Artificial Mind & Movement's (A2M) and THQ's latest venture to be shipped across to the games industry from the world of television/film animation is the second iteration of the Scooby-Doo! Mysteries. Scooby-Doo! Mystery Mayhem was released to mixed reviews during the early part of last year and A2M (with the support of THQ) claim to have improved upon this significantly with the release of Scooby-Doo! Unmasked.

To begin with, the improvements glaringly stare you in the face and make you feel guilty for ever doubting the appeal of the content of Unmasked. The opening chapters to the storyline fill you with a warm feeling of familiarity to the early days of the cartoon itself. The characters look true to their two-dimensional cousins, whilst maintaining the qualities that 3D animation can provide. The voices are all authentic, with every original voice used, along with original Batman Adam West thrown in for an extra famous voice. If none of these guys float your boat then I challenge any of you who have owned a television in the last 35 years to resist singing along to the classic theme tune!

Once our throats are dry and voices weakened from yelling along to the theme tune for five minutes (just me?) it's time to find out what mystery the gang are going to poke their noses into this time. Fred, the blonde neckerchief-sporting leader, has become concerned as to the whereabouts of his cousin, Jed. He was last seen at his place of work, which is… here it comes… a studio that manufactures animatronic monsters, a variation on the amusement arcade they used to visit every week. In order to solve the mystery, you must guide Scooby around the in-game worlds to find various clues as to what is going on in this mystical place.

The environments you search through are impressive, very detailed and can generally be explored with free will. Should you find this a little daunting and become lost, you can quickly get Scooby following the right scent by chasing the trail of Scooby snacks that lead you on the path of the storyline, a storyline that is by far and away the game's best feature, right down to the canned laughter that echoes from the speakers every time Shaggy or Scooby do something slightly amusing.

But, to be brutally honest, the gameplay qualities are thin on the ground; it simply isn't in any way tricky. Scooby can be moved around the environment easily, but there's nothing new or exciting. After your first taste of attack, saving Velma from some overgrown rats, it becomes apparent that Scooby can perform very few actions other than moving, spinning in a circle, jumping and a sliding action that would have most household pets thrown out for the night. The environments, although clearly lovingly created, provide very little interaction for our four-legged friend, while smashing boxes and other items for snacks or health becomes an arduous task.

That is, until you reach the game's only other redeeming feature. Those who watch the show will remember that one of the few things Scooby wasn't scared of was dressing up. Scattered about various levels of the game are machines that allow a change in Scooby's appearance to one either a Bat, a Kung Fu Master, a Ninja or Robin Hood. These costumes open up new actions that Scooby can perform, such as gliding, special attacks and firing a plunger from a bow!! However, these machines are infrequent and the rest of your time is spent bounding from increasing numbers of platforms, negotiating what seems like an endless array of tightly formed obstacles, zip-lines and moving platforms. This repetitive style, coupled with the sheer annoyance of falling from the top of a lengthy path of moving platforms and having to start all over again, will have you shouting comments that are a lot more offensive than the pre-watershed remarks of 'Zoinks!' and 'Gee Scoob!'

The game is split into several worlds, each with their own set of levels. Towards the end of each level Scooby faces a boss. It comes as a welcome change from the jumping and more jumping of the main level, but falters when you are restricted to only one form of attack scoring any damage on your opponent. If recent gaming ventures have taught us one thing, it's that games benefit from a degree of freedom in the way they can be competed. Scooby-Doo! Unmasked lacks this feature throughout its rather short-lived levels.

Defeat the boss and Velma, who by this time you wish you had left to the hefty rats, decides it's time for you and her to work on the clues you have collected (clearly the other three's combined I.Q. is nothing to that of a dog). Combine the clues correctly and Velma will be kind enough to tell you something that you probably had already worked out. Combine them incorrectly and, oh no! Nothing happens at all. It was at this stage that I began to look at the game in a different light. This particular feature could well point towards a game with a younger gamer in mind (all the clue solving has paid off!) But, if this is the case then A2M and THQ have underestimated the level of complexity that this demographic requires. The game becomes very repetitive early on and the 'jump, swing, jump onto moving platform' is a little run of the mill for the modern gaming community.

Despite being lacklustre, Scooby-Doo! Unmasked does have redeeming features that make it playable. Parents could confidently buy this for their children, safe in the knowledge that the content is suitable as well as enjoyable. If that's what the developers set out to achieve, then they can be proud of the job they have done. However, the most successful games sell across the board and no doubt that THQ and A2M where aiming for that also and they would of got away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling kids!

Reviewed by Rob Byron for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).