Since 1969 Scooby-Doo and
the Mystery, Inc. gang have entertained millions of children and adults.
Loosely based on the popular Beatnik teen-sitcom The Many Loves
of Dobie Gillis (c’mon, you never noticed that Shaggy resembled
Maynard G. Krebs, that Fred was Dobie, Velma was Zelda and Daphne,
Thalia?) that aired from 1959-1963, the gang is now poised to be the
blockbuster movie of the summer of 2002 in a live-action Scooby-Doo
movie featuring Freddie Prinze, Jr. as Fred and Sarah Michelle Gellar
as Daphne.

In
the meantime, Scooby’s back for your computer and this time the curious
canine and the Mystery, Inc. gang have found their way to Egypt. On
vacation in Giza to visit Velma’s Egyptologist cousin, Thelma, they
discover that not only is she missing without a trace, but also that
a mystifying mummy is frightening away all the tourists. Now the gang
must utilize their deductive reasoning to the fullest if they are
to solve this mystery and also find and free Thelma.

As with the excellent Showdown
in Ghost Town and Phantom
of the Knight, The Learning Company has managed to stay true
to the spirit of the series. Featuring TV-like animation and familiar
cartoon sound-effects, Jinx at the Sphinx features the familiar
voices and characters of Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Velma, and Daphne.

Jinx at the Sphinx
offers a feature that most adventure games lack and that is true replayability.
Every time you start a new game, the clues and the eventual villain
are always different. The suspects and the scenes you
meet them in stay the same, but areas that were visited previously
will still contain the same suspects but they will now offer different
clues as to the suspect.

If there is a downside
to Jinx at the Sphinx, it is the shortness of the game. In
the previous two games, the harder the difficulty the more false leads
and inventory items were available. This time around it is the logic
puzzles that have been made harder. For instance, in a tent selling
Persian rugs in the Town Center the player must solve a concentration-like
puzzle consisting of 32 rugs in total. This is for the Spooktacular
level. The Spooky level has been scaled down to 16 rugs. As there
is no penalty for an incorrect choice it is only a matter of determination
until you solve even the hardest puzzle. Compare this to the first
two games where inventory items would be in different locations and
each game contained up to 35 different clues with up to seven clues
per suspect, including red herrings. This time around there are only
five clues per suspect and many less areas to visit.

Still
though, this is Scooby-Doo and the bottom line is that the game is
fun! Scooby Snacks must be used to convince Scooby to enter the more
nefarious areas and extra Scooby Snacks can be collected in an arcade
sequence that involves catching fruit thrown by monkeys. The arcade
sequence is not difficult at all and can be played as often as you
like.

Every time you meet a new
suspect the clues they provide along with their picture will appear
in the ‘Suspects and Clues’ gamescreen. This is a great spot for the
player to match the clues to what he has learned about the suspects
and also provides a feeling of progression. It is almost like playing
a game of Clue in which every clue provides another piece of the puzzle.

So if you are a Scooby
fan – and who isn’t considering that he now airs 23 times a week on
the Cartoon Network and has his lovable mug plastered on over 150
licensed products on the market – why are you still here reading this
review? Grab yourself a copy of Jinx at the Sphinx while you
still can (the first 100,000 copies
include a bonus CD-Rom featuring a Scooby-Doo Activity Challenge featuring
3 replayable puzzles) and if you have yet to play Showdown in Ghost
Town or Phantom of the Knight triple your fun and your
supply of Scooby Snacks by enjoying all three.

Final Grade-Scooby Doo
Jinx at the Sphinx: C+

System Requirements:

Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP
166 MHz Pentium
32 MB RAM
45 MB free hard disk space
8X CD-ROM
16-bit color display
16-bit sound card
Mouse