Saturday Night Live Captures the Disgusting, Depressing, Delightful Nostalgia of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2

If you, like Paste, spent as much time playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 in September as you did playing the first two Tony Hawk games back in 1999 and 2000, then Saturday Night Live totally had your number tonight. Here’s a sketch co-written by Joe Pera Talks With You writer Dan Licata (the dude behind the amazing “Baba O’Riley” episode) about how the brand new Tony Hawk remake is basically a wormhole straight back to 20 years ago, and how this game and the pandemic-caused recession have both reduced men in their 30s and 40s back into the angsty, basement-dwelling teens they were when they first played these games back in the day. So rarely does mainstream culture nail the inherent nature of a game as completely and concisely as this sketch does. Check it out below, if you can stomach the utter embarrassment of being seen so goddamned thoroughly.