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Play Tony Hawk's Underground on a PS Vita

Install the native THUG port on a hacked Vita, using data from your own Xbox disc. Covers what you need, the install, the controls and the known bugs.

Downloads and links

THUG Vita runs Tony Hawk’s Underground (2003) natively on the PS Vita’s ARM processor. It isn’t an emulator. iwannagooutside released it on October 5, 2026 (trailer), and v1.0.1 fixed phantom button presses the same day. Story mode, free skate, Create-a-Skater and every level work, and the readme says most levels run at or near 60 fps.

Where the code comes from. The port builds on kisak-thug by SwagSoftware, a Windows port of THUG’s original source code. That source has been circulating publicly for about ten years, but Activision never released or licensed it. Neither project includes any game data, so you supply your own disc. The readme also says the port was “built with agentic AI and a custom harness” that builds the game, runs it on a real Vita and reads the logs, and it credits Anthropic’s Claude models with most of the porting work. It’s brand new, so expect bugs.

What you need

  • A PS Vita on custom firmware (HENkaku or Enso). If yours isn’t set up, follow vita.hacks.guide. The PS TV isn’t supported, because the spin buttons are on the touchscreen.
  • VitaShell for installing and copying.
  • libshacccg.suprx in ur0:data/. The game compiles its shaders on the console and won’t start without it. Run ShaRKF00D once and it puts the file there.
  • A disc image of the USA Xbox version of THUG, dumped from a disc you own. The PS2, GameCube and PAL versions won’t work, because the port reads the Xbox data files directly.
  • About 1.6 GB free on the memory card.

Install

  1. Extract the game data. Run extract-xiso on your ISO:

    extract-xiso -x "Tony Hawk's Underground (USA).iso"

    You need the data folder inside the result. Delete the movies folder inside it to save 1.6 GB, since the port can’t play the videos yet.

  2. Copy it to the Vita. In VitaShell, copy that folder so the files end up in ux0:data/thug/Data/. Use USB, because FTP can take an hour or more. Case doesn’t matter, but don’t nest it as Data/data/.

  3. Install the game. Copy thug_vita.vpk to the Vita, open it in VitaShell and install it.

  4. Play. Tap the bubble, then Start. The first load of a big level takes about ten seconds.

To update, install the new .vpk over the old one. Saves live in ux0:data/thug/save/ and aren’t touched by reinstalling.

Controls

The Vita has no L2 or R2, so the port moves them to the shoulder buttons and puts the old L1 and R1 on the touchscreen.

PS Vita PS2 button Does
L L2 Nollie (tap while rolling)
R R2 Switch stance, reverts, spine transfers
Bottom-left corner of the screen L1 Spin left
Bottom-right corner of the screen R1 Spin right. Off the board, hold it to grab ledges and ladders
Both bottom corners L1 + R1 Get off or back on the board

The face buttons, sticks and START work as on the PS2. The rear touchpad does nothing, so you can rest your fingers on it.

Known problems

These are from the issue tracker as of October 6:

  • No videos. The intro and cutscene videos are Bink files the port can’t decode yet, so they’re skipped (#3).
  • No online play. THUG’s online service shut down years ago.
  • Create-a-Park can’t make a park bigger than the default size, and pre-made parks don’t load (#5).
  • A player reports they can’t do manuals (#6), and the skater’s shadow is missing on some surfaces (#8).

If it doesn’t start

  • Closes at once or stays on a black screen: check that ur0:data/libshacccg.suprx exists.
  • Can’t find the game files: the path must be exactly ux0:data/thug/Data/, with files from the USA Xbox disc.
  • Crashes: the game writes a log to ux0:data/thug/thug.log. Attach it to a new issue with the level and what you were doing.

On PC, the patched original is the easier route. See Get started with THUG Pro, reTHAWed and PARTYMOD for PARTYMOD’s THUG patch.

Related

Updated 2026-10-06 · Improve this guide on GitHub