Scooby-Doo: Classic Creep Capers

Nobody actually dies in this game, which is good. So, instead of the life meter common to most adventure games, Classic Creep Capers has a courage meter, which lets you know how much more fright Shag and Scoob can stand without bolting out of the level and having to start anew. Each time something scares them--which happens pretty frequently--they lose some of their courage, and the game pauses to feature a shake animation.

The gameplay is very straightforward--sometimes inanely so. What you're asked to do is move Shaggy through each level, picking up clues and various other items that can be used to trap the villainous level bosses. You can't proceed from one level to the next until you've picked up everything.

While unraveling these mysteries, players use the A button for practically everything. The player presses it to search for things, pick up items, and to talk to people. The only other button used is the R button, which opens up the game's menu screen. It's just a matter of tapping the A button to activate a particular item and use it or give it to the gang to help solve the mystery. It's all very simple, which turns out to be one of the game's strengths.

Although the idea of unmasking fake ghosts will no doubt appeal to the Saturday-morning nostalgia of older gamers, this game is aimed squarely at the younger set in both its content and gameplay. --Todd Mowatt

Pros:

• Graphic style is true to the source material
• Simple, straightforward controls

• Voice-overs are lacking, with too much emphasis placed on Scooby's own skeletal sound bytes
• Experienced gamers will find this game unchallenging