Episode 40 - Die on this Hill: Hook

Wedgehead defends Data East Hook as underrated classic with stunning art and ramp design despite ruleset flaws.

Synopsis

Alan and AJ defend Data East's Hook (1992) on Wedgehead Pinball Podcast 'Die on this Hill' segment, arguing it's an underrated game (ranked 266/294 on Pinside) with exceptional art, theme integration, innovative skill shot, and a legendary left ramp: despite ruleset imbalance that rewards left ramp looping. They acknowledge the Chat Age code update as transformative and address critical reviews blaming poor lighting, boring ruleset, and limited shots.

Highlights

• Hook was Data East's fourth best-selling game of all time, after Star Wars, Lethal Weapon 3, and Jurassic Park
• Data East only made Hook as a condition to securing the Jurassic Park license from Amblin Entertainment (Spielberg's company)
• Hook is one of the last arcade games Data East made with a small DMD screen; Data East rushed to market to beat Bally Williams
• The Chat Age code (by a coder referred to as 'Chat Age') finished the game, balancing the ruleset and adding call-outs and modes
• John Papaduke (Papa Duke) 'shamelessly ripped off' Hook's plunge skill shot arcade in his later Williams games
• Hook was designed by Tim Seckel with art by Paul Faris, music/score adapted by Brian Schmidt from John Williams' original film score
• Hook has an extra-tall backbox compared to other Data East machines, standing out visually on location
• The original playfield design had even taller stacked plastic trees (6 feet total or similar) but was trimmed down due to playtesting feedback about blocking visibility
• Most negative reviews of Hook are due to poor maintenance (burned-out incandescence, weak flippers) rather than game design flaws
• The left ramp (Bangarang/wind coaster ramp) is exploitable for 3+ million points when looped repeatedly, creating a dominant strategy that unbalances the ruleset

Entities

• Amblin Entertainment· company
• Bally/Williams· company
• Data East· company
• Stern Pinball· company
• Hook· game
• Pinside· organization
• Wedgehead Pinball Podcast· organization
• AJ· person
• Alan· person
• Alex· person
• Brian Schmidt· person
• Chat Age· person
• Dustin Hoffman· person
• John Borg· person
• John Papaduke· person
• John Williams· person
• Paul Faris· person
• Robin Williams· person
• Steven Spielberg· person
• Tim Seckel· person
• Bite Me Cake Company· venue
• Portland Pinball Bar Wedge· venue