Scooby-Doo: Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom - PC

Description

.com Scooby-Doo Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom is a PC mystery game that combines the exploration of an adventure game with the strategy and endless playability of a traditional board game. The characters come to life in 2 1/2-D, a special rendering that keeps cartoon characters looking true to their 2-D appearance, yet gives them added dimension. Just like the TV show, the game places players in sticky and sometimes humorous situations, where they must solve a mystery and uncover the game's true villain. Hunt for clues, set traps, and munch down on Scooby snacks. Review Not one to let sleeping dogs lie, the animated Great Dane Scooby-Doo and his usual sidekicks-Shaggy, Velma, Fred and Daphne-from the cartoon TV show are out to trap the evasive Fun Park Phantom who is scaring customers away from the amusement park. Search nine different Fun Park areas, from bumper cars to Ferris wheel, for clues to the phantom's identity and whereabouts. To win, apply problem-solving skills before the other characters solve the mystery. And during the search, you can spin the Wheel of Fun and even the Wheel of Chaos. And watch out for the Phantom Chase game within a game. With either single-player or multi-player options, this arcade-like animated strategy adventure pays almost like a board game-but it won't leave Scooby-Doo fans bored. Reviewed by Ann and Don Oldenburg, Parents' Choice® 2000 -- From Parents' Choice®SouthPeak Interactive's Scooby-Doo isn't the cartoon canine's first appearance in a game, nor is it even his first appearance in a game set in an amusement park. Scooby-Doo Mystery for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System not only predates Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom but also casts Scooby and the gang in a more fitting genre. Scooby-Doo on the Super Nintendo was a simple but fun adventure game; SouthPeak has instead decided to use the license as a basis for a computerized board game that borrows elements of Clue and Mouse Trap yet never manages to be very entertaining. Without the nostalgia value of seeing Shaggy and Fred sauntering around in bell-bottoms, Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom would be the computer equivalent of the Saved by the Bell board game. Fortunately, it's full of nostalgia value. This isn't the '80s Scooby-Doo. There's no trace of Scrappy-Doo, and the game even starts with the old "Scooby-Doo Where Are You?" title sequence, complete with '60s pop theme song and ghostly typeface. And Fred, Daphne, and Velma are still stuck in their '60s fashions, though it remains uncertain whether Fred's ascot was ever a teen-friendly accessory. Like most of Scooby's adventures, Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom starts with the gang coming across a dilapidated business that is being terrorized by something spooky. In this case, it's Gobs of Fun, an amusement park haunted by a phantom. Of course, the ghost isn't a real ghost. It's one of several suspects, each of whom has a selfish motivation for wanting the park closed. It's your job to find out who's behind the mask and then trap whomever it is. To accomplish your goal, you choose one of the four human characters from the show, and you can have any or all of the other three in the game as human or computer-controlled opponents. There's no real advantage to playing any of the characters, other than the fact that if you're Fred you'll always go first. Once you're in the park, you wander around the isometric board looking for clues and Scooby snacks and pick up trap pieces for the final confrontation. Once you have three clues pointing to a suspect (or fewer clues, if you want to risk it), you must then make your way to the suspect's section of the park to set the trap. Each section has a particular trap, and each trap has three key items. Once you have everything you need, you trap the villain, and the game ends. You're then treated to a short cinematic in which the phantom's real identity is revealed. This is identical in every case except for the actual unveiling, and hearing the culprit's individual variation on the infamous "meddling kids" speech provides the most substantial entertainment in the game. That's a shame, because the source material could have been used much more effectively. The game isn't even the slightest bit spooky (the characters never even seem scared), nor is it all that funny. The fact that the game only includes one setting seems like a missed opportunity. With more than one story and map - it's not as if it would be difficult to come up with more plots for Scooby-Doo mysteries - Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom would at least have some longevity. At least it's easy to play online. The game is available on the Microsoft Gaming Zone, which makes hooking up with other players a relatively simple process. Unfortunately, the lobbies for Scooby-Doo are emptier than Gobs of Fun. Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom isn't terrible. If you feel an aching nostalgia for the cartoon era in which every teen was either a private investigator or a rock star (or both), then you'll probably get one or two somewhat-enjoyable sessions out of it. But even though you'll be glad to have the Scooby-Doo title sequence on a CD-ROM, you'll still agree that it's a shame to squander such a promising license on such a bland game. -- Ron Dulin --Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. -- GameSpotThis game feels like a cross between the beloved Saturday morning cartoon and the classic board game, Clue. Kids can play alone or with friends and at three difficulty levels. First, children pick a player to represent themselves, either Shaggy, Velma, Daphne or Fred. Then, they take turns steering their character around a haunted amusement park, looking for a mysterious phantom. As they explore, kids find clues and necessary items to eventually trap the phantom. Each clue is marked on a grid, under a specific suspect, making the whole experience reminiscent of a "Colonel Mustard in the Billiard Room with the Knife" kind of thing. Once kids figure out how to play, the game is fun and challenging, too, as it requires logical thinking skills like deductive reasoning and strategy. The program offers lots of novelty, surprises and suspense as children play. For instance, if kids lose at a memory game in the Fun House, they get chased by a ghost and forfeit their next turn. They can also make other players spin The Chaos Wheel, causing them lots of trouble. It pays to read the jewel case insert to learn the ins and outs of the game- the way things work aren't always apparent. That caution aside, this is one of the best new games to date for eight- to twelve-year-old children. Teaches: game play, strategy Age Range: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 -- From Children's Software Revue® -- "Subscribe Now!"