 Ssss. Ness, drunk. Normally, in the 16-bit era, when a licensed property gets a video game it's usually a completely generic side-scrolling platformer, or beat-em-up. We saw this all the time with movie games like Last Action Hero, Cliff Hanger, The Terminator Games, or even 3 Ninjas Kickback, and with some TV shows like Home Improvement and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Thankfully, Scooby-Doo managed to do something a little different with Scooby-Doo Mystery, developed by Argonaut Software in 1995, and right away you can see this game correctly gets down the most important thing about a licensed game, and that's the graphics. Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby all look just like they should. And not only does the art style match the show, but the structure of the game does as well, for better or for worse. The game is laid out in four different mysteries you have to solve, where you play as Shaggy and Scooby looking for clues all while avoiding enemies to keep your scare meter down. Yup, that's right. The meter up top isn't your health. In fact, it's reverse health. Each time you encounter an enemy, the scare meter goes up, and when it fills up completely, you lose a life. But not to fear, you can always go visit Daphne and she'll calm you down by giving you a Scooby snack. Huh, that implies that Shaggy and Scoob are more into an Indica strain, maybe they stick to Indica when solving mysteries, then mix in some Sativa when it's time to lay back and listen to some legendary pink dots. It's B to jump, A to throw an object, and you hold Y to run, and hold down X to have Scooby search for clues, some of which are really easy to find, but some not so much. You can also press the L button to bring up a map, and press R to talk to Fred, Velma, or Daphne. The four areas you explore are a haunted ship, a haunted fair, a haunted house, and a bed bath and beyond. No, I'm just kidding, it's a haunted swamp. But hey, close enough. So like I said, you explore each area finding clues, then take what you find to Velma. When you've found all the clues, she can solve the mystery, then you go find Fred, and he'll come up with some ridiculous trap, like wrapping the villain in a rug or something. I mean, what'd you expect? Him to go all MacGyver and build a friggin bomb? Can you imagine Fred as a playable character in GoldenEye? Instead of placing proximity mines, he'll be dropping buckets on people's heads when they open doors or whatever. Anyway, you gotta find all the stuff to set up Fred's ingenious trap, then you find the boss of the area, so to speak, and lure them into the trap by getting them to chase you. Occasionally, if you take too long, some members of the gang will get taken away themselves, so you gotta go find them so they can resume their duties of standing in one place the entire time. It's pretty clear that this game was intended for kids, and hey, why not? It's Scooby-Doo after all, but man, oh man, this game can get boring. All four mysteries are pretty much the same. And what you actually do in the game isn't all that interesting. There is some platforming here, but it's mediocre at best. Just your typical stuff with a slightly awkward jump that you have to get used to. And I mean, I'll give the game credit. It's a good representation of the show, both in structure and in the art style, but there's one glaring omission. Where the heck is the Scooby-Doo theme song? Well, I'll tell you where it is. It's in the Sega Genesis version of the game, which was developed by Illusion. This game is kind of sort of slightly better than the Super Nintendo version, if only because it's more of a true point-and-click adventure game. Yeah, it's not very intuitive because you have no way of knowing which item combination does what, but it's still a more interesting and engaging play through than the Super Nintendo game. There's also only two mysteries here, which kind of sucks, but hey, it's got the theme song. So yeah, Scooby-Doo Mystery for Super Nintendo is a pretty simple straightforward game, but it's probably too simple, all told. It's got its strengths. For instance, I like that each character actually has a purpose instead of just being there as window dressing or fan service. And I will say, if you have kids of a certain age that love Scooby, they may appreciate this one. It's pretty easy to get into. You might just have to explain the controls a bit. But kids will definitely like how this one is pretty much an interactive version of the show, albeit a very simple and limited version. I do have to point out, though, if you dig Scooby and you want a slightly better and more involved 16-bit game, you're better off with the Sega Genesis game. Otherwise, the Super Nintendo edition is just OK at best and just plain dull at worst. All right, I want to thank you for watching, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.