Scooby-Doo: Showdown in Ghost Town Walkthrough

15 December 2001

Although this is a good
game in its construction, in its execution it is flawed when examined
from an adult’s perspective. (Not surprising, considering the game
targets 5-10 year olds!). The game has a multitude of different clues
and conclusions so that it purports to never play the same twice.
HOWEVER, this means that there is little chance for character development
or any emotional connection with the characters (such as you get when
playing the Broken Sword or Monkey Island series) because
it has to maintain enough emotional distance to allow for several
different endings with little variability in gameplay. From a child’s
viewpoint, though, the game is superb as it emulates the old feel
of the Saturday morning cartoon, with zany action and never-too-frightening
danger. The game has three settings, but the game is simple even on
the "Spooktacular" (hardest) setting (as opposed to some
other children’s games that can be a minor challenge for adults such
as Spy Fox and Rugrats Adventure). The game took me
about three or four hours to finish (whilst writing a walkthrough)
and I am not one to rush a game. The graphics are some of the best
I have seen in a cartoon adventure. The voices are clear and feature
positional sound (i.e. if someone is stage right, their voice comes
out of the right hand speaker) but the same dialog plays each time
you arrive in an area. Perhaps for future games they could have two
or three alternatives to reduce this annoyance. If you have DirectX
of higher than 8.0, you will need to download the patch from the Learning
Company or put up with the last fraction of a second of dialog being
cut off. This patch is available from the Learning Company here.
I think this series has real potential for both children and adults,
and with a little modification to the settings could be more flexible
to provide a challenge for older children and adults.

Of course, as there are
a multitude of clues, red herrings, and possible endings, there is
no way to write a comprehensive walkthrough. However, the differences
in the clues are only minor, and this walkthrough should provide some
inkling in to what to do next if a child were stuck.

HINT: If you get short
of Scooby snacks (necessary to get Shaggy to go in to dangerous areas),
there are two ways of getting them. You can have a pie fight with
the Faceless Rider by clicking on the pie in the saloon. Alternatively,
you can play horseshoes at the ranch. Each successful pie or horseshoe
gains you another Scooby snack.

Introduction
Mystery, Inc. has been driving through the desert and, getting a little
hungry, starts to look for a place to eat. They come across a town
with the rather high culinary potential of Los Burritos. However,
the town is a ghost town. The team starts at the entrance to town.

Town Entrance
The team hears a moaning from somewhere in town. Naturally, Scooby
and Shaggy think the worst. Shaggy refuses to leave until he is given
a Scooby snack. Go left to the water trough.

Water Trough
The water pump is missing a handle. Fred and Daphne enter the post
office.

Post Office
Examine the bricks: they are a strange color. Examine the hole. You
need a light source before you can enter the tunnel. Exit back to
the others and then back to the town entrance.

Town Entrance
Take the path straight ahead of you to the general store.

General Store
Trying to remove the clock, you realize that you need a crowbar or
hammer to remove it. Return to the town entrance.

Town Entrance
Take the right path and follow the footprints into the saloon. The
moaning is getting louder!

Saloon
A man is tied up! Ungag him. He asks you to find the three keys hidden
in the room. Strange, he knows the keys are hidden in the room but
not where they are… One key is under the cards on the card table.
The second is in the piano seat. The last key is behind the sign above
the exit. Free the man. He tells you he is Professor Artie Fackt and
he is excavating the town with his students. He gives you a red patch
thinking it may be a cue to the identity of the Faceless Rider. Give
Shaggy four Scooby snacks and he’ll agree to go out back to the stage.

Stage
Go up to the stage. Someone is locked in under the stage trapdoor.
Pull the switches to remove all sandbags from the trapdoor. It may
take some time (I couldn’t work out if there was a pattern to them-it
seemed a little random to me). When they are all lifted, you rescue
Jenny Lariat. She tells you a little about the Faceless Rider and
the Hole in the Wall Gang. Scooby picks up a hammer. Jenny has a clue
as well-a book about escape tricks. Return to the saloon.

Saloon
Go upstairs to the room.

Room
Looking through the window, you see the Faceless Rider digging outside
in the cemetery. Take the nickel from the bed. Return to the saloon.

Saloon
Use the nickel with the mechanical bull. Scooby promptly destroys
it but a handle falls out which you pick up. Go to the bank.

Bank
Examine the vault-it’s locked with a time-based lock. Go to the railroad
depot.

Railroad Depot
A man is sleeping outside the railroad depot. His donkey is standing
beside him. He can’t be roused and is sleep whistling! Click on the
bells around the donkey’s neck to imitate the song in this order (from
left to right): 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 4, 3, 1. The man wakes up asks for
his teeth. Go to the general store.

General Store
Use the hammer to remove the clock from the wall. Go to the bank.

Bank
Use the clock on the bank vault. Set it to 11:57. The door opens.
Go in the vault.

Vault
The room is full of strongboxes, none of which open without a key.
The safe is also locked and a combination is needed. Examine the moneybags
and the Faceless Rider appears and chases the team back to the town
entrance.

Town Entrance
Go to the water trough.

Water Trough
Use the handle with the pump. Pump until a key falls out onto the
ground. Pick it up. Speak with the Sheriff Chuck D. Wagon. He asks
you some questions to test your observational skills. Trial and error
will eventually get you past these questions-he gives you another
opportunity to answer if you are wrong. He asks you to bring him something
with the town population written on it. Return to the town entrance.

Town Entrance
Pick up the sign. Return to the sheriff.

Sheriff
Give the sheriff the sign. He gives you another clue-a list of the
professor’s students with all but one crossed off. Go back to the
vault.

Vault
Use the key on the strongboxes. It opens one of them. Inside is a
set of false teeth. Return to the railroad depot.

Railroad Depot
Give Gummy Bayer the teeth. He gives you another clue to thank you-a
map from the university library, which reveals a new way through the
tunnel. Go up to the ticket booth. The Faceless Rider appears and
scares Scooby and Shaggy onto the train. Be sure you have several
rides on the train to visit all areas. You should pick up an oilcan,
visit an excavation site, and the ranch (for Scooby snacks).

Excavation Site
At the excavation site, you meet I. C. Double, who has found pieces
of a bowl. He asks you to put it together. The pieces fit into the
bowl shape at right and click in when they are placed correctly. When
you have finished, he gives you a Ghostly Tales magazine. A piece
of paper blows up which reads: 36L 24R 35L. Sounds like a safe combination.
Go back to the sheriff’s office.

Sheriff’s Office
The old cell door is unused, so use the oilcan on it to open it. Go
in the cell. You’ll have to give Shaggy four Scooby snacks.

Cell
The Faceless Rider appears, pushes Velma, and locks Scooby and Shaggy
in the cell. Pick up the blanket. Click on Scooby Doo. He jumps on
the bed, causing it to fall through, revealing a passageway. Go to
the passageway.

Passageway
Push the box toward the other boxes. Climb up and out to the post
office.

Post Office
Return to the vault. The others join you.

Vault
Use the combination on the vault. It opens, revealing a hidden passage.
Go through it to an alley.

Alley
Enter the general store. You have to give Shaggy four Scooby snacks
before he’ll agree to go in.

General Store
There is a group of snakes on the floor blocking access to the lantern.
Cover the snakes with the blanket. Get the lantern. Return to the
post office.

Post Office
Use the lantern on the hole. The team goes down to a passage.

Passage
Go down the tunnel to Boot Hill.

Boot Hill
Enter the cemetery. Again, Shaggy needs four Scooby snacks before
he’ll enter. Examine the grave at left. Scooby digs up a brick that
ha been painted. Return to the water trough.

Water Trough
Wash the brick. It is revealed as gold. The Faceless Rider appears.
Fred lassos him. At this stage you are asked to consider who the evidence
points to as the Faceless Rider. It doesn’t matter who you choose:
any way the true culprit is revealed. Of course, the evidence points
to Professor Fackt. The final cutscene plays revealing how the evidence
pointed in hi direction. CASE CLOSED!

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