Post by Zenks Renway on Nov 28, 2010 19:52:02 GMT
I'm just gonna come out and say it folks- I freaking HATE Scooby Doo. Not because of his repetitive shows, Scrappy the shark-jumper or those dreadful spin-offs, but because media executives just don't know when to live and let die. In the last decade Scooby Doo has degenerated into a mockery of cut'n paste TV shows and direct-to-video movies that make me feel sorry for the poor pooch cos he's far past his prime and yet money is still being splurged to this day to make garbage when it could be used to stuff the cowardly canine full of Scooby Snacks til he dies from being suffocated by his own obesity so we don't have to see more of this Scooby crap.
However there was a short time when competance was involved in the making of the direct-to-video films and out of the first few that were made, my fave has to be Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase, due to its slightly unique concept(Mystery Inc. get sucked into a videogame by the monster they're after and have to beat it to escape) and homages to the original 1970's show. It wasn't great but it was entertaining. But then, SURPRISE, another crappy game that burned me in my childhood!
Okay, so it's a movie license and most movie licenses blow chunks as is known by everyone but this one blows chunks in its own unique ways. For one, even before playing the game you get the notion that this game was slapped together and finished before the movie even made it past pre-production due to 2 reasons:
1. The game was advertised in the VHS copy of the movie, complete with generic female voice-over #101 giving you "hints". Most movie games tend to get advertised AFTER their big-screen brother comes out so this isn't a good sign.
2. The plot differs quite a bit from the movie to the point that it seems like it was based on an early script, much like Ecks VS. Sever for the GBA except that game didn't totally suck.
But oh well. Maybe I'm being harsh? Not really. No sooner do you get to the title-screen you see that the game's included with a short trailer for the movie. I'd consider this an apology from the developers but the trailer doesn't even show any footage from the movie. Either they did this deliberately to c**k-tease kids who got stuck with this crap like I did or this game really was made and finished whilst the movie was still just getting off the ground. Oh dear. Anyway, let's get to the actual game.
PLOT: In the movie, Mystery Inc. go to a college to see one of Shaggy's friends when they get sucked into a videogame by the Phantom Virus. In the game, Mystery Inc. have fallen under blatant self-awareness(that I hate so much unless it's subtle and not in-your-face. In this game it is) that they're in a videogame with no questions about why.
This happens to bring up many a question for me, though, such as; why are they in a game and not in real-life? How do they know they're in the game? Why aren't they having any sort of realistic reaction to them being in a video-game? Why is the Phantom Virus wearing lipstick? How come there's only 7 levels when there were 10 in the movie? Why are the levels in a different order than they were in the movie? Why is there a Matrix-style hub when in the movie they simply went from one level to the next? And why, oh, why aren't any of the other characters from the movie here(hint- They probably couldn't save up the extra £5 they needed to make their character models)?
In simple terms, the plot sucks.
SOUND: Very forgettable music. The voice-acting's good, although Velma speaking to you in the game's hub is such low-quality that I'd give you a cookie if you can understand just what the hell she's saying. But other than that, meh.
GRAPHICS: The graphics aren't too bad. Could've been better but the game looks quite nice, actually. The character models are decent, everything's colourful and the environments look alright, even if their textures have supposedly been ripped from other games. Whilst the animation of everything in this game looks terrible, the visuals themselves are decent. 'Tis a shame the same can't be said for the gameplay.
GAMEPLAY: Before I talk about the levels, I just need to bring up the abilities and controls. Your character's abilities are nothing special- They can double-jump and ground-pound, whoop dee doo, but what really takes the cake (pun unintended, given the context of this game) is the method in which you attack enemies. It's even stupider than the Muppets throwing paper aeroplanes and drumsticks, believe me, but I'll tll you what it is later. And as for the controls- they suck. They're mostly responsive but in a way they don't feel right. Your character moves slow, jumping feels stiff and the controls for attacking aren't very good since you aim your attack as if you're in the first-person but you aren't, so.... yeah, confusing.
The game, at heart, is a platformer that doesn't play like a clone of Crash Bandicoot at all(sarcasm), and is quite boring in general. You start out in the Matrix-style room I mentioned earlier, which serves as the game's hub. You control both Shaggy and Scooby here (no, you can only play as them. Velma's a blind bimbo per usual and I assume Daphne and Fred are too busy getting jiggy with it to help you), but in the levels you can only play as one. Which one? Depends on the level. Yep, that's right. Just like the Muppets, you can't choose to play as what character. Why?? They function exactly the same so why take away the ability to choose?
Each of the 7 stages consist of 2 levels and a boss. The first one you have to do is Feudal Japan as Scooby, where you're introduced to what you'll be doing for most of the game; collecting Scooby Snacks(this game's version of Wumpa fruit), ground-pounding rectangular boxes, eating burgers to restore your health, talking to the other members of Mystery Inc. via codecs on loan from Metal Gear Solid(no, really) and running past most of the enemies due to their stupid AI and lack of threat to your character. Your enemies for the first level are generic ninjas, samurais, Ryu rip-offs and sumos. Since I've put it off for long enough, how on earth do you fight these people? Simple- You throw CUSTARD PIES at them... Seriously. Shouldn't they freaking eat the pies to restore their health and throw something else, like a rock or something that would actually hurt you!? But no, we gotta be silly, we gotta be kid-friendly and have them throw pies, PIES, for the love of Sunny D! (sigh) Well for the sake of this game let's just roll with it.
The first 2 levels are pretty much the same thing besides the different environments. Then you fight the first of this game's(mostly) insultingly easy bosses whom all have lifebars similar to Crash Bandicoot's bosses(yeah, real subtle, guys)- the great grandad of Taichi Ci from Dynasty warriors. Like Crash Bandicoot, all you need to do to beat each boss is to follow their attack pattern then hit them when the game insults your intelligence further by having the word "CHANCE!" flash on-screen when you can hit them.
Stage 2 has Shaggy going through Rome, fighting skeletons then in another "not-Crash Bandicoot" moment, running towards the screen to evade a chariot. And then you fight a lion. Splendid.
Stage 3 has you playing as Shaggy again, but here you're now on an ice-sled and you have to stay on the slope! Yyyyyyeah, the level's a pain. The boss, a polar bear(of course), isn't.
Scooby returns in Stage 4 to run through Prehistoric times only to fight the easiest boss in the game, a T-Rex, followed by Stage 5, where Shaggy skateboards through a city full of retarded breakdancers then go through a high-security building in one of the only interesting parts of the game since the Phantom Virus actually tries to kill you himself here and the fat security officer from the movie makes a cameo as an enemy. Then the fairground robot of classic Scooby Doo lore tries to kill you on a conveyor belt. Whatever.
And Stage 6 has Scooby going through the Egyptian levels ripped straight from from Crash 3 then you fight the Phantom Virus in a fight that isn't really hard but annoying to do because here it's easy to run out of pies to throw and you'll need a lot of them, trust me.
And finally there's Stage 7, as Scooby again... Gawd... Stage f**king 7... For most of the game it's been stupidly easy but now there's a sudden, MASSIVE difficulty spike for the last level and no sooner d'you enter Stage 7, an amusement park, than do you enter bulls*** territory. Precision jumping, loads of powerful enemies, 2 very long levels to go through, the works... Trust me, it's a nightmare. And thus we finally get to the last boss- the Phantom Virus in the freaking Matrix-hub of all places. This guy is a hot contender for the cheapest boss ever in a video-game, making Vanitas' Remnant look like a sissy in comparison, with his incredibly fast attack patterns, impossible-to-dodge attacks and lack of openings to actually hurt him. To this day I've never beaten him and I don't want to, cos having just YT'd the ending, it ain't worth it. Seriously.
APPEAL: For die-hard Scooby Doo fans and children under the age of 5 only.
Overall: This game isn't terrible and it isn't even as bad as most Scooby games that have been released but it's still quite bad. Just stay away from this load of ass and leave it to burn. That be all.
PLOT: 1/10
GRAPHICS: 7/10
GAMEPLAY: 2/10
SOUND: 4/10
APPEAL: 3/10
Overall score: 34%
However there was a short time when competance was involved in the making of the direct-to-video films and out of the first few that were made, my fave has to be Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase, due to its slightly unique concept(Mystery Inc. get sucked into a videogame by the monster they're after and have to beat it to escape) and homages to the original 1970's show. It wasn't great but it was entertaining. But then, SURPRISE, another crappy game that burned me in my childhood!
Okay, so it's a movie license and most movie licenses blow chunks as is known by everyone but this one blows chunks in its own unique ways. For one, even before playing the game you get the notion that this game was slapped together and finished before the movie even made it past pre-production due to 2 reasons:
1. The game was advertised in the VHS copy of the movie, complete with generic female voice-over #101 giving you "hints". Most movie games tend to get advertised AFTER their big-screen brother comes out so this isn't a good sign.
2. The plot differs quite a bit from the movie to the point that it seems like it was based on an early script, much like Ecks VS. Sever for the GBA except that game didn't totally suck.
But oh well. Maybe I'm being harsh? Not really. No sooner do you get to the title-screen you see that the game's included with a short trailer for the movie. I'd consider this an apology from the developers but the trailer doesn't even show any footage from the movie. Either they did this deliberately to c**k-tease kids who got stuck with this crap like I did or this game really was made and finished whilst the movie was still just getting off the ground. Oh dear. Anyway, let's get to the actual game.
PLOT: In the movie, Mystery Inc. go to a college to see one of Shaggy's friends when they get sucked into a videogame by the Phantom Virus. In the game, Mystery Inc. have fallen under blatant self-awareness(that I hate so much unless it's subtle and not in-your-face. In this game it is) that they're in a videogame with no questions about why.
This happens to bring up many a question for me, though, such as; why are they in a game and not in real-life? How do they know they're in the game? Why aren't they having any sort of realistic reaction to them being in a video-game? Why is the Phantom Virus wearing lipstick? How come there's only 7 levels when there were 10 in the movie? Why are the levels in a different order than they were in the movie? Why is there a Matrix-style hub when in the movie they simply went from one level to the next? And why, oh, why aren't any of the other characters from the movie here(hint- They probably couldn't save up the extra £5 they needed to make their character models)?
In simple terms, the plot sucks.
SOUND: Very forgettable music. The voice-acting's good, although Velma speaking to you in the game's hub is such low-quality that I'd give you a cookie if you can understand just what the hell she's saying. But other than that, meh.
GRAPHICS: The graphics aren't too bad. Could've been better but the game looks quite nice, actually. The character models are decent, everything's colourful and the environments look alright, even if their textures have supposedly been ripped from other games. Whilst the animation of everything in this game looks terrible, the visuals themselves are decent. 'Tis a shame the same can't be said for the gameplay.
GAMEPLAY: Before I talk about the levels, I just need to bring up the abilities and controls. Your character's abilities are nothing special- They can double-jump and ground-pound, whoop dee doo, but what really takes the cake (pun unintended, given the context of this game) is the method in which you attack enemies. It's even stupider than the Muppets throwing paper aeroplanes and drumsticks, believe me, but I'll tll you what it is later. And as for the controls- they suck. They're mostly responsive but in a way they don't feel right. Your character moves slow, jumping feels stiff and the controls for attacking aren't very good since you aim your attack as if you're in the first-person but you aren't, so.... yeah, confusing.
The game, at heart, is a platformer that doesn't play like a clone of Crash Bandicoot at all(sarcasm), and is quite boring in general. You start out in the Matrix-style room I mentioned earlier, which serves as the game's hub. You control both Shaggy and Scooby here (no, you can only play as them. Velma's a blind bimbo per usual and I assume Daphne and Fred are too busy getting jiggy with it to help you), but in the levels you can only play as one. Which one? Depends on the level. Yep, that's right. Just like the Muppets, you can't choose to play as what character. Why?? They function exactly the same so why take away the ability to choose?
Each of the 7 stages consist of 2 levels and a boss. The first one you have to do is Feudal Japan as Scooby, where you're introduced to what you'll be doing for most of the game; collecting Scooby Snacks(this game's version of Wumpa fruit), ground-pounding rectangular boxes, eating burgers to restore your health, talking to the other members of Mystery Inc. via codecs on loan from Metal Gear Solid(no, really) and running past most of the enemies due to their stupid AI and lack of threat to your character. Your enemies for the first level are generic ninjas, samurais, Ryu rip-offs and sumos. Since I've put it off for long enough, how on earth do you fight these people? Simple- You throw CUSTARD PIES at them... Seriously. Shouldn't they freaking eat the pies to restore their health and throw something else, like a rock or something that would actually hurt you!? But no, we gotta be silly, we gotta be kid-friendly and have them throw pies, PIES, for the love of Sunny D! (sigh) Well for the sake of this game let's just roll with it.
The first 2 levels are pretty much the same thing besides the different environments. Then you fight the first of this game's(mostly) insultingly easy bosses whom all have lifebars similar to Crash Bandicoot's bosses(yeah, real subtle, guys)- the great grandad of Taichi Ci from Dynasty warriors. Like Crash Bandicoot, all you need to do to beat each boss is to follow their attack pattern then hit them when the game insults your intelligence further by having the word "CHANCE!" flash on-screen when you can hit them.
Stage 2 has Shaggy going through Rome, fighting skeletons then in another "not-Crash Bandicoot" moment, running towards the screen to evade a chariot. And then you fight a lion. Splendid.
Stage 3 has you playing as Shaggy again, but here you're now on an ice-sled and you have to stay on the slope! Yyyyyyeah, the level's a pain. The boss, a polar bear(of course), isn't.
Scooby returns in Stage 4 to run through Prehistoric times only to fight the easiest boss in the game, a T-Rex, followed by Stage 5, where Shaggy skateboards through a city full of retarded breakdancers then go through a high-security building in one of the only interesting parts of the game since the Phantom Virus actually tries to kill you himself here and the fat security officer from the movie makes a cameo as an enemy. Then the fairground robot of classic Scooby Doo lore tries to kill you on a conveyor belt. Whatever.
And Stage 6 has Scooby going through the Egyptian levels ripped straight from from Crash 3 then you fight the Phantom Virus in a fight that isn't really hard but annoying to do because here it's easy to run out of pies to throw and you'll need a lot of them, trust me.
And finally there's Stage 7, as Scooby again... Gawd... Stage f**king 7... For most of the game it's been stupidly easy but now there's a sudden, MASSIVE difficulty spike for the last level and no sooner d'you enter Stage 7, an amusement park, than do you enter bulls*** territory. Precision jumping, loads of powerful enemies, 2 very long levels to go through, the works... Trust me, it's a nightmare. And thus we finally get to the last boss- the Phantom Virus in the freaking Matrix-hub of all places. This guy is a hot contender for the cheapest boss ever in a video-game, making Vanitas' Remnant look like a sissy in comparison, with his incredibly fast attack patterns, impossible-to-dodge attacks and lack of openings to actually hurt him. To this day I've never beaten him and I don't want to, cos having just YT'd the ending, it ain't worth it. Seriously.
APPEAL: For die-hard Scooby Doo fans and children under the age of 5 only.
Overall: This game isn't terrible and it isn't even as bad as most Scooby games that have been released but it's still quite bad. Just stay away from this load of ass and leave it to burn. That be all.
PLOT: 1/10
GRAPHICS: 7/10
GAMEPLAY: 2/10
SOUND: 4/10
APPEAL: 3/10
Overall score: 34%
