LEGO Scooby-Doo Haunted Isle 1.0.3

It should be a wonder if any segment of popular culture remains untouched by LEGO. As a perfect example of this the popular Scooby-Doo LEGO series gets a special digital treatment. And with perfect timing I'd say.

Scooby-Doo haunted Isle picks up all of the LEGO sets concerning the mystery solving gang. This translates into five levels of exploration, collecting LEGO bricks, smashing skeletons and finally confronting the level's mastermind.

Each level contains two objects that need to be collected in order to gain access to the boss's location. This is fairly easy in the first couple of levels but as level complexity rises, you will need some orientation skills to be able to search every nook and cranny. Don't worry, these objects are fairly easy to find.

The controls are a bit sluggish but they work out fairly well. The only time when you really feel like cursing is during boss fights. Even though the game is very forgiving during the main phase, re-spawning your character whenever he she gets... scared, boss fights tend to become slightly frustrating. Because moving left or right is controlled by a simulated control stick instead of buttons, moving is not as instantaneous as you might like. This in turn can affect jumping direction.

The good part is that you don't need to fight off the bosses. Weirdly enough, I think that the developers realized that those moments could get hairy and decided that you can unlock the next level simply by finding a key part. So bosses are optional, apparently.

Visually, the game draws much from the previous ones so far. Of course being limited to a two dimensional side scrolling perspective much is left to the imagination. Still, the background art and animations sometimes look very good.

Conclusion

Scooby-Doo Haunted Isle has launched just in time for Halloween, so you can enjoy it in the right atmosphere. True it's a bit short, but is completely free! Happy Samhain!