Hooked features a brief, dissonant piano intro, leading into an intense piano beat backed by synth and drums. The vocals in this song are sung in the Inkling language and are generally low-pitched. The hook features a melody first played on piano and synth, then played again on guitar, before the song loops. Hooked was one of four songs added in version 2.0.0 of Splatoon. Like all battle songs, it has a random chance of being played during online matches.
It was first teased with a snippet from the Squid Research Lab post introducing Hightide Era.[1]
In Splatoon 2, Hooked can be unlocked to listen in Squid Beatz 2 as a final reward from the Inkling Squid amiibo. It cannot be heard anywhere else in the base game. It has a maximum score of 223 and 285 in Normal and Hard modes, respectively.
The live version of Hooked performed during The Nintendo Switch Experience (2017) is similar to the in-game version but feature an extended riff part way through the song.[2]
Trivia
Strangely, this song, alongside Sucker Punch, features a prominent synth, despite in-universe band Hightide Era featuring no synth player.
