcast. Pro Skater 4 is a game I've rented in the past, but it's one where I could never remember what it was like. THUG had its moments and I loved most of the gameplay. American Wasteland was fricking awesome! I absolutely love going through the story mode. I never played Tony Hawk's Ride because the included controller never worked. At least the 2020 remake of 1 & 2 kicked ass.

[@TBP]

The rest of the MS don't often comment on my videos, so it's weirdly heartwarming to see you here.

[@roadrash2005]

I had Tony hawk pro skater 2 on pc, and I’ll say it’s a really unique experience to land tricks using a joystick haha

[@jeremyfraga5235]

It will forever be painful to hear non-skaters speak on skate video games.

[@Terrtail]

I believe that getting rid of the 2 minute timer was a really good thing, because personally i would like to keep riding instead of being forced to stop after only 2 minutes. And i think the franchise took a dive since THUG2 where it started having more of a "Jackass" style.

[@egoman56]

Agreed, and there is a very good reason it never came back in other popular skateboarding games. It felt too "Arcady," and tbh sometimes you just want to tricks.

[@youthofnauseanecrotron5032]

On the subject of Tony Hawk levels irl I went to Balboa Park about 2 years ago completely unaware that it was the place that the San Diego level in THUG (my favorite level in my favorite game) was based off of and it blew my whole entire mind. I had no idea that any of these levels were so closely based on real life locations, the layout of the place was nearly exact and it was a massive trip being somewhere I've never been before and yet knowing it so intimately.

[@ImSquiggs]

That’s a super cool experience haha

[@davidhill7691]

From the music, to the graphics, to the sometimes janky gameplay, and of course Bam Margera saying "look at these tanks" THUG is the perfect time capsule of the early 2000's and I love it.

[@xShinigamiRyukuux]

Tony Hawk said there was talk at Vicarious Visions about remakes of THPS3+4, but after being acquired by Blizzard, it was pretty much cancelled.

[@Matanumi]

Talks resurfaced again for the 25 year

[@imillnotsick420]

It was legit illegal to skate in the town I lived in while growing up in the 90s/early 2000s.

[@dcpunisher4781]

How many Officer Dicks were in your town? Assume The Position!!!

[@PHDDude13]

THPS 2, 4 and THUG 2 were my favorites. I still remember the unlock all cheat for 4 to this day

[@planescaped]

THUG 2 was the most fun game in the entire series IMO.

[@monasteryfounder]

WATCH_ME_XPLODE iirc.

[@CoupSounds]

Agreed 100%. Everything after THUG 2 just didn't feel the same to me.

[@omgness14]

You forgot to mention how Tony Landed the 900 right before the game came out, which did a huge boost for the games momentum. Literally Tony called the team at Neversoft after he did it and was asking for them to put it in the game while the team was already on it stating “You rule”

[@Matanumi]

Yeah I think Tony had that extra special move and it was worth the most points a single move could be in the game (not a grab or grind)

[@jonathaneleser8071]

I spent countless hours on American wasteland just building custom parks. Don’t forget this was one of the first games made where if you had an Xbox, you could actually play the songs stored in your hard drive inside the game. It was completely revolutionary.

[@dovifan468]

I hate that 4 is usually overlooked/looked down on. Maybe unpopular opinion, but as a kid I hated the 2 minute timer, so I have the fondest memories of 4. I played countless hours of it on the ps2, and is my favorite one looking back on the series, granted with a heavy amount of nostalgia.

[@milkymoo3999]

One of my proudest accomplishments is 100%’ing Pro Skater 4 on Xbox twice (and I actually have pics to back it up). While I agree that it did lead to the end of the series’ strongest peak, I’m happy we got it, Underground, and the predecessors. Good stuff all around

[@cringer8107]

Manualing the bridge railing in chicago ;)

[@MightyRyan1337]

Got into the series kinda late so I'm definitely in the minority but THPS 4 is my favorite. Put countless hours in that game, I loved exploring the maps which felt huge at the time. I feel like having a timer would have took some of that appeal away.

[@boltgunmetal]

So weird to see the spine transfer glazed over, that alongside the manual were the two best mechanic upgrades to the edition. Currently playing thps3 and can't stop hitting R2 over transfer lines. Not being able to air from one transition to another was a crucial aspect of real life skating the games were missing out on. 3 is OK, airport level is sick but not a patch on 2 and 4's locations overall.

[@DevanMistVlogs]

As someone who almost literally grew up at the skatepark, the THPS games were absolutely iconic. Skateboarding was my life through my teens; competitions, filming skate vids, watching the premiers of the videos from pro teams, hanging out at the skate shop, demos, making roadtrips to every park in my home state, building ramps, spending 6+ hours/day at the park, and, of course, the video games. It's crazy to hear how other people perceived the series because my experience with the series was very different than the opinions protrayed in this video. Where the creator points out THPS4 as the start of the problems, I remember that one being significantly better than the 3 before it. To me, that's when an already good franchise became even better. 1, 2, and 3 were great games, but I remember playing 4 more than any of the previous releases when it came out. I particularly liked the change from having a two minute timer to the open world quest style gameplay because it meant that I got to play for longer periods without stopping. It felt less like an arcade game and more like some skater exploring their city. In terms of THUG and THUG2 allowing you to do things other than skateboard, I also felt like this was a welcome addition. These sections of the games really felt like they drew inspiration from things like Viva La Bam and the Jackass crew, both of which were intimately linked to the skateboarding scene; or at least the scene I was a part of. It gave the games that sort of "mess stuff up and have fun while wrecking the city" type of feel and humor which resonated with a lot of skateboarders. They also added a lot of pro skaters that were popular at the time not just as playable characters, but story characters. It felt like you got to interact with the pros a little bit which was nice. To me, I never experienced the lack of identify the creator talks about in this video. It was the franchise evolving in a way that included more of the real-life skate scene and I remember feeling absolutely hyped when I played these games for the first time. Seeing the stories with the pro skaters was awesome. It was like a bunch of my childhood heros all came together to create something just for me and my friends. American Wasteland was probably one of the most forgettable games in the series for me personally. I could barely remember any of the locations or the story the creator featured in the video. RIP Carlsbad though. In my opinion, Project 8 was the best example of smooth and seamless skateboarding in the entire series. this game and THPS4 are tied for my two favorite games of the series and I spent significantly longer playing both of them than any of the other entries. I remember the nail-the-trick feature as being really cool and innovative at the time. I don't agree that this was an example of the series treading water. For me, it was a revival of the series and a welcome change after American Wasteland. The idea of competing with other skaters to get on the team really resonated with me as I was someone who took part in multiple competitions as a teenager. I think Proving Grounds was the only game in the series that I never actually got a chance to play. I can say though that seeing a young Nyjah Houston brings back a lot of nostalgia as I got to meet him during a local Element demo when he still had his dreads. Downhill Jam was absolute trash. There definitely was, and I guess still is, a scene for skateboard racing, but it's much much smaller than the regular skateboarding scene. It used to be more popular when skateboarding was in its infancy but it became clear very quickly that doing tricks on skateboards was much more entertaining for most people than racing. I remember being excited about Ride and thinking that it had great potential in concept, but when I actually tried it I remember it being extremely clunky and not very accurate to how skateboarding is actually done in the real world so that killed it for me. The SKATE series was another one that I thought was going to be really good but I just couldn't get into it. As much as it was more realistic (still nowhere near realistic enough for me), I just straight-up enjoyed the feeling of playing the Tony Hawk games more. The SKATE series for me feels more like I'm playing with a virtual tech deck than actually skateboarding. Despite the Tony Hawk games being significantly less realistic, they somehow felt closer to actual skateboarding to me.

[@BRZguy]

I think the physics change with Project 8 is really what did it in. By then, people have moved on to the more realistic Skate series, and the physics in the next Tony Hawk games were just not up to par with the worst of it being HD and 5. When THPS1+2 brought back the original physics, it was automatically a good game. Sure it was a remake, but it proved that the problem was mainly gameplay related.

[@ApotheosiZ]

I checked out after Project 8 but that has a lot to do with EA Skate being such a compelling successor. I really loved the THPS series, got THPS1 when I 1st started skating, I never had THPS2 & 3 but my friends had them and we would play it extensively all the time that it feels like I did own it (I completed all the challenges & played all the levels). I had THPS4, THUG, THUG2, American Wasteland and Project 8 (ended up with project 8 because it got stuck in my ps3 and ended up just owning by the time I could return it to blockbuster). THPS4 was fun and definitely was the end point for the current arcade format they had. Thug 1 & 2 almost feel like one game to me with how they just sort of blended into each other. American Wasteland seemed very inspired by Lord's of Dogtown & punk rock (lol and even emo) culture both in attitude & aesthetics. Project 8 felt very bland, like they tried to go back to the thps format but they had already created a culture with the themes of Thug & American Wasteland. I have hard time remembering Project 8, I don't even know if I finished all the challenges but the moment EA Skate came out I jumped ship, I found Skate way more enjoyable, the physics & trick mechanics were so much more interesting. There was a lot arcade aspects about THPS that use to drive me insane, I hate how you would just have perpetual motion when you held down the ollie button and that you couldn't ride up a bank wall do a trick and ride back down. All those things I wanted from a skateboarding game was there in EA Skate, so to me EA killed THPS series for me along with the lack of new ideas.

[@Sisren86]

"from 2 to THUG" sounds like the title of a lost track from Compton days of rap.

[@AJF1995]

4 is the best one. Having the freedom without the timer and the addition of different skaters, also great maps

[@theobell2002]

Only someone who can't get all objectives in 1 run would have this opinion. 😊

[@shaqodom2027]

I wish you would do a long form breakdown of thug 1,2 and American waste land.. I like the tight and concise break downs but I wouldn't mind see you give more of a critical analysis of the series. Level for level, bar for bar, word for word, I wanna here what young tactical bacon thought about these games, all that aside good on you mate. This is a classic.

[@brettrossi034]

Ill be honest, im surprised not a lot of people show love to THPS4. I loved that game when i was younger on my PS2. Id put it in my top 4 with THPS2, 3 THUG and 4. Those 4 i sunk the most hours into

[@Str8outta604]

I've got THPS3, THUG 1+2 and AW, Proving Ground all on disc and 1+2 Digital..Still hop on them weekly

[@bojackbojackbojack]

38 years old here. I bought "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" for PS1 the week it came out when I was in 8th grade. I quickly learned how to beat anyone in a 2 minute run - Exhaust all of your grab-tricks, nail your "Christ Air"s with Rune Glifberg until they're worthless, and then finish with that level's best grinding-combo. That being said, the BEST game in the entire franchise is "Tony Hawk's Underground". I got that the week it came out when I was 18 years old. When I found out you could jump off your board and connect it to any combo, I was sold. I STILL consider that the BEST game in the entire series and I STILL play it. I could wreck anyone in here in that game. I also bought "Tony Hawk's Underground 2" the night it came out the night before my birthday, October 4th. I remember it like it was yesterday. Unfortunately, "THUG 2" was just a bit too cartoony and the only things they added to it were "Sticker Slap", which was just a clunkier Wallplant, and that pointless "Natas Spin". But they also let you do flips in the air while doing grab-tricks, but that just made me dizzy and it was harder to land while I was just focused on transferring and landing and reverting at the same time. Anyways - Great video. I've been playing these games since the beginning. The last one I played was "Project 8", but the magic was just gone for me by then. Not the same. See ya.

[@captain_cheezus5186]

i'm disappointed a slab of bacon with a laser sight isn't using that Ride board

[@mazssj]

I would argue that the series was ran into the ground by Activision releasing yearly major titles and releasing on the mobile platforms as well. If Neversoft had longer dev time they could have fleshed the ideas presented a lot more and also work on new directions for the series. In an alternate history after THPS3 they didnt release 4 and use that time to reinvent the series more than they achieved with THUG.

[@BenderWaffles]

After Proving Ground, Neversoft took over the Guitar Hero franchise from Harmonix, who had to give it up because they were bought out by MTV Games while the GH series was owned by Activision. Neversoft wound up making 7 GH games (III, Aerosmith, World Tour, Metallica, 5, Band Hero, and Warriors of Rock) before becoming a support studio tasked with helping on Call of Duty games (they worked on MW3, Ghosts and Advanced Warfare), after which they were shuttered. So arguably, while the waning interest and eventual knee-capping of the TH series did serious damage to the studio, it was arguably actually the downfall of the GH series that killed Neversoft.

[@wickedishiccy7621]

I feel, maybe based on nostalgia, that the THUG series was peak tony hawk. American wasteland is the assend if you will to that peak, pushing that game engine to it's limits, and if any game deserves a remake it's definitely American wasteland.

[@paidactoriam]

Just imagine if GTA VI put a skateboarding as a free mode in the game. All those ledges, staris, gaps and rails across LS, LC, VC...lol. Btw, tnx for the effort to put this video up!

[@TwoGunToast]

THUG 1 + 2 and American Wasteland were probably my favorite on the series that i played the most.

[@JWUniverse]

Been a Fan of Tony Hawk since the first Game still remember going to buy it…. And the second one. Didn’t play the Third Game till after I completed THPS4. I slowly collected the other Games as Retro Collecting!

[@thomaspickin9376]

You said something like "When you focus more on the other things and less on the Skating things might be going downhill". Just makes me think of Skate 4 when they keep talking about how they want to focus on offboard mechanics for people who aren't skaters or aren't that into skating...

[@thetruth5232]

No hope in EA. Skate 3 already felt like a sellout. There was nothing it did better than 2. It felt like a soul-less board selling simulator.

[@theobell2002]

Skate 4 is looking fantastic. What are you talking about?

[@craftybaboon]

I grew up playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater on my Dreamcast. I was so young though, I could never get past the mall. When I finally played Thug1 I was still so small my thumbs couldn't even reach the analog sticks. However, because of the difficulty selection and the ability to get off your board, Thug 1 was the first Tony game I was able to beat. So, I agree with the observation that Thug1 was more accessible to the younger generations.

[@sariaflores5050]

I got Tony Hawk Ride for christmas and was stoked. I tried for 2 weeks to get the board to calibrate, got a replacement board and still couldnt calibrate it. Never even got to try the game.

[@robred123s]

Man, I remember never being able to jump the helicopter in Hawaii.

[@skibot9974]

The place I got my haircuts at when I was little had a PlayStation 1 and some games to play while you get your haircut. One of the pro skater games was available. I THINK it was 3 on account of the other two games they had (Harry Potter and the Phikospher’s Stone and Scooby Doo Cyber Chase) being released 2001 like 3, but I’m not entirely sure. This means Tony Hawk was one of the first games I ever played, despite that I haven’t played any of the games since. Since I was 4 or 5 I had no idea how to play nor did I know who this Tony Hawk guy was so I stuck with the series I knew and never looked back. Though you and Liam Triforce are making a good arguments to give the series (more specifically the first 3 or 4 games) another chance

[@e93sports80]

IMO it was Project 8 where things started to go downhill for the series.

[@zacharygreenawalt7119]

Dude project 8 on ps2 is a banger. I loved that game. The physics feel almost completely different to me

[@DasE30Cuz]

I remember getting RIDE with a PS3 slim for Christmas and feeling incredibly bad when I told my parents that I wasn't going to play it because of how bad I heard it was. I think the price tag said $90! I was like "I'm so sorry but please just return it and get your money back." Lengthy background: I'm 30 and my first console was a PS2 in like 2003/4, so my first Tony Hawk game was a used copy of Pro Skater 4. I had already been skateboarding by this point, so I really enjoyed mostly free-skating in the subsequent games. THAW was my favorite, but then Project 8 was when it started to feel weird. A friend had Proving Grounds on the 360 and I hated it. I remember playing Skate 1 on a PS3 demo at Circuit City so the Tony Hawk franchise had been tainted, especially since my PS2 wasn't working for a couple years before getting that PS3. I still play Skate 2 and 3 on my Series X all time, but I'm hopeless on the THPS1+2 reboot.

[@COMMANDandConquer199]

This series was a huge part of my childhood. I started with 2 and played every one after that except for 4 and Proving Grounds. I loved 2 and 3, but honestly Project 8 stuck with me the most. I loved that game, man. I can't imaging the hours I put into that game.

[@Mobik_]

Imagine how IRRELEVANT was Proving Ground that I wasn't even aware of its existence 💀 and I even played Downhill Jam. My favorite game is THPS 3... I even got it a few weeks ago for my N64 and I loved it just like the time I played over the PSOne. THPS 2 was clearly the peak of the franchise and the one that everyone will remember and I even got it for GBA.

[@xq1234wzts]

What not everyone knows is that Demo of THPS1 allowed combining tricks. You could make a backflip and add while doing it kickflips or grabs. I played that demo so much that after I got the full version I felt something was off and I could not connect as many tricks as before. I really did not like addition of manuals. They added freedom but the planning of best route was destroyed. In THPS1 you had to find perfect route and it was part of the experience. Manual in theory expanded that but you had the impression they were safety nets more than a feature.

[@sigmachud9092]

THPS 2 was just perfect at the time. even when 3 came out, i liked it but 2 was always the one i went back to play. nowadays if i feel like some thps - THUG pro is amazing. i highly recommend it. 1+2 was well done but thug pro is on another level.

[@BonzerMrT]

I totally forgot Proving Ground was a thing, for some reason I just thought it was Project 8

[@hhgreg2969]

Bro, the fact you actually liked THAW was such an unexpected twist, especially since you kept finding more and more reasons to hate on each subsequent game. Biases aside, THAW is a very flawed game but it has excellent features too and shouldn't be dismissed like it usually is. THUG2 is still my favorite in the series though.

[@toxics.]

Cant believe Activision abandoned the recent 1 + 2 remake for Diablo.. My heart still aches..

[@AllBlackAirpods]

3 was ICONIC in the hood, KRS ONE on the Snow level was an everyday play for me after school

[@AllBlackAirpods]

@Udokee that part lol, by 4 I was outside actually skating fuck gaming & by the time project 8 came out I needed that slow mo to learn more tricks lol

[@boredstudent]

As a kid, I played the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games but mostly the first 2. I never played Tony Hawk's Underground but I did try out Project 8 and Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. I didn't bother with Pro Skater 5 but I did play Pro Skater 1+2. It was also cool that Vicarious Visions was the developer since they worked on the handheld ports of the THPS games. They did well.

[@qty1315]

A Pro Skater game set in a future world where skateboarding is so mainstream and so much money is pumped into it that it developed to the point where rocket boards and jumping robot sharks is the norm for Big Skateboarding. You play as a poor skateboarder working his way up from skating in his old skate park up to the big arena events. I wonder if that could work? Silly, but also critical of the silliness and offering a degree of social commentary. Basically: Yeah, the lifestyles of the rich and famous are shallow and empty. However, if given the choice between skateboarding in your local park for no money and skateboarding with a rocket board in front of a huge crowd then getting with the groupies afterwards, but elitists will call you a sell-out and make mean videos critical of you, you'd realise that most people would choose the second option unless they're extremely insecure.

[@allthefail7274]

Proving Ground, Project 8 and American Wasteland I got joy out of, stories were memorable and felt closer to the skate world, but at that time I think skaters actually wanted a more realistic game, and Skate beat them to it. THUG 2 and THPS 4 are completely underrated and are absolute classics. THPS 2 is the most iconic and most replayed game for me. It was the game I started with. But THUG 1 was the height of the franchise, easily. It was still so mainstream. I remember playing Blink's self titled album on repeat and skating in Moscow every day for months. Big respect to that franchise

[@hhgreg2969]

? Guitar Hero wasn't exactly "treading water"...

[@davon3384]

THPS4 was my favorite of the pro skaters, it had the most tricks and refinement you could do. THUG series whackyness made the wild side of tricks being unrealistic perfect. Wasteland added bikes and i never really played Dave Mira games so it was cool. Project 8 and Proving ground made the story aspect of TH games intriguing, also the slow motion and am,sick,pro was fun. Sadly TH went down hill after and Skate made a new and great skate system. TH will always be fun no matter the time. Skating is just fun.

[@dead-enddessie3816]

I jumped in with Pro Skater 3 and stopped playing after Project 8. I did not play another Tony Hawk game until the Pro Skater 1+2 Remaster. My childhood fav however was THUG.

[@wetmix]

Wow, I didn't think that it was Chris Chan in THAW)))

[@monasteryfounder]

Could it have been? THUG 2 and AW had a handful of early Internet culture and memes scattered about as Easter Eggs, primarily Star Wars Kid and Homestar Runner references. If Chris Chan emerging into the cultural phenomenon (s)he is today lines up with the development cycle of AW, I'd buy it.

[@BigRowles89]

Really happy to see Street Sk8ers footage when you mentioned previous skateboarding games. Fun with a great soundtrack

[@Ninjabread01]

Project 8 is such visual overload. Everytime a clip from it popped up I squinted a little, it's so bright

[@chrisp4552]

Man... the amount of time I spent playing Tony Hawk 2 and BMX XXX is absurd.

[@fortunecookieprize]

Pro Skater 2 was my first video game. I was a loyal fan all the way through Proving Ground which was a major bummer, despite trying to convince myself otherwise. THPS2 and THUG are my personal favorites. Can't tell you how many hours of my life I've spent playing these games.

[@sylskaterChannel]

I dropped at Proving Ground, the "pushing/pressure" mechanic destroyed it for me. Breaking your combo line right at the start because you didn't pushed enough or didn't kept the tempo of the pushing breaks the basic interest of the series for me. I did give a chance to Downhill Jam (which was fun in its racing type of way) and Ride (which is a cool concept that turned bad because of the board design). Never tried 5 because it is still at full price even though it is the worst from what I've heard.

[@NikkoNikkoYeet]

TLDR: Bobby Kotick cares for Call of Duty more than the rest of their IPs. Right after teams like Vicarious Visions and Toys for Bob made great games, They made them COD Support Devs.

[@KyrieKirigiri]

What really killed the series was the drift towards realism in Project 8 and Proving Ground (especially Proving Ground with its 2007 bland greyness) and a ton of the devs who had been there from the start leaving between Underground 2 and Project 8 because they had just got sick of making the same game over and over.

[@ainanomena9276]

This is a very very unpopular opinion but Proving Ground, most specifically the Xbox 360 version, was the best game of the series, gameplay wise, after Underground 2 and American Wasteland. The offset camera angle in particular was a nice change. It's too bad it wasn't included as an option in THPS1+2 HD.

[@jimgrude]

Great video, but that part about most skaters being kids and teenagers is unbelievably false. Yeah, there are a lot of little kids skating because skateboarding is still growing in popularity, but one of the unique things about skaters (5 years in HS with your homies doesn't count), is that they don't quit. Age and even the most fucked up injuries rarely deter them. I'm 32, but a lot of the most active skaters I see around here are in their 40s and 50s. The reason we're different from other sports fans is that skateboarding isn't really a sport by default. Everyone has a different relationship with it, so a video game targeting skateboarders isn't gonna appeal to them all because their tastes vary too much. The key to the THPS series' success was that it captured the attention of the mainstream.

[@danielfishburn7042]

Implying that the series jumped the shark at pro skater 4 is wild

[@ajg8722]

My jumping off point was THPS4. Something seemed off by it and haven’t played a new one since. I’ll just keep playing 1-3.

[@Crain1990]

It was the yearly release cycle....that's what happened. Neversoft was forced to iterate every year to keep the franchise going whether they had something worthwhile or not. It's clear by the end they started cramming as much stuff in the game as possible to justify every sequel, but if they would have had a few years between each game, the franchise would have lasted much longer.

[@real30yearoldboomerhours53]

Excellent video man. The Tony Hawk series was a major part of my childhood. You nailed it on Proving Ground. That was the one game I didn’t own. By that time I was kinda over video games and gotten more into music. I didn’t even have a ps3/360 when it dropped so I snoozed. A buddy had it and I played it a few times but we kept going back to Project 8. The 2020 remake of 1&2 was pretty good. 3 was my favorite of the classic series and THUG 1 was my favorite of the story based games followed closely by American Wasteland.

[@TipsterLIVE]

Personally THPS4 was my favorite. But 2 is a close second.

[@InDeath]

Dude I think I was part of that minority. I would get the new Hawk games every time I had the money! I had Pro Skater 1-3, Underground 1-2, and American Wasteland. These games were my passion even though I knew there wasn't much change after 3. It didn't matter to me at all, I would replay every single one over and over again all through my childhood and teen-hood! The only reason why I couldn't get the rest of the games was because I couldn't find them :( When 4 came out, I didn't have the money to get it so I had to wait on that, then the underground games came out and I got those. After AW the same thing happened and I couldn't get project 8 or proving grounds because I could never find them on stores! Sadly I had to "part ways" with my Tony Hawk collection when we had to move countries because things kept happening to my collection slowly as time went on :( Heat warped my Pro skater 1-2, pro skater 3 was stolen, THUG 2 suffered from disk rot, and american waistland cracked for no reason, the only surviving one was THUG man. I still play the ever living shit out of that game. Some day I'll save up to buy those games again man, I swear. Die hard fan right here.

[@najtrows]

I grew up skateboarding and THPS 1 and 2 were a big part in me going deeper in to that interest. When EA Skate arrived no one I knew even talked about Tony Hawk anymore, it was amazing how good it was. I still love many of the Tony Hawk games but they exist in a whole other world now.

[@grokopf142]

Pro skater 3 to American Wasteland gameplay and graphics was just the best time for me personally! Good memories :)

[@wetmix]

Thnx for the video, finally someone respects underrated THAW 👍

[@jorggamingcr409]

I went out of the game on thps4, I remember to borrow it from a cousin when we were kids...and it was like...wth is this? I did not feel the THPS gameplay at all. Added to this was that I only owned a PS1, back then being a kid and asking for a ps2 to my parents was crazy. I used to watch Underground 1 and 2 gameplay, tried myself at a store...it never felt like a THPS game. Around 2012 when they released THPS HD and I had a capable laptop to play it, it was great, replaying so many great levels on new graphics...but the soundtrack was crap (I understand the copyright and licensing expirations) . When Activision announced the THPS1+2 I became exited, being an adult I could afford a nice PC and the game itself, it was cool to replay the game, nostalgia really sells, the soundtrack was there (with notable songs missing due to licensing, but those core tracks, were there).

[@goldcrossLOLs]

"eventually everyone is bound to get tired of the same thing being re released over and over" FIFA fans: are you sure about that?

[@Nemo71340]

Thug came out in high school for me and the story was awesome because we all skateboarded and dreamed about getting sponsored

[@paul9589]

I used to spend sooooo much time in my grandmothers basement playing the N64 jamming pro skater two

[@MrNoidZ]

In my opinion The franchise died after THPS3. A lot of it had to do with removing the time-limit. The physics in 3 were perfect. Literally perfect. I would have paid 60$ a year for 15 new maps with challenges honestly. I played THPS from the start all the way until Project 8 (which was the first one I didn't 100% completed, while I completed almost every Tony Hawk game multiple times before. Although the first 3 I finished with practically every character.

[@o8thnaspliff]

Tony Hawks 4 was the first game I ever played online on the PS2.

[@JROC734]

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 was always my favorite.

[@Channel-io1di]

If i had a time machine I'd go back to a summer day of 9th grade skating all day and playing tony hawk 3 with my friends. I can almost feel it exactly like it was when i watch the canada level.

[@Lucas_oliv]

I grew up playing THP2 and never stopped, I played them all. But THUG2, TAW and THP2 are my favorites

[@timinou9915]

Well thats was a great retrospective 😎 I always kinda wondered what happened between THUG 2 and TH5 but never really looked into it. Thats done now 😂

[@zachemorgan]

I can still listen to superman to this day its such a great song and takes me back to a time where getting older was still all in my mind.

[@abcephei]

THPS2x isn't a remake. It's more of just a straight up re-release with additional content. Graphically and gameplay wise it's the same game despite being on newer hardware