Hook for the NES

Emulator Used

FCEUX 2.1.2-interim

Priorities

  • Aims for fastest time
  • Takes damage to save time
  • Manipulates luck
  • Abuses programming errors in the game

About the Game

Hook is a licensed NES game that is based on the movie of the same name. In this game you control Peter Pan and you have to go from stage to stage collecting items. It is a somewhat non-linear game as there are divided paths on the map screen. The map screen setup only enabled me to skip one level and that was a flying stage. You have to collect a certain number of items in order to complete a stage. You also have to collect four special items (clock, magic sword, horn, and a tooth) in order to advance to the next path on the map screen.

Tricks and Glitches

Faster Horizontal Velocity

You can obtain this by sliding on a banana peel (this way is the fastest) or getting hit by a pirate's sword, dragon, spider, or any similar enemy. This does not work on projectiles though.

Falling Through the Floor

There is a glitch where if you land on the ground at the same time you get hit by an enemy or projectile, you can actually fall through the floor. Another way to do this is by standing near a wall and face the pirate while he's stabbing you. You don't even need to do anything (you can do this in real time too) and you will end up going into the wall and falling through the floor.

Climbing Up Ladders Fast

You can use turbo A while you press up and left/right and he can climb up ladders fast.

Final Comments

TASing this game was not easy. There was lots of luck manipulation because I had to have a pirate to fire a bullet so I could fall through the floor or have the pirate to stab his sword at a particular frame.
Despite that, this run was an enjoyable experience and I think this run will be a great representation for Hook on the NES. Thanks goes to everyone for supporting and commenting on my TAS of this game.

FractalFusion: I'll judge this submission soon.
FractalFusion: Good enough to be accepted for publication, though the music really doesn't do this run a favor. It goes pretty slowly at first, but the glitches and damage to boost speed manage to save this one.
Velitha: Processing...

TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 14776
Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #2738: GlitchMan's NES Hook in 23:19.64
Experienced player (620)
Joined: 8/28/2008
Posts: 443
This time I decided to press the A button to pass those other two dialogue sequences to get to the final screen.
NitroGenesis
He/Him
Editor, Experienced player (550)
Joined: 12/24/2009
Posts: 1873
You could've simply asked to replace the file, you know. :P
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
Experienced player (620)
Joined: 8/28/2008
Posts: 443
Oh, I didn't know that. Sorry for anyone's post that got deleted and/or vote that has been cast that was removed. :( At least now I know that for future reference. :) I know it's in the Gruefood pile but is it too late to get everyone's votes back?
Player (88)
Joined: 11/14/2005
Posts: 1057
Location: United States
I give this a yes vote. The glitching through the ground and high speed damage boosts made it entertaining enough to keep me interested. Those flying level were super boring though :P
They're off to find the hero of the day...
Joined: 3/31/2010
Posts: 84
Location: Middle of Nowhere
Dailymotion linky Should be better this time, I hope (streaming will probably still suck though, replaced the link). Direct Linky Archive.org Linky
Site Admin, Skilled player (1234)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11251
Location: RU
this TAS is quite good, but the game is so annoying that i say "meh"
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Editor, Experienced player, Reviewer (967)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3107
Location: Sweden
I thought this was pretty good. The platforming stages are the best, with the damage boosts and interesting routes, going through the floors and such. The flying stages are the least interesting. It's also fascinating how he gets damage from the water in the platforming stages, but there are also swimming stages...
mklip2001
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2224
Location: Georgia, USA
This started off slow, but it ended up getting pretty good by the end. The run also looked fairly confusing, since it wasn't always clear which item you actually had to collect in ech stage. However, I'd say this is nicely paced and should get published. By the way, GlitchMan, you work really fast! It's not been too long since your last publications, and those were difficult-to-make TASes as well!
Used to be a frequent submissions commenter. My new computer has had some issues running emulators, so I've been here more sporadically. Still haven't gotten around to actually TASing yet... I was going to improve Kid Dracula for GB. It seems I was beaten to it, though, with a recent awesome run by Hetfield90 and StarvinStruthers. (http://tasvideos.org/2928M.html.) Thanks to goofydylan8 for running Gargoyle's Quest 2 because I mentioned the game! (http://tasvideos.org/2001M.html) Thanks to feos and MESHUGGAH for taking up runs of Duck Tales 2 because of my old signature! Thanks also to Samsara for finishing a Treasure Master run. From the submission comments:
Shoutouts and thanks to mklip2001 for arguably being the nicest and most supportive person on the forums.
NitroGenesis
He/Him
Editor, Experienced player (550)
Joined: 12/24/2009
Posts: 1873
Wow, this game's colors are as dull as a Game Boy game. A nice run. Yes from me.
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
Joined: 4/29/2005
Posts: 1212
I'm giving this run a Meh. It's really an impressive run, however, I also found it to be extremely boring. Hence the Meh, instead of a yes.
Experienced player (620)
Joined: 8/28/2008
Posts: 443
Thanks everyone! I appreciate your honesty! :) This game could have more variety in its color palettes too. I also noticed that this game uses mostly even numbered colors: 30, 2C, 18, 2A, 22, 24, and 26 for example.
Warepire
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 3/2/2010
Posts: 2174
Location: A little to the left of nowhere (Sweden)
This looks like a really well made TAS, the music in this game is quite bad though... yet it is very catchy, entertainment wise this was a little dull but I still think it is worthy to be published here. Yes vote.
Experienced player (620)
Joined: 8/28/2008
Posts: 443
NitroGenesis wrote:
Wow, this game's colors are as dull as a Game Boy game.
You know, there actually was a Game Boy version of this game (also developed by Ocean just like the NES version). It's almost exactly the same game (I haven't played it but I did see a gameplay video of it)!
Active player (301)
Joined: 8/8/2005
Posts: 296
Location: NSW, Australia
Have to vote yes on this (thanks Velitha for the encode!). I owned the GB version of this game a long time ago, and I certainly don't remember you being able to fall through floors. :P Also the flying stages suck but the rest of the game is quite fast and glitchy so I think that can be easily overlooked.
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 14776
Location: 127.0.0.1
This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [1573] NES Hook by GlitchMan in 23:19.64