Xbox

Scooby-Doo!: Night of 100 Frights

The sound effects, voice acting, and cartoon visuals all combine to make a fun game. Fans of the original show should definitely pick this up (though why you wouldn’t have done so for the PS2 or GameCube is beyond comprehension).

Overall, this is a decent game. The graphics aren't fabulous, and the camera angle & constant backtracking tend to be a bit tedious. However, the authenticity of Scobby-Doo and the gang of Mystery, Inc. makes it worth at least at glance. It's especially great for kids because there is no blood, sex, or violence and you can retry each puzzle over and over until you get it just right. Plus at $19.95, you can't beat the price.

The audio is absolutely stunning. The background music sounds as if it's lifted directly from the show, and the sounds of creaking doors, fluttering wings, and howling wolves are crisp and clear. Scooby Doo himself has a surprising amount of dialogue, and many of his lines are nothing short of hilarious. Last but not least, the game even has laugh track - how bizarre is that?? Great fun for the whole family, Scooby Doo Night of 100 Frights sometimes feels more like a funhouse ride than a game.

Night of 100 Frights is a simplistic, yet fun platformer that will appeal to Scooby fans and children. The Xbox version doesn’t offer any real changes from the version released on other consoles last year, but the game still stays incredibly true to the TV show and offers all the fun and charisma that have made the series so endearing and popular over the years.

Here at GameCritics.com, we have a very well defined ratings system. A five isn't actually a terrible mark. It just means that the game isn't exceptional in any way. If this weren't a Scooby-Doo game, that's the score it would be getting. But it is a Scooby-Doo game, and if I were allowed to rate the game solely for its Scooby-Doo content, it would be a solid ten. Which puts me in a bit of a binddo I pretend that I've never watched a single cartoon, and judge it solely on its merits as a game, or do I acknowledge the weight that the franchise's history adds to the game's value? Really, it's probably best to split the difference and summarize the review with a simple thought: If someone were looking for a platforming action game, there are better ones out there. If someone were looking for a Scooby-Doo game, there aren't.

While Night of 100 Frights is technically new to the Xbox, those who have already enjoyed it on one of the other systems will have little reason to revisit it here. The low price point and solid gameplay are fine excuses to pick this game up, but compared to other AAA Xbox games, Night of 100 Frights blends inconspicuously into the crowd. THQ did a great job with the license and does justice to the illustrious Scooby legacy. If you have yet to play this game, now’s your chance.

When you get down to it Night of 100 Frights is a solid, if standard platformer if you have some appreciation for Scooby-Doo or if you're looking for a game for the kids. It will probably be passed up by most gamers for it's immature look and feel, but that's exactly the point (and they seem to forget what Mario Sunshine looked like). I'm not even a huge Scooby-Doo fan from back in the day, it probably wouldn't rank in my top five childhood favorites. But I do appreciate the classics, and this one has been done right in Night of 100 Frights. Now just pretend Scrappy never existed in our world and go about your business.

For a variety of reasons, Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights will appeal most to young children and to diehard fans of the cartoon show. It's not a particularly lengthy game, but the 10 to 15 hours of first-run play time should suit the intended audience just fine. Above all, the game's story and characters are just as entertaining as an episode of the TV show.

Scooby-Doo is many things, but it's definitely not a hard-core Tekken fan's idea of fun; this I can say with sheer sincerity. In fact, I'd say it's not going to be a love-fest for any hardcore gamer. But it's really not meant to be. Scooby-Doo: Night of 100 Frights is a fun, light-weight platformer that's got solid gameplay, respectable productions values, and a great sense of humor to back it up. For parents with kids, or old hippies who just can't handle today's grim prospects of war, terrorism, or reality TV, Scooby-Doo: Night of 100 Frights is a wonderful escape into the wonders of cheesy TV, only this time you can play the show on your Xbox. It's fun for what it is, surprisingly so.

After watching the game's opening sequence I was looking forward to the chance to guide Scooby through a new mystery, but that enthusiasm was worn down by its generic platform gameplay. There is nothing new here, and the tried and true platform elements are simply ho-hum. Making it through a level to find a wacky invention to increase your powers sounds like fun, but when the payoff is that you can jump a little higher or ram easily avoided enemies you'll find your excitement rapidly waning. What you've got here is a very generic platformer best left to obsessed Scooby fans or an evening's rental.