He has the #1 rated show on the Cartoon Network, has sold over 8 million
videos, attracts 30 million page views a month to his web page, and is soon to
star in a major motion picture. Now in his early thirties, he shows no signs of
slowing down. The loveable Great Dane, the Top Dog of canine sleuths, he is Scooby-Doo,
and he has finally brought the Mystery, Inc. gang to adventure gaming.

The
Learning Company has released two brand-new point-and-click adventures that stay
true to the spirit of the series. Featuring an original soundtrack, along with
the familiar theme song, and TV-like animation, both games feature new mysteries
to be solved by Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Velma, and Daphne (the original Lara Croft).
The Learning Company is promoting the games as a tool to help “research,
thinking and problem-solving skills along with logical analysis and deductive
reasoning.” Who gives a heck about any of that educational stuff? All I know
is that both games are a lot of fun!

Showdown in Ghost Town finds
the super sleuths in the middle of Los Burritos, a haunted ghost town. The Faceless
Rider, a ghost bandit from the past, is trying to keep visitors away from the
town, and the Scooby gang attempts to find the truth behind the Faceless Rider’s
devious plot. There are 25 interactive areas from which to gather clues and interrogate
suspects. Inventory items can be gathered and used to solve puzzles. And of course
any time the gang is stumped, a Scooby snack will put them back on the right track.

The best part of the game, though, is its replayability. Every time you
start anew, there are all different clues and outcomes. The suspects and the scenes
you meet them in stay the same, but areas that were previously searched must be
searched again as they will contain different inventory items and characters will
offer different clues. In fact, each game can contain up to 35 different clues
with up to seven clues per suspect, including red herrings. There are also three
levels of difficulty: Spooky (easy) for ages 5-6, Spookier (medium) for ages 7-8,
and Spooktacular (hard) for ages 9-10. The Spooky level provides audio clues and
tips from Scrappy Doo to help the younger gamer, while the Spooktacular level
provides plenty of false leads and multiple solutions to keep the advanced gamer
interested. (In fact, we have played through Showdown three times, once at each
level!)

Scooby Snacks, which are in short supply, are used to convince Scooby
and Shaggy to enter the scarier areas of town. Extra Scooby Snacks can be collected
through arcade sequences. In Showdown, you can engage in a pie fight with
the Faceless Rider, and every time you cream him with a pie you are awarded an
extra snack. These arcade sequences are not difficult and are reminiscent of the
cartoon scenes where the characters run back and forth across the screen in a
short montage.

Phantom of the Knight dares you to solve the mystery
of the haunting of the Joust for Fun castle—a medieval-themed restaurant
and family fun center. The Joust for Fun princess has been kidnaped by the Black
Knight—the ghost of the castle’s original owner—who is terrifying visitors
with his fire-breathing dragon. All of the various options of Showdown are
again available, but this time in a medieval setting. As before, there are five
suspects—including Sir Lacksalot—and a variety of clues. Plus two medieval-theme
arcade games—one based on Simon and the other an amusing update of the classic
Tapper—add some welcome action sequences to the proceedings.

Both discs
also contain some extra features. Besides a preview of Scooby’s newest video release,
Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders, there is a printable poster from the
movie, a link to the Cartoon Network website, and an interesting behind-the-scenes
documentary on the making of the Scooby-Doo computer games.

My son Jacob
and I put both of these games through the most rigorous test imaginable—could
they entertain a ten-year-old who thinks like an adult and an adult who thinks
like a ten-year-old, and the answer was a resounding “Ruh-roh”! If you
have ever wanted to insert yourself into an episode of Scooby-Doo, then
that moment has finally arrived. What more could you ask for then new mysteries,
voiced by the actual actors and animation that is indistinguishable from the television
show? How about some peanut butter and jelly-flavored Scooby Snacks?

Final
Grade—Both Games: A

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