Scooby Doo Unmasked – NDS – Review

When there are
mysteries to solve and chilling ghost stories to investigate, you can always
count on a loveable yet cowardly pooch named Scooby-Doo to lend a helping paw to
his human friends that formed Mystery Inc. Having been the hero in Saturday
morning cartoons, motion pictures (both live action and animated) and a helpful
character in his own video games on the main consoles, Scooby-Doo! Unmasked
is Scooby’s first Nintendo DS game. Sadly, even a box full of Scooby Snacks
just doesn’t make this a game worthy of our favorite cartoon dog.

Unmasked
finds Scooby
and the gang (composed of owner Shaggy, Fred, Velma and Daphne) as they decide
to pay Fred’s cousin Jed a surprise visit where he works. When they get there,
however, they discover that Jed has gone missing. As it turns out, Jed works for
a studio that specializes in making ultra realistic monster suits to be used in
film productions – a special effect that requires the use of a soy-based
substance that can take any form known as Mubber. Mister Stanton, the studio
head and creator of Mubber, accuses Jed of running off with the Mubber formula
to sell to a rival studio. Prepared to prove Stanton wrong, the group searches
for clues of Jed’s whereabouts but leaves the hard stuff to none other than
Scooby-Doo.

The game looks a
lot like the console versions but right away you’ll notice the big difference.
For one thing, the console game’s freedom to roam around the environments is
gone. You can no longer sniff around the screen within a single area. Instead
you’ll find that the game leads you across the screen like an old-school
platform game with the exception that Scooby and everything around him is 3-D.
While you’re free to take a different path it all leads to the same place.
Scooby can jump with the best of them and can even perform a sliding attack and
finally a spinning attack.

In classic
platform game style, there are items to collect such as Scooby Snacks, Clues
(which Velma helps piece together), Mubber and Trap Pieces (used by Fred to
catch monsters). You’ll even find all the usual platform elements such as lifts
and, well, platforms to jump on to get to the other side. What separates the
game from other platform games, though, is Scooby’s ability to transform Mubber
into four different costumes. You start off with the Scientist costume (complete
with wild mad scientist hair) that allows Scooby to pass through barriers made
of Mubber. This opens up a mini-game that requires the use of the touch screen
and the Stylus. The game is simple:  Using the Stylus you move a Collector
Particle around the screen as you attempt to collect colorful Mubber particles
while avoiding bouncing anti-Mubber molecules. It’s not exactly original but it
does offer a break from the platforming parts.

The other three
costumes are used more often in the game. There’s Kung Fu costume that allows
Scooby to kick wooden planks blocking his path as well as fight off the game’s
few enemies. The Bat costume transforms the pooch into a superhero with batwings
you can use to glide across distant platforms or float above fans. Finally
there’s the Archer costume that transforms Scooby into Robin Hood complete with
a bow and bathroom plungers for arrows. With the Archer costume you can hit
enemies from afar but also solve puzzles that require you to hit a series of
targets used to open new platform areas. You can swap into any costume quickly
using the touch screen.

The problem with
Unmasked is that even for a kids title there’s a lot of handholding and
very little in terms of level variety. You’ll play through the Monstrous Fright
and Magic studios pretty easily and the Chinatown mission (dubbed in true
Scooby-Doo! fashion as “Shuddery Showdown in Chinatown”) is really just a
bite-sized version of the console game’s level. Even the youngest gamers will
find it easy to zip through this game, although there are levels that will have
you falling to your doggy death.

Graphically
speaking, Unmasked is actually an Ok-looking game when it comes to
displaying the characters. Scooby looks good in action and you’ll instantly know
Fred the second you spot him in the game’s environment. The locales look like
they do in the console games only there’s less detail to them. You’ll find
crates to bash but not as many as the console version. There are some really
good effects, though, especially when it comes to the gas zombie spit at you.

The game’s
sound, though, lacks the good voice acting found in the game’s other versions.
While we’re treated to text dialogue it just isn’t the same. You will hear from
Scooby and it’s mostly his funny laugh and an assortment of comical noises he
makes that comes straight from the cartoon. The sound effects work nicely as
well but what really wins points is the game’s soundtrack that doesn’t get on
your nerves. What happened to Scooby’s main theme song, though? Leaving that out
is like an Indiana Jones movie without the familiar John Williams’ theme music.

Scooby-Doo!
Unmasked for
the Nintendo DS might not be the best portable Scooby game but it’s a pretty
good attempt. For those willing to put up with its lead-you-by-the-hand gameplay,
there’s a good story and some fun missions along the way but for those looking
for the ultimate platform game there are better games available for the DS as we
speak. Sorry, Scooby, but this one isn’t worthy of a Scooby Snack.

Review Scoring Details for Scooby-Doo Unmasked

Gameplay: 6.0
The controls
are solid enough for a portable version of an ‘Ok’ console game but the ability
to explore has been dropped for a more linear game that forces you on a single
path. Scooby has enough moves to get him through the platform game action but
the four costumes add a change of pace to the gameplay. There are some puzzles
to solve that involve the touch screen as well.

Graphics: 6.5
The graphics
are translated a bit roughly but you’ll be able to make out all the familiar
characters during cutscenes and gameplay. The environments are rendered
colorfully and some of the game’s effects feel right at home on the Nintendo DS.

Sound: 5.5
Sadly the
voice acting from the console version has been dropped but Scooby certainly
makes some funny sounds particularly when he finds Scooby Snacks. The game’s
sound effects are decent enough, though, and the game’s score fits the game’s
theme perfectly.

Difficulty:
Easy/Medium
There are some
areas where Scooby will really have trouble passing through and some platforms
can be hard to reach in the game’s earlier missions. The enemies are fairly easy
to defeat but you’ll be thankful for Scooby’s Kung Fu and bat costume.

Concept: 6.5
Being able to
play as our favorite cartoon pooch is great and there are some decent levels
here worth playing. The costumes offer some variety to the platform jumping but
the star of the show is clearly the touch screen mini-games.

Overall: 6.2
As loveable as
Scooby is even he isn’t able to rise above a linear platform game that, while a
nice attempt, just makes for an average Nintendo DS adventure. This is really
too bad, really, since Scooby-Doo! Unmasked does make use of the touch
screen and adds a story that feels straight out of the cartoon itself but with
very little room to explore the fun runs out quickly.