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Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

Score: 90%
ESRB: Everyone
Publisher: THQ
Developer: AWE Games
Media: CD/1
Players: 1
Genre: Action/ Adventure

Graphics & Sound:

With the release of the second Scooby movie, also comes Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed the game. Here you gain control of that sleuth of a dog and his friends as you complete objective after objective in several levels that will have you going back time and again to try and beat your last score.

Monsters Unleashed puts the Mystery Inc. gang in a fully 3D world, but each level has a slightly different feel to it. In one level, you will have a top-down view as you drive the Mystery Machine through the streets of Coolsville, while another will put you in a haunted night club. In all of these levels, the amount of detail in both the in-game graphics and cut scenes is great, adding a lot of quality to this game.

The voices in Scooby Doo 2 come straight from the movie, and the sound effects are great (though after prolonged playtime, the repetitiveness of them starts to come out).


Gameplay:

It's a big day for the Mystery Inc. gang as the new Criminology Museum has opened up in Coolsville and there is an entire wing devoted to the gang's adventures. But something goes wrong when someone brings the costumes of those dastardly villains to life.

So now foes like Redbeard's Ghost, the Tar Monster and the Pterodactyl Ghost are on the loose throughout the city, and it is up to the young sleuths to stop these creature costumes and find out who is behind the plot.

There are over seven levels in Monsters Unleashed, each with their own objectives and clues. Upon completing a level, you will receive a score. Part of the fun of this game is going back and trying to beat your last rank. As you go through the game, you find more information concerning what exactly is going on. Though most of this knowledge comes from the cut scenes and not necessarily from gameplay, it is still an interesting story taken straight from the annals of Scooby Doodum.

In the Coolsville Criminology Museum, you will have to clean up the wrecked displays and, while you are doing that, you may find a clue or two. In the second level, Wickles Manor, you will go head to head with the Black Knight while later you will go to The Faux Ghost where many of the old baddies have gathered for some dancing and a few drinks.

There are several other levels that will take you across all of Coolsville, including the old clubhouse. You will also need to save pedestrians as the Pterodactyl Ghost flies down the streets looking for something to eat.


Difficulty:

Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed isn't the most difficult game. Each level has its tough parts, but overall it is easy to pick up. However, as in most good games, it is easy to learn how to play and difficult to master.

As you complete levels, characters gain the ability to go back (through Velma's computer) and try their hand at it again, thus adding to the replayability of Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. Each time you go through a level, you will find yourself getting better and better. You will find shortcuts and quicker ways to solve your problems -- all in hopes of getting a slightly higher score.


Game Mechanics:

The control scheme of Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is pretty basic. The movement through the levels is done with a simple point-and-click interface and to interact with objects and to skip dialog, you use the space bar. There are several other buttons that you will need as well, but they are mostly for the menu system.

The collection of mini-games flow easily into each other, giving the transition between radically different styles a bearable feel. One of the problems I have had with mini-game collections in the past was how hard it was to change from one style to another (though some games, like Wario Ware, Inc. make it a point to take advantage of that). For some reason, I didn't have any trouble in this game.

Monsters Unleashed is a good game for any Scooby fan, and the various objectives for each level will keep you entertained for hours. This is a nice game and comes recommended to anyone looking to just have fun playing a few levels.


-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications
AKA Chris Meyer

Minimum System Requirements:



Operating System: Win 98/2000/ME/XP; CPU Speed: PII (400MHZ or higher recommended); Memory: 128MB RAM; Video Card: 16MB RAM (32MB or higher recommended); CD-ROM: 8X; Sound: 16-bit Sound Blaster Compatible; HD Space; 600MB; DirectX 8.
 

Test System:



Toshiba Satellite series laptop; Windows XP Professional Ed.; 2.0 GHz Celeron; 512 MB RAM; 24X DVD/CD ROM; 32 MB 3D accelerator.

Windows Didi and Ditto: Kindergarten Sony PlayStation 2 Van Helsing

 
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