Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights

The odd thing about this game's economy is that courage is a currency. Scooby Snacks work as both collectibles and a kind of health meter, so the dog's nerve is something you spend and replenish rather than a fixed bar. It is a small idea, but it ties the platforming to the cartoon's central joke: Scooby is brave only when bribed.

The story follows the usual Mystery Inc. pattern. Shaggy and Scooby are sent into the Gang's own haunted trail of locations after Daphne, Fred and Velma are captured, and the pair must collect clues, find the villains behind the monster costumes and unmask them. The monsters are not real, as ever, and the game keeps that formula intact. Levels are themed around spooky places such as a mansion, a spooky town and a few others, each one built around hub-style exploration with keys and clues to find.

As a platformer, it is conventional but competent. You jump, you hit enemies with a bonk of Scooby's body, and you pick up items scattered around. Scooby also gets a few moves that help with traversal, and some puzzles ask you to move objects or hit switches in the right order. Nothing here pushes the genre forward. What it does is stay readable and friendly, which is more than many licensed games of this period managed, when tie-ins were often rushed out to catch a film or a season.

The weaknesses are the ones you would expect from the era. The camera can misjudge a jump, the levels repeat their basic tasks, and collecting things drives most of the progress. Younger players will likely find it easier to forgive than adults will. The cartoon presentation, with the voice cast and the familiar gags, does more of the work than the level design.

Still, it has a modest charm that holds up. It understands that Scooby-Doo is a comedy about fear, not a horror story, and it plays accordingly, with a light touch and no real menace. That restraint is why a game this ordinary is still pleasant to return to.