where are you?!
Yeah, you may not have wanted it in your head, but it's there now. Scooby-Doo has been one of the most surprisingly enduring fixtures in pop culture since...well, since it was first aired on television in 1969. From the creative minds at Hanna-Barbera, who were responsible for so many shows that are still fondly remembered even today, Scooby-Doo has been among many of those beloved shows. One may wonder why, but I really think the answer is simple.
It's one of the most adaptable things for the two main characters: Shaggy Rogers and Scoobert "Scooby" Doo. Why? Because they're both cowards, and everyone can relate to cowards, because that's absolutely how you would act in a situation.
And before you think that's not an endearing character trait, just remember that Falstaff was a coward.
...you guys do know who that is, right?
...because Yahtzee of Zero Punctation already once pointed that out?
Scooby Doo was a show that I was fortunate enough to get to know in it's original incarnation due to my parents having the VHS tapes of several old episodes of the 1969 series. It was great when I was a kid and I still love it to this day. There have been plenty of variations, spin-offs, and reboots over the years, but all the versions that are well remembered stick to the tried and true formula (with some variation in the case of things like Scooby Doo Mystery Inc.) of the original that pretty much everyone can relate to: some kids and their dog driving around in a van and solving mysteries.
...okay, that might not be the best way to word it.
And that brings us to this game Scooby-Doo Mystery, released in 1995 by Acclaim for the SNES! That's right! A mere twenty-six years after it was initially aired, the Mystery Inc. gang was finally getting their due in video game form!
...y'know, other than those three games that came before this one. Oops.
But yes, this was my first and - to date - the only game I have ever played based on Scooby-Doo. Unfortunately, my SNES was captured up by the Vietcong after the war ended, so I had to make due with an emulator for this one.
It's basically the SNES equivalent to a point and click adventure game. You control Shaggy and Scooby through a variety of environments in order to pick up clues, avoid the monster of the week, and eventually help Fred build a trap and execute it to catch the monster so they can be unmasked as the crook in a suit that they are. If you're looking to play in an episode of the series, you really can't get it much more cut and dried than that.
The one criticism I will levy against it in a hard way is that certain items reserved specifically for the trap building cannot be picked up until Fred says that it's time to build the trap. While I wouldn't mind this normally, it really makes me confused considering how it otherwise plays very much like a point and click adventure game.
Other than that, it's a not so spooky, but enjoyable good time as two of the most beloved characters in all of fiction. What's not to love?
Scooby-Doo Mystery was developed by Acclaim and Sunsoft for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
For the latest from the MadCapMunchkin, be sure to follow him on Twitter @MadCapMunchkin
No comments:
Post a Comment