Part nostalgia-bomb, part note-taking and part FAQ, what started in GameTrailers as a video game blog is now on Blogger. This blog is a look back at video games, both popular and obscure, from the video game industry's infancy all the way to the previous console generation.
The final confrontation with Captain Hook is about to begin!
Stage 5 (continued)
When you reach the end of the second section, you'll face Jason again. Same strategies apply.
In the third section, you'll face Smee. Hook's right-hand man will slash at you with his cutlass, and he's got some range. Unfortunately, that's all he really seems to do, and he's pretty easy to take down if you don't go straight for him (you'll run into his sword if you do).
Stage 6
At the start of this stage, you'll be outside of Hook's ship. Watch out for the guy holding the bag that runs towards you from behind with the knife in front of him.
In the second section, you'll face Jason for a third time.
In the third section, you'll finally face Hook himself. He'll pop in and out at first, but he has the same tactics as there was during the Hook clones battle. The only difference is that he'll shoot at you from a distance if you're far enough away. During the battle, Smee will pop out of the wall in the background and fire cannonballs at you, so not only will you have to pay attention to Hook, but you'll also have to pay attention to where the cannonballs land, too.
When you beat Hook, Hook will be eaten by a crocodile and you'll have saved Neverland. Peter Pan returns back home, and also Rufio is strangely not dead (Hook kills him in the movie). After the credits, the game loops. But congratulations, you beat Captain Hook!
The fun never stops as we see unwitting crocodiles, Captain Hook Clones and more bosses that are rip-offs of Street Fighter II characters.
Stage 3 (continued)
You'll eventually fight three of the guys with the spiky knuckles before facing some more swordsmen. Approach them from an angle in order to grab them, then go to work.
At the end, you'll face three Captain Hook clones: a red one, a green one and a purple one. They're really the spiky knuckle guys changed into Hook by the gold pots, but that doesn't make them any less dangerous. These guys will block your attacks with their swords. When they rear their swords back, sidestep to avoid their slash attacks. They'll also crawl away quickly in order to get away from you and re-position themselves, making it harder to stay close and nail them. As long as you can grab attack them and hit them while they're down, you should be good.
Stage 4
You'll be on the beach here, and there will be tons of spear men and drunk pirates. The yellow drunkards have the ability to breathe fire at you, and that attack has a bit of range to it. The pink and purple normal pirates have somersault attacks that can knock you down, so sidestep and get your attacks in before they do. The red barrel with the skull and crossbones on it will explode when thrown or struck.
Destroy the catapults to potentially attack enemies with crocodile eggs for ammo and free the crocodiles from their eggs. The crocodiles don't do anything. Instead, they just look around before running away. The end of the first section has some mermaids in the background.
The next section takes place on ice. You'll deal with some more swordsmen and see some penguins in the background.
The boss here is Damon, who will glow with green fire and surround you with ice stalactites as soon as he lands after jumping. He also has a short-range kick with a bit of a wingspan and a fireball attack that he blows at you from far away. Take him down, then attack him while he's down a few times and run away so the whole "catching on fire" attack doesn't hit you when he gets back up. Watch where he jumps, and watch the shadows on the ground to see where the stalactites will land.
Stage 5
You'll finally be on Captain Hook's pirate ship. You'll see a ton of enemies at the start, as well as Hook himself. He attacks much like his clones, and two of the boxes you can break contain bees that will assist you and attack enemies for you for a short time.
The second section takes you inside the ship, and you'll be dealing with more of those rolling barrels in addition to just about every enemy you've seen before. You'll eventually be dealing with four of the huge pirates in addition to a few bad guys at one point. There are also doors to cells that you can break by simply attacking them, and while some have crocodiles, other have power-ups.
I thought this would be the Super NES version...then I read the description. Holy cow, this is gonna be wild.
"Dear Peter,
Your presence is required at the request of your children.
Kindest personal regards,
Jas Hook, Captain"
A letter from a mysterious Captain James Hook and an appearance from Tinkerbell telling him what he needs to do is all it takes to begin the journey to Neverland and take the fight to Captain Hook!
Unlike the console versions, which are all side-scrolling platformers, the arcade version is a beat-'em-up in the veins of Final Fight and Streets of Rage.
You can play as Peter Pan or as one of four lost boys: Rufio (the new leader of the Lost Boys), Ace (who has hand axes), Pockets (who attacks with short-range marbles and is the smallest), and Thud Butt (the biggest of the Lost Boys as well as the strongest).
Stage 1
The pirates you meet at the beginning aren't really that competent. They run around and will only really attack you when given a chance. The taller, fatter ones will move more slowly but attack you with wine bottles.
You can cause the anchors suspended in the air by hitting one of the two support posts that their chains are tied to. Any enemies that an anchor falls on will definitely be out for the count if it lands on them.
There are weapons to pick up, just like in any respectable beat-'em-up. The baseballs are one use only, but if you hit an enemy with them, they'll bounce off and travel in the other direction, hitting an enemy that is behind you. That is rather creative, as I've never really seen another weapon in a beat-'em-up that acts like that.
The second section is a kitchen. The tall, muscular men will attack with a ball and chain, so you'll want to move around a bit if you don't want them to smack you in the face with those things. At what seems like the end, break the wall and you can eventually fight the boss.
The boss here is the Butcher, who will attack you with a pan and a knife...and a barrel, if you let him! He has two life bars: a green one and an orange one. Stay on the move when you see him and walk into him to grab him when you get the chance...then let loose! When he's knocked down, get close to him and mash the attack button to hit him while he's down. Seems the game predated the 1992 X-Men in one such regard. When you drain his orange health bar, you'll have beaten and the level will end with the Butcher being pecked on to death by his own chickens.
The gameplay for this game is your typical beat-'em-up stuff. You have your standing combo and your special attack that drains a little bit of your life whenever it connects with an enemy, but you can jump off walls by pressing the jump button again when jumping off of a wall as well as the ability to jump up and slam an enemy into the ground. You also have the ability to hit bosses again while they're in the air! Thankfully, all of the characters have the same moveset, albeit with different attacks, and you can check out Goh_Billy's full list of them here.
Stage 2
The bad guys in the barrels will roll towards you when you get close enough to them...and it will hurt. You're better off moving out of the way as opposed to jumping over them, as there is a chance you'll still take damage.
Attacking the wall of rocks with the skull and crossbones designs on them will destroy them.
The huge pirate has big, spiky brass knuckles, but if you stay aggressive and don't let up on him, you should be able to take him down. Don't let him grab you, as he'll hold you up for a bit and let loose if you do.
The second section takes place in the jungle. The totem poles can be attacke dup to three times, and every time you do so a portion of the totems flies forward, hitting any and all enemies in their direct path. The spear is a one-time-only weapon and will kill any enemy it is thrown at. The mace is a slow but powerful, swingable weapon. The beehive will let you attack enemies with a swarm of bees. The boomerang will let you attack enemies from a distance when thrown, and while the distance isn't as vast as the spear's, it will return to you.
Stay away from the mine carts on the tracks near the end of the level, as they will damage you if they hit you. Also, watch out for the spearmen, who will throw spears at you from the side of the screen for great damage. By the time they show up, the screen will be full of activity.
The boss here is a big guy named Jason, who charges around swinging a metal pipe. When he swings the pipe around, keep your distance. When he's walking around, approach him from an angle and attack him from there. When Jason loses the pipe, shakes his legs and moves his hands up and down, sidestep him to avoid the rock that he's about to throw. When you get him down on the ground, attack him while he's down, then get away from him before he gets up, as he will hit you as soon as he's back on his feet.
If you need to, throw the goons that he sics at you back at him. Not surprisingly, this common beat-'em-up boss battle staple makes its return here.
When you beat Jason, he'll be crushed by one of his own rocks.
Stage 3
The stage begins with you attacking life-size Hook busts. Destroy them to get health-replenishing foods and treasure for whatever precious points you need to get an extra life, and watch as the busts make faces of surprise after you destroy them.
The second section isn't very long after the beginning, and it takes place on a dock where you'll meet sailors with cutlasses. They can block your attacks, so be careful. Attacking the crossbows will trigger a three-way arrow attack that will hit enemies from an angle, and tossing the bombs will definitely make short work of any enemies its explosion hits...provided you can throw it at an enemy accurately before it explodes. The explosion can also hurt you if you walk into it.
