Scooby-Doo 2 Monsters Unleashed

Do you like the zany, crazy fun of Scooby Doo and his hilariously stupid friends?  Do you like the animation style, its wacky music, or the fearful stories they tell?  Maybe you enjoyed the movie – after all, Sarah Michelle Gellar is pretty hot.  And if you can't be entertained by the film itself, you might as well get lost in the atmosphere.

Whatever the reason for your interest in Scooby Doo, you won't find what you're looking for here.  Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is about as typical as a Game Boy Advance game can come.  Actually, that's an incorrect conclusion.  Most Game Boy Advance games – even the ones on the lower end of the spectrum – offer more variety, depth, and a superior challenge.  If you can believe it without playing it, Monsters Unleashed is (brace yourself) less fun to play than the movie is to watch.

Your goals are menial.  Your tasks are silly.  Scooby Doo's attacks are a weak swing of his paws.  He can run, swing and jump.  Not much more is necessary if a game is smooth, fast and fun.  But in this case we also have to contend with the levels, which are on par with those plastic play sets they used to sell for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures.  The play sets had two floors, the top one having no roof, of course.  You could make your turtles battle on one of the two levels, and even though I had a blast with those toys as a kid, the play sets never thrilled me.  The levels in this game remind me of that, except that there isn't any part that's fun.  The levels are like giant rectangles -- move left and right, go up the stairs, and continue.  Sometimes you get a few additional rooms to explore, but that's hardly a reward.  Games have been giving us more freedom and deeper exploration than that since the mid-80s.

If you have an unexplainable urge to stick it out (which might be caused by the hasty purchase of a game you shouldn't have bought), you'll discover that Monsters Unleashed includes other playable characters in addition to our four-legged friend.  Daphne adds a little more action to the game with punch and kick combos.  Her attacks are better than Scooby Doo's baby strike, but that's not saying much.  Shaggy's butt attack is not only ridiculous looking, but its hit radius is so short that you have to get really close to an enemy for it to connect.

In an attempt to break up the action, Monsters Unleashed threw in some mini-games.  They include things like city driving (good idea) and snowboarding (what the heck?).  The driving level is pretty dull.  Simply drive straight and avoid the villain’s attacks.  You can't fight back, which begs the question, is this really a video game?  I feel more like I'm pressing buttons merely for on-screen amusement, not video game interactivity.  The on-screen effects aren't worthy of a gamer's amusement though, not by GBA standards and certainly not by the high standards of today's graphically-rich games.

Gameplay: 3
For years pharmaceutical companies have been spending billions of dollars trying to develop a safe and effective pill that eliminates sleep loss.  Won't they be shocked when they find out the gaming industry is decades ahead of them.  Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is the perfect solution for all you insomniacs out there.  It'll help your head hit the pillow faster than the leading competitor.  Just play it for 20 minutes, grab some blankets, and say hello to the Land of Nod.

Graphics: 4
The characters almost look like their movie counterparts...in a cheesy, cartoony-sort-of-way.

Sound: 4
Nowhere near the quality of the original show.

Difficulty: Easy
Only a toddler couldn't beat this one.

Concept: 3
A monster of a disappointment, this game lacks anything fun, fresh, or new.

Multiplayer: N/A

Overall: 3
There are times when it's really hard to review a game.  The gameplay is great, the graphics are decent, but there's something that isn't quite right.  Either something that's missing, or something that shouldn't be there.

Then there are games like Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed that make my job a whole lot easier.  No matter how much you play it the quality never changes.  From start to finish the gameplay is a balanced mixture of simplicity and unimpressive-ness.  This also makes it easier on gamers when they go into an electronic store because they can remove Monsters Unleashed from their "Should I or shouldn't I?" list.