"A licensed game done well."

1991 saw the release of Hook, a fantasy film by Steven Spielberg starring Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman. It told the story of an older Peter Pan who had forgotten all about his adventures until Captain Hook shows up and kidnaps his children. The film isn't a classic by any stretch of the imagination but still quite pleasant nonetheless.

Naturally there was a slew of merchandise including several games. Several versions where released for different machines, ranging from the arcade to the Sega CD. The version under scrutiny in this review is the one for the Game Boy developed by Ocean, a studio who was at the time well known for it's licensed titles.

GRAPHICS
The visuals feature a high degree of detailing and the characters are relatively large. Animation is also generally good although it could have been smoother. The game takes place in a multitude of environments, ranging from caverns to forests and arctic wastelands, which are quite distinct from each other. There isn't much variation within the different environments themselves but that was more or less the norm at the time. Luckily, despite the busy nature of the visuals there isn't any slowdown.

SOUND
Hook has a memorable soundtrack. It's surprisingly atmospheric and energetic but unfortunately there don't seem to be that many different tunes. Sound effects consist mostly of the regular beeps and boings but the execution is quite good.

GAMEPLAY
Loosely following the film's plot, Hook revolves around an older Peter Pan who has forgotten about his youthful adventures in Neverland. When his children are kidnapped by Captain Hook, his old adversary, Peter returns to Nederland to rescue them.

Taking the era of it's release into account, Hook is unsurprisingly a platformer. Peter can walk, jump and duck his way around the levels. His primary means of attack is stabbing his enemies with a short sword. Besides these abilities, Peter can also collect certain items like marbles and thimbles that enable him to travel across stardust and direct Tinker Bell to attack his foes respectively. Controls are good enough but could have been a little tighter. As it is, Peter is just a little too light and slippery. Also slightly irritating is that his attack lacks a bit of range, forcing Peter to get up close to his target while increasing the chance of getting hit himself. In fact, storming into foes is the best tactic to dispatch them.

The goal of the game is to gather a certain number of collectibles in each level in order to enter the exit which vary per level. Forests for example require the gathering of cherries while towns offer coins. The level design borders on the labyrinthine but in a good way. There are almost no leaps of faith and other such design flaws and exploring the levels is quite pleasant. A welcome omission is the lack of a time limit, showing that the developers understood that in a game centred around exploration, a time limit could have been devastating for the overall experience.

The game isn't as linear as one would expect it to be. Hook features a map with the available levels. Peter can access a few at a time and can finish them in any order. Doing so leads to more levels becoming accessible. Occasionally Peter isn't allowed to travel any further unless he has found a specific item like his special sword for example, or a tooth from the alligator responsible for biting off one of Hook's hands. Although it's importance mustn't be overstated, this kind of freedom still form a nice addition.

Peter's adventures aren't only limited to traversing a few platforms. During his quest he will be able to fly, seeing Peter evading thunderclouds and airborne sticks of dynamite while collect marbles. The game also features two fighting stages in which Peter takes on an enemy one on one. While being extremely simple, these are still surprisingly well executed. Our hero may have a limited amount of moves at his disposal but the game makes the most of it.

The game can be quite challenging. Levels generally aren't all that small and with the focus on collecting and exploring will certainly take some time to complete. Furthermore, Hook also offers a lot of levels. While all this is commendable in itself, it also forms the basis for the game's biggest problem. There is no way to record your progress. Of course, Peter has a decent amount of lives at his disposal and there is the opportunity to earn continues. Still, it would have been nice to be able to save or to be given a few passwords. Ploughing through the early stages every time a new game is started can eventually become quite tiring. The game simply is just a bit too big to go without a save system of any kind.

FINAL REMARKS
While being a licensed platformer centred around collecting things, it becomes evident that the developer actually put some effort into the game. Hook is challenging, offers some variation and neat little ideas and sports a presentation that ranks amongst the machine's better examples. That it isn't very original, even back in the day, isn't such a problem.

What could have been executed better are the controls. They are serviceable but lack a certain tightness. Combat too lacks a bit of finesse. What is most annoying is that Hook must be played from scratch every time a new game is started. The game is just a bit too large for such an omission. Even so, these issues don't hold Hook back too much seeing that the platforming itself is executed very well .

OVERALL: an 8,0.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/03/10

Game Release: Hook (EU, 1992)