Common Sense Media Review
By Christopher Healy
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Zoinks! Scary villains and more fighting than usual.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 7+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Scooby-Doo and the Spooky Swamp
What's It About?
SCOOBY-DOO AND THE SPOOKY SWAMP is a sequel of sorts to last year's Scooby-Doo First Frights. Like its predecessor, this game features younger versions of the Scooby-Doo gang solving mysteries and battling supernatural baddies. The story begins with Scooby and Shaggy following a yummy aroma into a swamp where a strange voodoo priestess promises to feed them if they help her out. So the two drag in their friends of several related mystery adventures, in hopes of gathering the items the swamp girl has asked for. The game is built around two-player co-op play, and works very well in that format.
Is It Any Good?
Scooby-Doo and the Spooky Swamp feels a bit stale after last year's First Frights. A lot of the gameplay is identical, but the storytelling isn't as tight (and the plot here is pretty ludicrous, even for Scooby-Doo). Still, there are some very good points to the game. Most notable among them is the great co-op play. A second player can hop in and out whenever he wants, and the game has puzzles built around the different skills of each character. There's also a really fun reward system that allows you to buy costume pieces that you can mix and match to dress up your character at any time (even mid-level). Spooky Swamp is worth playing for Scooby fans; just don't expect to be blown away.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the violence in the game. Scooby-Doo cartoons aren't known to feature tons of fighting, but this game does. Would there have been a better way for the developers to translate a Scooby-Doo adventure into video game format?
Also, are the Mexican characters in the game presented as stereotypes? What about the swamp girl? Even if these depictions aren't negative, can they still be troublesome?
Game Details
- Platforms : Nintendo DS , Nintendo DSi , Nintendo Wii , PlayStation 2
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : Warner Bros. Games
- Release date : September 14, 2010
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : June 24, 2023
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