Scooby-Doo Mystery Mayhem

by THQ Software

Product Features

• Solve puzzles and collect the clues, to learn how the monsters can be trapped again
• Take the Tome Of Doom and outrun the creepiest monsters to hold onto it
• Explore a movie set, the wild west, a bayou, and a creepy laboratory
• Switch between Shaggy and Scooby at any point in the game
• Features voice acting by the original Scooby-Doo cartoon cast

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00015HWT6
• Item Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 1, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,262 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Game Informer Review

Scooby-doobie-doo, where are you? In a crappy video game, that's where. Honestly, I just don't know where to start with this title, as its lack of any compelling features make it a bit difficult to write about.

In the face of such banality, I'll dispense with any attempt at analysis and just give you the basics. As Scooby and Shaggy, you'll traverse around variously themed levels to complete the most rudimentary of puzzles. These challenges are all things you've done a million different times in a million different ways, and trust me when I tell you nothing has been done to make them any more fun or interesting. There is really no platforming at all, but you can switch between having Shaggy and Scooby in the lead of the tandem, but again this element doesn't really do much to enhance the gameplay. You can also use an occult book to trap various ghosts and monsters.

In terms of gameplay, design, and execution, Mystery Mayhem is as uninspired a game as you're likely to play this year. As you complete the seemingly endless series of dreary switch puzzles and fetch quests, not once will you be entertained. During my playtime, my emotions always registered somewhere between mildly annoyed and just plain bored.

Concept:
Fulfill a federal law that any kid-targeted major motion picture must be accompanied by a video game

Graphics:
Renderware: How are you mediocre? Let me count the ways!

Sound:
Great if you like Casey Kasem impersonators! (And, no Sara Michelle didn't get within a mile of this clunker!)

Playability:
Are you familiar with the concept of controlling the direction in which a character is walking with a controller?

Entertainment:
Unless you're very, very young (or just simple), skip this

Replay:
Low

Rated: 4 out of 10
Editor: Matt Helgeson
Issue: May 2004

2nd Opinion:
The problem with this game isn't the same one that most cartoon-licensed product struggle with. Instead of stripping away all that is witty and/or interesting about the source material, this Scooby Doo game is everything that an episode is: by the numbers mystery solving, wacky locations, and even a laugh track. The big problem is that the license just isn't great source material for a game – too bland for most players' tastes.

Rated: 5.25 out of 10
Editor: Lisa Mason


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Product Description

Scooby-Doo: Mystery Mayhem - It's all-new adventures with your favorite ghost-hunters! A scheming businessman turns to the occult for making his business grow. Opening the legendary Tome Of Doom, he unleashes nasty monsters! Help Scooby and his friends put a stop to this!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for the Scooby loving little-gamers, April 11, 2004

By 

jmeweb "J-me" (west coast) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Scooby-Doo Mystery Mayhem (Video Game)

My son is 4 years old - and I had bought him the first Scooby Doo game (Night of 100 Frights) thinking that it would be great to start him off. That game is, frankly, way too hard for kids his age (some of the levels were nearly impossible for me to get past). I wasn't sure when I bought this one, if I was just going to be subjecting us to more frustration- but he saw the commercials and desperately wanted it.
My first impressions are that it is MUCH easier to navigate- as there are actually some hints as you go along helping you accomplish tasks to move forward. In this game, Scooby and Shaggy travel around together- and you can switch between whether you want Scooby leading the way or Shaggy. And, this time around, the goal isn't to eat all the Scooby Snacks along the way- you have to find clues and accomplish tasks to move through each location. There are helpful little animated scenes that play at certain points- and if you walk away from the game for more than a few minutes, Shaggy droops over and starts snoring loudly. It's cute.
We are still just beginning to learn how to play this game- and are not hardcore gamers by any stretch- so I can't give technical features of the game. I would say the graphics are good- pretty true to the cartoon, and the music is not terribly thrilling, but definitely in keeping with creeping along in spooky places.
I would reccomend Mystery Mayhem for game players in the 4-10 age range - or so.
Hope this helps!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Only for Die Hard Scooby Fans - a Mom's Review, September 10, 2005

By 

bibliomom "bibliomom" (seattle, wa) - See all my reviews

= Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Scooby-Doo Mystery Mayhem (Video Game)

Okay, put in the disc; watch the re-vamped 3-D classic Scooby intro while your kids dance around. Now turn your x-box back off -- nothing good will come of actually *playing* this game.

Really. If your kids are good enough gamers to successfully play this game, they're going to find it repetitive, confusing, and stupid. If they're too young or unskilled to successfully navigate a mine cart through about ten successive rounds of 'turn left!', 'turn right!', 'jump that boulder you can't actually see!', 'ooh, you missed -- start over again at the beginning!' you're either going to find yourself playing the blasted thing for them or hiding it when they're not looking. As a not-so-hot-gamer, it took me about an hour to get through the aforementioned mine cart level -- I vote for hiding the game.

Which is really my biggest complaint: this game is just too hard for young kids. Had they included an actual 'easy' level your average five year old was capable of finishing, it wouldn't be so awful. As it is, with the lack of save points, even fewer save slots (why!?), and scooby-snacks (necessary for restoring health) that don't regenerate, you're going to find yourself playing certain pointless and frustrating sections of the game over, and over, and OVER again, until you finally get it perfect.

And as I can vouch, my 10, 8, and 5 year old Scooby-Doo lovin' gamers handed me the controls over and over again. (Did I mention the importance of hiding the game *well*?) And by the time I finished whatever stupid thing they were stuck on, *none* of us cared anymore. Total target market failure, imho.

But what about the plot, you wonder? While you *can* collect clues and take them to Velma (good luck on finding all of them, btw) your characters are so busy being pushed on fetch quests, monster hunts, or mini-games that the mysteries serve only to begin and end each level. Controls? Mushy. Sound and picture are the only things I can even *begin* to recommend.

Sadly, this is yet another francise game that *could* have been fun -- the concept is okay. Too bad they couldn't actually build a game worth playing.