Scooby Doo!: Classic Creep Capers Game by Digital Eclipse/THQ Reviewed by Philip Andrew Wesley Size: 8 megabits Rated: E for Everyone Save: Obscure Passwords Released: 2001 Works with: Game Boy Color ONLY! **************************************************************************** Opening Snide Remarks: I can't say I love Scooby Doo; that would be a lie. I do, however, have a tolerance for the old cartoon. It's an interesting cartoon. Specifically; because of its connections to the old drug culture, and the sheer amount of guest stars the show had. It's not particularly funny at all. Nor is it a testament to great cartoon writing, humour, etc. I did like the old series; for it's sheer stupidity factor. It's stupid fun and stupid fun is okay. ^_^ The older movies, "The Sixteen Ghosts of Scooby Doo", and any of the shows with Scrappy Doo.. umm. how to say... "are yucky". I disliked those. That said, the reason I bought this game was because it is part of a genre we do not see often anymore on consoles or even the PC. :( You know what genre I'm talking about, don't you? The genre that classics like King's Quest, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, Monkey Island, and the NES game Maniac Mansion fall into. The "click and do" series of action games. The most recent example would be "The Incredible Journey". Well, let's see if this is any good... **************************************************************************** Gameplay Descripion: First off, Scrappy Doo does NOT make an appearence. So, now this game has a chance to be good. Hehehe. Anyways, the game is based on an old episode of the older series that had "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" in it. I mean, it looks like it's based on that at first; but it's not.. in fact.. plot wise.. it's a disjointed mess. The puzzles are fairly illogical; and it has no replay value, whatsoever. You're left wandering and checking around your surroundings with little to no idea what you're doing. You essentially stumble on to things at first; although later in the game, it becomes more defined as to what you are doing. It's like Shadowgate Classic in that aspect. The story is lame, the engine is great though! Now, here's Digital Eclipse making an excellent game engine and sticking it in a liscensed title, again. Remember my review of Alice in Wonderland? Remember how I absolutely loved the graphics and game engine in the first half of the game? Well.. I absolutely love the engine in this game. Here's the deal. You move Shaggy & Scooby, Velma, Fred, or Daphne around the manison like you would move a character in a normal side-scrolling game. When you come up to certain objects, the status bar changes and you can.... hmm... I can explain this better. Here we go! You move Thelma into a room, in the room is a clock. Walk up to the clock and on the bottom of the screen you'll notice it says "Clock" and two symbols. One symbol is an EYE and the other is a HAND. Hit the A button and those two symbols appear around Thelma. Now, you can push and hold RIGHT to make the HAND get bigger, or push UP and make the EYES get bigger. Then you press A and the character will "LOOK" at the object or "GRAB" the object. Depending on which you selected. Only certain functions are available on certain objects. For example, the TALK option will work when you're in front of Daphne; but not the GRAB option. Hehehe. When you have an action, stuff happens. The idea is to go around collecting things and items in an attempt to figure out the mystery. Unfortunately.. just like the series; the plot is a jumbled mess and logic is skewed. (For example: You need to freeze a hot dog to repair a stool to take down some flourescent lights. Say what?) You can hit the B button to choose an object you are holding and try to use it on an object you're near. You can also hit SELECT to switch between characters. But.. it's fun. It's short, has no replay value; and it's not very long if you know what your doing. The passwords are zodiac symbols and therefore... odd and confusing. The humour in the game ranges from horrible to rather funny. It's stupid fun, just like the series. Shaggy gets the best lines. Digital Eclipse has a nice sense of humour from time to time; and a good bit of it is in this game. Liked: NO SCRAPPY. The game engine. It's stupid fun! Hated: Short... and there is no replay value. Some jokes are.. ugh. **************************************************************************** Graphics Description: Digital Eclipse.. they are going to have a field day with the Game Boy Advance.. I just know it. The graphics are very nice; there is some trademark clipping. It's a Digital Eclipse game.. OF COURSE it clips. Hehehe. But, that's not an nuisance here and that's okay! The graphics remind me of older PC games. It makes me hunger for PC titles... in specific.. King's Quest, and Monkey Island. Oh, yeah. Scooby and the gang look correct; and the lips move on the sprites when they talk. Cool! In one of the rooms, a kid is sitting on his bed playing Pong. ^_^ The graphics are ripped straight from the cartoon. Pay attention to the little details in the backgrounds. I LOVE it when developers pay attention to detail. Inside jokes, and even a cameo from another Hanna Barbera cartoon. (Wheels from that other team of teenage adventurers makes a background cameo.) All the characters have their distinct "walks". Scooby's head bobs up and down as he walks, the sprites are a good size. Nothing is mono-chrome. The people who made the graphics in this game should stand up and take a bow. Nice job. The cut-scenes are true to the cartoon style of art. Liked: Looks good, tastes good. Yum. Hated: A little bit of (almost) meddlesome clipping. **************************************************************************** Sound/Music Description: The theme is there and it's good; the rest of the music is bland. The sounds are decent. That effect associated with the mad scientist is pretty funny. ^_^ Liked: Decent... Hated: Seems to have been whipped together really quickly. It could have been soo much better... **************************************************************************** Play Control/Game Design: The play control is spot on and responsive. The game engine is great too! It just has no replay value; and it has some fairly yucky passwords. But, other then that.. it checks out just fine. Liked: It's fun. Hated: Passwords, too short, no replay value **************************************************************************** Improve: Don't make another one.. instead.. port Monkey Island. ;) RIYL: Monkey Island, older Kings Quest. **************************************************************************** Final Words: It could have been a lot worse; but it wasn't. ^_^ This is a fun game; although.. I think it will frustrate younger players, who might be attracted to the Scooby Doo liscense. It could be a lot worse; and thankfully isn't. It gets a Scooby Snack. Also.. TWO Scooby Snacks for some of those jokes that made fun of the original series. hehehe. **************************************************************************** Score Gameplay: *** Graphics: ***** Sound/Music: ** Play Control/Game Design: **** Personal Opinion: **** Total: 18 out of 25 Final Score: 72% **************************************************************************** Currently Known Codes: Not gonna tell ya. ;)