A playthrough of Irem's 1992 license-based beat 'em up arcade game, Hook.
Played as Peter Pan on the game's default difficulty level.
Hook is, somewhat unexpectedly, a classically-styled belt-scrolling beat 'em up based on the ridiculously popular Peter Pan movie starring Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, and Julia Roberts.
I understand why there was a multitude of platformers based on the movie. The genre is a good match for something that's meant to be kid-friendly and that stars a character that's primarily known for his ability to fly. A beat 'em up, though? The violence and the distinct lack of flying make for an interesting fit with the Hook license.
Regardless of whatever logic drove the decision, though, Hook does what it does well. There's a wide range of characters from the movie to choose from and they each have a fair number of moves to bust out against the Captain Hook's endless army of palette-swapped thugs, and they all control well. It takes more than just a page from Final Fight's book - it all but holds up a mirror, gameplay-wise - but however unoriginal, it's a solidly built game. Very easy, but very solid.
It completely lacks the flash and pizazz of the era's top-tier arcade beat 'em ups, but it's also a very good looking game in it's understated way. Though nearly every stage is rendered in shades of green and brown, the level of detail in the graphics is outstanding, and the interactive stage elements go above-and-beyond what most did. The faux-symphonic FM synth does a pretty nice job at pumping out the John Williams' soundtrack, as well.
It seems to follow a pattern I've noticed with a lot of Irem's early 90s arcade stuff: their games were always good, often nearing or matching the quality of stuff done by the likes of Konami and Capcom, but their games often lacked the heavy production values that gave their competitors games' the edge. Hook fits that mold well. The quality of the game isn't far off of what those other companies were putting out at the time, but Hook doesn't offer anything to make it stand out in the crowd. If this machine had been parked in between X-Men and Captain Commando, the Hook cabinet would've been used to hold cups and ashtrays for the people playing the louder, brighter, and "edgier" games that sat to either side it.
And while that's not a criticism of the game itself, it does seem to highlight Irem's increasingly out-of-touch view of what customers wanted in the early 90s. Their output was usually outstanding, but post-Street Fighter II, the appeal of the Irem name slackened. It just didn't have the star-power behind it anymore that it enjoyed in the mid/late 80s. But if you give Hook a chance to engage you, you'll certainly enjoy your time with it.
But those cutscene portraits! I can't decide whether Robin William's looks more like Joe Pesci or Martin Short in some of those images. Before playing Hook, I had never before expected to ever frame a comparison between those three individuals.
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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19 июл 2019
