Zoinks! Like, let's get out of here, Scoob!
Scooby-Doo: Mystery Mayhem was a video game based on Scooby-Doo released in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance and in 2004 for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Xbox.Both the handheld and console versions of the game have the story of Mystery, Inc. investigating a standard case at Hambridge University before discovering that a mysterious organization is using an enchanted book called the Tome of Doom to unleash real ghosts and other supernatural creatures upon the world. It is up to the gang to use the Tome of Doom to recapture all the monsters and ghosts and solve the mystery of who's doing this.
Tropes:
- 11th-Hour Superpower: Subverted with the fire ghost page in the console version. You'd think you'd get it to fight fire ghosts without needing to douse them in water first at some point, but Shaggy and Scooby only get in a cutscene after they've already defeated the Final Boss.
- Asteroids Monster: In the Game Boy Advance version, the boss fight against the Fire Ghost has him split into smaller ghosts when the Tome of Doom is used on him. After he's been split into the smallest ghosts fought in the game, those can then be captured in the Tome of Doom.
- Big Bad: Travis Sherman, head of ShermanTech who is using the Tome of Doom to acquire more land and an alpha wave modulator to brainwash people into buying his products, is a figurehead for Selena Drake, his employee who uses the Tome of Doom to assist in her plan to mind-control the world.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Fred, Daphne and Velma get brainwashed by ShermanTech into attacking Shaggy and Scooby, who were too dumb to control.
- Butt-Monkey: Shaggy suffers a lot of comedic abuse and often has to be rescued by Scooby. In particular, he gets trapped behind a rotating bookcase, falls through a floor after eating too much and is even mistaken for a zombie at one point. Averted in the GBA version.
- Coincidental Accidental Disguise: In the console version, after getting separated from Scooby, getting covered in mud and running into a tree, the dirty, disoriented Shaggy is mistaken for a zombie by some solders and is promptly captured.
- Collection Sidequest: Each episode has five sandwich ingredients and five clues to find or three for the latter in the GBA version. Collecting all the sandwich ingredients for a level unlocks a bonus minigame, while collecting clues unlocks concept art and models for the art gallery while in the GBA version, finding the sandwich ingredients gives you an extra try and finding the clues doesn't get you anything.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Travis Sherman, the head of ShermanTech. Aside from using the Tome of Doom to assist in land acquisition by scaring people away with the monsters to force the owners to sell, he also intends to use Selena Drake's alpha wave modulator to brainwash everyone into buying only the products his company makes.
- Dagwood Sandwich: One of the Collection Sidequests for each level involves collecting five ingredients to make a giant sandwich. The end-of-episode cutscene in the console version even varies depending on how many ingredients you've collected: collecting all five results in Shaggy and Scooby looking satisfied, while collecting no ingredients results in them looking upset at their empty slices of bread.
- Damsel in Distress: Daphne gets captured by the Red Knight in "Mayhem at the Movies", stuck on the merry-go-round in "Weird Wild West", captured once more by soldiers in "Bad Juju in the Bayou" (the second and third only in the console version) and Brainwashed and Crazy at one point in "High-Tech Terror".
- Developer's Foresight: Using the Tome of Doom on the man in the ghost costume during the final segment of "The Haunting of Hambridge" in the console version won't capture him, but will net a funny comment from Shaggy about the tome not working.
- Distressed Dude: Both of the main duo get captured at one point and have to be rescued by the other: Shaggy gets mistaken for a zombie and captured by government soldiers in "Bad Juju in the Bayou"'s console version while Scooby gets captured by the Red Knight in "Mayhem at the Movies". note
- Einstein Hair: Scooby's scientist disguise in episode 5 of the console version features big, white poofy hair.
- Eviler than Thou: Selena Drake, who appeared to be The Dragon to Travis Sherman at first, reveals that she never intended to help him buy his products, and wants to use the alpha wave modulator to Take Over the World. This horrifies even Sherman.
- Final Boss: The last boss fought in both versions is the Fire Ghost summoned by Selena Drake.
- Green Gators: The alligators in "Bad Juju in the Bayou" are green.
- Guest-Star Party Member: Due to Shaggy being captured by soldiers in "Bad Juju in the Bayou" in the console version, Scooby is instead occupied in one segment by Billy Bob, a redneck farmer from the bayou.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: The second level features the Milton Brothers, a pair of twins who work as movie directors. To tell them apart, Earl Milton has a goatee and wears an orange jacket as well as a yellow-green beret and scarf, while Doug has a moustache and wears a dark green jacket as well as a blue beret and scarf.
- Involuntary Group Split: Although Scooby and Shaggy usually stick close together, events usually conspire to split them up Once per Episode: Shaggy gets lost in a library via a spinning bookcase in "The Haunting of Hambridge", Scooby gets kidnapped by the Red Knight in "Mayhem at the Movies", Shaggy eats so much he falls through a floor and gets trapped in the basement below in "Weird Wild West", and finally Shaggy gets mistaken for a zombie and captured by government soldiers in "Bad Juju in the Bayou". In the GBA version, only Shaggy gets kidnapped during "Mayhem at the Movies".
- Kill It with Water: The Fire Ghosts are immune to the Tome of Doom until their flames are put out by luring them near sprinklers. The final boss fight against the giant Fire Ghost in the console version even has activating the sprinklers surrounding the Fire Ghost the key to defeating him in the first phase of the battle.
- Laugh Track: Both the console version and the handheld version of the game have canned laughter accompany the jokes made in the cutscenes.
- Mad Scientist: Selena Drake's goal is to use an alpha wave modulator to control everyone's minds.
- The Man in Front of the Man: Dr. Selena Drake initially appears to just be Travis Sherman's minion, but she usurps her boss after Scooby and Shaggy free Fred, Velma, and Daphne of their mind control.
- Mook Maker: The portals in the Game Boy Advance version, which keep spitting out enemies unless the Tome of Doom is used to neutralize them. In the episode 4 boss, the player must use the Tome to first disable the portals and then capture each zombie.
- Mythology Gag: The Tome of Doom looks similar to Sarah Ravencroft's spellbook from Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost. Its function as a tool for capturing ghosts also brings to mind the Chest of Demons from The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: Alligators are commonplace hazards in "Bad Juju in the Bayou".
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Shaggy and Scooby can wear disguises in the console version that fool anyone, monster or human alike, no matter how goofy they are or the fact one of them is a dog.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: The first three levels end with unmasking a criminal disguised as a monster. The first level has Walter Peabody disguised as a ghost, the second level has Robert Zabrinski disguised as the Red Knight, and the third level has Mindi Stiles disguised as a Native American woman (a Southern belle in the Game Boy Advance version).
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Losing all your cool (the equivalent of health in this game) results in either Scooby or Shaggy jumping into the other's arms before running at high speed. Taking damage during this mode results in a short cutscene of them running off-screen, sending you back to your last checkpoint.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Fitting the trope name, Shaggy and Scooby's quest to reach the gumbo pot in "Bad Juju in the Bayou"'s console version is rendered completely pointless when, the instant they get there, Scooby hears Daphne screaming for help and knocks the pot over while racing to reach her. Shaggy is hilariously distraught over the loss.
- Shout-Out: Scooby and Shaggy crash a model rocket on a science-fiction set—right into the eye of a prop moon.
- This Cannot Be!: Selena Drake says the trope word-for-word after Shaggy and Scooby destroy her Mind-Control Device. She follows it up with a Big "NO!".
- The Unfought: In both the console versions and the Game Boy Advance version, Mindi Stiles and Dr. Selena Drake are the only criminals the player doesn't directly face in a boss fight, the bosses of their respective levels instead being the Giant Dust Devil and the Fire Ghost that Drake summons in a last-ditch effort to defeat Mystery, Inc.
- Wolfpack Boss: The boss fight of the penultimate level has Shaggy and Scooby using the Tome of Doom to capture a bunch of zombie enemies.
