Scooby-Doo (video game)

Scooby Doo in the Castle Mystery

Commodore 64 box art for Scooby Doo in the Castle Mystery
Developer(s) Gargoyle Games
(Greg Follis, Roy Carter)
Publisher(s) Elite Systems Ltd
Platform(s) ZX Spectrum
Commodore 64
Amstrad CPC
Commodore Plus/4
Release 1986
Genre(s) Action
Mode(s) Single-player

Scooby-Doo (also known as Scooby Doo in the Castle Mystery) is a video game based on the television character of the same name. The game was developed in 1986 by Gargoyle Games for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and the Commodore Plus/4 personal computers.

Original concept

A much-hyped game, Elite first started advertising this from around Autumn 1985. The advert billed the game as "the first ever computer cartoon". Issue 21 of Crash carried a full preview of the game.

The game was to feature all the characters from the cartoon and was set in a Scottish castle owned by Shaggy's auntie. The castle is haunted and Scooby and the gang have 48 hours to solve the mystery. The game is said to "feature seven or eight action sequences which are separated by descriptive scenes in which characters in the game interact by meeting together and having a chat..."

"In the action sequences you will follow Scooby and Shaggy as they search the castle and need to help them solve (or avoid) problems as they arise and generally guide them on their way. You drive the action in the game, acting rather like a film director, taking decisions which affect the outcome of events. After each action sequence has been played through, the scene will fade to a descriptive section where you eavesdrop on conversations and can pick up clues, tips and hints which will help you solve the mystery."

The game was scrapped as the Spectrum was not capable of handling such an ambitious project. Sinclair User reported: "while the graphics in the game ... are supposedly unbelievable the game is a shambles. Lack of memory has been blamed for the failure to release the game".[1]

Reception

Reviewing the Spectrum version, the critics of Crash praised that the game is addictive, well-animated, and "extremely playable", though one of them remarked that the simplistic gameplay's lack of challenge made it wear thin before long.[2] Your Sinclair rated the game with a score 9/10.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Sinclair User Issue 047" (47). February 1986: 8. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  2. ↑ Crash Magazine, Issue 33, October 1986
  3. ↑ "Your Sinclair Issue 011" (11). November 1986: 39. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
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