Scooby Doo Unmasked

If there’s one capable yet cowardly dog that’s able to help solve a mystery it’s Scooby-Doo.  Having been a classic cartoon series that inspired two live action movies and a series of games, it’s no surprise to find him and his gang of friends back in action with Scooby-Doo! Unmasked.  This time it’s Scooby that gets star billing as he sets out to solve another mystery that’s sure to earn him plenty of Scooby Snacks.  Scooby-Doo, where are you?  Back on the Xbox once again.

The story told here is true to the classic cartoons the older crowd has been watching and enjoying with the much younger crowd thanks to cable television.  It seems that Fred’s cousin Jed, who works in a monster-making studio that designs monsters for feature films, has gone missing and it’s up to Mystery Inc. to solve the case.  With the usual number of shady suspects that crop up and various clues scattered throughout the various chapters, it’s up to Scooby to actually do the footwork.  Aided by Fred, Velma, Daphne and his slacker owner/pal Shaggy, Scooby searches throughout the various areas.  Top that off with the usual monsters that come out to scare the living daylights out of him and you have a story gamers of all ages can really dive into and enjoy.

Unmasked is a platform game with all the usual bells and whistles of your average platform game.  Scooby can jump or double jump his way throughout the environment freely.  There’s plenty of room to explore and there are no shortage of breakable items that reveal a tasty Scooby Snack (that award you with one life medal for every 100 you find) or trap pieces (used to unlock monster profiles).  There are other collectible items to find like pieces of a rubber-like substance called Mubber that can be turned into food items.  Seeing as Scooby has a healthy appetite, he can take the food items to Shaggy so he could whip up a tasty treat using his Porta-Kitchen and any ingredient you just happen to have in your inventory.  The result may not sound appetizing but they add up to an extra life or more life medals.  How Scooby could eat a sandwich made with chili peppers, ice cream and cabbage is beyond me but, hey, dogs will eat anything.

Yet like the cartoon, the heart of any Scooby mystery is in finding clues used to help solve the mystery in question.  Finding them is a question of completing simple puzzles such as finding a switch that will activate a series of platforms leading to the clue or pushing a button that reveals a trampoline.  When you do find a clue you’ll have to take it to Velma who is good at piecing together each clue or can make sense of its significance to the case.  You’ll find that the gang is always near and Scooby can interact with them throughout the game.  Still it’s all up to resourceful Scooby who will go through each environment jumping on platform to platform, scaling ladders or sliding down a rope Sam Fisher-style to the other side.

While the majority of the game is simply platform jumping, there are also enemies Scooby will face.  Luckily this dog has a mean spin attack and even a sliding attack.  The neatest feature, though, is the fact that Scooby can use a machine that can transform Mubber into three different costumes he could wear.  Each costume actually grants the pooch three different abilities.  For example, putting on the kung fu costume gives Scooby the ability to perform kung fu moves.  The Robin Hood costume, the most hilarious costume of the bunch, gives Scooby a useful bow to shoot toilet plungers at enemies or objects.  Finally, the bat costume allows Scooby to glide for a limited distance.  The costumes add more variety to the gameplay mechanics seeing as these abilities will come useful in various ways throughout the game.

Sadly Unmasked doesn’t give us much of a variety in the gameplay department and thus feels like the platform games before the PS2 introduced Jak or Ratchet.  The level designs are good and the room for exploration instead of being guided to a specific point is an excellent touch.  There are levels that Scooby doing other things besides simply jumping from platform to platform.  For example, Scooby gets to pilot a biplane in one area later on in the game.  Had there been more moments like that, this would have been a great platform game with something different to offer. Here’s another flaw that holds this game back considerably.  The camera is awful to the point that it gets in the way of the action and sometimes leads to getting hurt by an enemy you didn’t see or by missing a platform (thankfully Scooby can catch the ledge). 

Visually, the game isn’t as good as it could have been.  In fact, the game seems to share many things with the PS2 version including jaggies and not-so crisp cut scenes.  The characters are not quite cel-shaded and look straight out of the cartoons and Scooby himself looks great in action as he runs, jumps and puts on his costumes.  The environments are decent enough, particularly the Chinatown level.

As for the sound the score is so unlike the cartoon but yet it works well with the game.  Yes you’ll hear Scooby-Doo’s theme song in the opening of the game but the music played throughout the game is still good.  As for the voice actors, many of them, particularly Mindy Cohn as Velma, do a great job of bringing each familiar character to life.  Adam West has a role as Winslow Stanton does a great job as well.  As for the sound effects, they’re cartoon-like and work fine enough.

Scooby-Doo! Unmasked is a decent attempt at bringing fans a really enjoyable game featuring Scooby.  It does not fail to capture the essence of the cartoon and there are even moments in the game that gamers young and older will enjoy.  Unfortunately it also has its share of problems, making this a so-so platform game that could have been a fan favorite.  I have a feeling, though, that THQ will get it right the next time and bring us a game worthy of many a Scooby Snack.

Gameplay: 6.9
The awful camera and lack of diversity within each level is where the game really falls flat here.  It’s so bad that it gets in the way of the action and thus ruins the best platform bits in the game.  I love the fact that you get to control Scooby throughout the game and it works out well throughout the whole experience.

Graphics: 6.5
The graphics seem to be similar to the PS2 version and that’s not a good thing seeing as the Xbox is perfectly capable of sharpening the murky cut scenes and flat backgrounds.  It’s really a shame since the characters look good in action and there are some neat little effects thrown into the mix.

Sound: 7.0
The Scooby Gang sounds like you expect them to sound and Scooby says all the right things throughout the game without getting annoying.  There’s a nice cast of characters that are voiced well enough (Adam West being among the best).  The game’s score is the only thing that’s out of place here but that doesn’t mean it’s not any good.

Difficulty: Medium
Whether Scooby is smacking away rats or trying not to drop from a platform, the most brutal enemy you’ll face in this game is the camera and the controls.  The puzzles are easy to solve and there are only a few moments in the game where you’ll really wonder where to go next.

Concept: 6.0
It’s all Scooby and it’s fun watching him put on different costumes that give him different abilities (Scooby as Robin Hood is a riot).  The story is true to the old cartoon as well as the new ones but there’s very little to come back to when you’re finished.  You can unlock some concept art but that’s it in terms of bonus material.

Overall: 6.5
Falling short in a number of things that could have very well made this one a really great platform game, Scooby-Doo! Unmasked is still the best Scooby game released thus far.  It’s storytelling and style are straight from the cartoon and that’s a good thing but the platform elements have been done so much better than this.  Here’s hoping the next one will be the one fans of everyone’s favorite pooch have been waiting for.