My sister received this game for her birthday when this first came out and at first glance, neither of us were interested. Once I gave it a shot though, it was surprisingly good!
This game a 3D Metroidvania full of spooky settings and interweaving secret passage ways. Scooby collects silly power ups to help him navigate the Graham Estate, fend off monsters, and rescue the gang. You can collect springs to double jump, an umbrella to glide with, plungers to walk up slippery surfaces, and lots more. The controls are super solid and the camera is usually set up to be at just the right angle. There is a lot of backtracking in this game, but there are warp gates littered throughout to make sure you don't have to redo entire areas very often.
Additionally, this game is an absolute love-letter to the original series. From the characters, to the cheesy writing, to the environments, and the enemies, this game is 100% Scooby-Doo. Even the music sounds like it's taken straight from the show, including the boss themes that sound like the 70's-esque vocal tracks that would play during the chase sequences. They did a good job of translating the art style of the characters and enemies into 3D, as well. The voice actors deliver exactly how they would in the show, including guest voice actors Tim Curry as the main villain and even Don Knotts as one of the side characters. There's even canned laughter that occasionally plays when Scooby performs a move, which might sound like it gets annoying, but it's so quiet that you're able to tune it out after a while. One of my favorite aspects is the Monster Gallery; throughout the game, you can find hidden Monster Tokens. When you find one and bring it to the gallery, you can view one of the enemies up close while the game gives you details about which episode of the series it came from along with a bit of trivia.
However, this game isn't without its flaws. Lots of the level geometry and collision is a bit janky. Even though the levels are pretty small, some of the checkpoints can get annoying; resetting all progress on a tedious task after you die. The bosses are a bit odd and not very satisfying to fight against. I think the worst aspect is the artificial roadblocks you'll run into; the end of each area has a "Scooby Snack Machine" that requires an increasing amount of snacks to progress. If you don't have enough, you have to backtrack and find more. Given that there are a set amount of snacks in the game, it can be a pain to find some you missed.
Overall, this game is just plain, simple fun. This game is why I even bothered to find out what the original show was like to begin with. When I completed this game as kid, I started seeking out more Scooby games to play, but quite honestly (and to this day), none of them have ever compared to this one. With THQ doing remakes of their older licensed games, I'd like to see this one get some love. I'm absolutely biased in giving this game 4 stars, but that's honestly how much I enjoy it.
This game a 3D Metroidvania full of spooky settings and interweaving secret passage ways. Scooby collects silly power ups to help him navigate the Graham Estate, fend off monsters, and rescue the gang. You can collect springs to double jump, an umbrella to glide with, plungers to walk up slippery surfaces, and lots more. The controls are super solid and the camera is usually set up to be at just the right angle. There is a lot of backtracking in this game, but there are warp gates littered throughout to make sure you don't have to redo entire areas very often.
Additionally, this game is an absolute love-letter to the original series. From the characters, to the cheesy writing, to the environments, and the enemies, this game is 100% Scooby-Doo. Even the music sounds like it's taken straight from the show, including the boss themes that sound like the 70's-esque vocal tracks that would play during the chase sequences. They did a good job of translating the art style of the characters and enemies into 3D, as well. The voice actors deliver exactly how they would in the show, including guest voice actors Tim Curry as the main villain and even Don Knotts as one of the side characters. There's even canned laughter that occasionally plays when Scooby performs a move, which might sound like it gets annoying, but it's so quiet that you're able to tune it out after a while. One of my favorite aspects is the Monster Gallery; throughout the game, you can find hidden Monster Tokens. When you find one and bring it to the gallery, you can view one of the enemies up close while the game gives you details about which episode of the series it came from along with a bit of trivia.
However, this game isn't without its flaws. Lots of the level geometry and collision is a bit janky. Even though the levels are pretty small, some of the checkpoints can get annoying; resetting all progress on a tedious task after you die. The bosses are a bit odd and not very satisfying to fight against. I think the worst aspect is the artificial roadblocks you'll run into; the end of each area has a "Scooby Snack Machine" that requires an increasing amount of snacks to progress. If you don't have enough, you have to backtrack and find more. Given that there are a set amount of snacks in the game, it can be a pain to find some you missed.
Overall, this game is just plain, simple fun. This game is why I even bothered to find out what the original show was like to begin with. When I completed this game as kid, I started seeking out more Scooby games to play, but quite honestly (and to this day), none of them have ever compared to this one. With THQ doing remakes of their older licensed games, I'd like to see this one get some love. I'm absolutely biased in giving this game 4 stars, but that's honestly how much I enjoy it.