This could have been really cool!

Hook originally was going to be a theme park pin if I recall and it was reworked.

This might have been what the backglass was going to look like.

Neat! I wonder if Joe has any pictures of the total recall pin

https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1233

Designer Tim Seckel states that 'Hook' started out as 'Universal Studios Theme Park', "a game that was only in drawing/concept/ideation stage. It never made it very far. Hook opportunity came up and it quickly took on that name and game development."

Wow... Never knew about this or the prototype backglass with the hologram. There is a link at the bottom of the page with a YouTube video of it.

this would have been great !

This is so cool! I'm a huge Universal fan and have wondered for a long time whether there could ever be a theme park-themed game (actual park, not Roller Coaster Tycoon). In a way, I'm a little relieved this game wasn't made, because I find this era of DE games pretty disappointing. But I'm sure it still would have been a cool game.

In terms of a theme park based game, I think the challenge is that there are so many iconic elements to the parks and it would be nearly impossible to narrow them down. For example: if you did a Disneyland game, you may think "I want there to be a big, eerily lit 'Haunted Mansion' toy that you can hit the ball into...and then a cool 'Space Mountain' ramp...", but by then you've used a majority of the real estate of the game, which means you're left with a "Jungle Cruise drop target" and a "Peter Pan orbit", which is pretty underwhelming (to say nothing of the big Castle).

The more I've thought about it though, this seems like something that could really play to the P3's strength: The basic layout could be the various pathways of the park, and then when you start a ride mode, the screen and shots transform to that ride. So now you've got ~7 different "hallways" in the Haunted Mansion, or various "rivers" on the Jungle Cruise, complete with video effects etc. [This is basically what they've done with the Weird Al game, and is part of the reason why I think it's going to be a great step up for music-themed pins].

Thanks for posting this! I'm a little starstruck to know you're a long-time Universal team member.