Data East Hook
Another Data East pinball game. It was quite popular and still is a bit, because of its theme. Hook was a popular movie about Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. Artwork is by Paul Faris. It's very beautiful and very detailed. Sounds are also nice, quality is good, although some samples are repeated too much in the game.
Gameplay
Hook is not bad, but is not one of the best games ever made either. But for its time and considering it's a Data East, it's quite good.
The skill shot is important to progress in the game and starting multiball isn't always easy to do. So it'll take a lot of skill and practice before you'll be able to get your initials in the high score table. The large windcoaster ramp looks spectacular and is great to shoot. Especially if you can shoot it over and over again you can score a lot of points. But it's also a dangerous shot, if the ball doesn't make it over the top it'll come down and probably drain..
There are however no special modes, so in home use an experienced player may become tired of Hook after a while.. but children will enjoy it for a long time.
My game
Been there, done that. Bought a Hook cheap as it was not working. The dmd was luckily not broken, it were only a few bad resistors. Easy fix. The game had some other minor problems (some loose wires underneath the playfield). Once it was shopped it played very well. But it didn't hold my interest for very long, some of the sound samples become irritating after a while, so a few months later I sold it so I had room to buy another game.
Things to look for when buying
There should be a small topper on the backbox: a plastic with the Hook logo on it.
Double check the small dmd is in good condition as it's very expensive to replace.
Tech tips
There's a known problem with the dmd, some resistors often fail. Check Clays Data East repair guide.