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I think Hi-Tec should give themselves a pat on the back, buy themselves a bunch of flowers, invite themselves out for a romantic dinner and then ask themselves back for 'coffee', because I reckon it can be safely said that this is their best cartoon tie-in game yet.

Not that it's exactly brilliant. It's nothing more than your average horizontally-scrolling platform-and-ladders game (probably the least original type of game on the entire planet). But at least this sort of thing's a lot more fun on the Speccy than the poorly-written scrolling beat-'em-ups and crummy arcade adventures that make up the majority of the other Hi-Tec tie-ins.

Right then, the game. Scooby and Shaggy have wandered off in search of some grub and haven't come back, so you've got to go and get them. Conveniently, Scoob's right at the end of the four levels which you (as Scrappy) have to negotiate. On the way you get to collect Scooby Snacks (for extra lives), apples, and rather scurrilous-looking lumps (for score) which I naturally assumed were dog turds (they later turned out to be burgers). And there's the inevitable baddy lurking on the odd platform here and there, along with the unsurprising object which will kill you if you land on it.

And, to tell the truth, this is about as much like a scrolly platform game as scrolly platform games go (if not more so). The difference here is that there's enough quality for it to be far nearer the standard that new budget releases should be. In true Hi-Tec style, the graphics are gurt lush (or whatever the latest 'hip' phrase is) but underneath them still lurks an addictive enough game to stop me moaning on and on. It's all rather too repetitive, conventional and familiar to achieve an astonishingly high mark though. Nevertheless, it's a bit of a nice surprise.

Nothing new or outstanding, but certainly an improvement on the usual Hi-Tec fare.