Mathieu Jeanson - Scooby-Doo: Mystery Mayhem (2003)

 

Composer: Mathieu Jeanson

Console: GBA

Game Release Date: 2003-09-10

Bootleg Release Date: 2021-06-06

Ripper: Barkman6

Runtime: 31:21, 14 Tracks

I had something else planned for today but last night I really felt like assembling and fixing up this soundtrack so instead you get this post. 

In my opinion this is one of the most underrated GBA games out there. This is for the game boy advance version of Scooby-Doo: Mystery Mayhem. This is the first version of the game, with the 3D version releasing about a year later. This version was developed by Canadian studio, Behavior Interactive (at the time known as Artificial Mind & Movement). They're known for releasing a slew of licensed games from Spider-Man to Shorts. They also developed some more well-known games like Wet, Naughty Bear and Dante's Inferno.  In more recent times they've made Dead by Daylight, Fallout Shelter and Halo Wars: Definitive Edition. They really get around. 

When I was much younger I got a copy of the game and played the shit out of it on my GBA SP. I beat it back then and even back then declared its soundtrack was really good. Several years later when I got my Ouya I set up the game on GBA.EMU and did a full run of it again. I don't know where the original cartridge is anymore. At some point in the 2010s, maybe 2018, I gave the 3D versions a try but just couldn't get into them. I still feel the GBA is the best version of this game, although there are many, many differences in the 3D version. Maybe I will give it another try later. 

Now, enough how my history with this game. How is it? Scooby-Doo hardly needs an introduction. It is one of the biggest brands out there. Mystery Mayhem is a side-scrolling puzzle-platformer, almost like a metroidvania. In it you play as Scooby and Shaggy and venture through the level, collecting evidence and, the best part, fighting ghosts. Yes, this is one of the actual paranormal Scooby-Doo games. Early on Scooby and Shaggy obtain a grimoire capable of capturing ghosts and phantoms. To capture ghosts you need to mash buttons to drain their health. There's a bunch of different ghosts each with different abilities and difficulties. I remember mashing hard enough that I could capture the dust devils, an enemy you were supposed to ignore. With these unique skills they are number one to venture into the more dark and dangerous areas in each mystery. The gang is still around, occasionally popping in to discuss with Shaggy their latest findings. The game follows 4 separate mysteries from a western ghost town, a government conspiracy and more. It's a relatively simple game but it just oozes charm for me, being one of my favourite GBA games period. There's just something about it, maybe I am just blinded by nostalgia but I was still loving it even on my second run.

The 3D version of the game is much more well-known so trying to track down who composed this wasn't easy. Aside from a mention in the games credits I can't seem to find any other proof these guys made it. The soundtrack's great and this was one of the first OSTs I tried to track down years ago when I started building my library. At the time I couldn't find a proper rip so I never downloaded it. 

The soundtrack features a very cartoony attempt at horror-based and suspenseful music. With the very lobit quality of the GBA sound chip they still make it sound fresh and other than the intro theme being slightly distorted the rest sounds great. I never found any of the songs to drag on too much when I was playing. In a strange way it reminds me of the Aria of Sorrow soundtrack. Has that same kind of suspenseful lobit quality to it. 

At the time of writing, last night I felt compelled to look up if a rip exists and lo and behold there was one. I'll link the original rip below. I have also included an edited version, which is in the other link. I have volume adjusted each song, converted to MP3 320kbps and tripled and quadrupled the length of all songs. The Smash rip is just one loop so each song barely breaks a minute. It's much better this way since in the game you'll be hearing a lot of these songs for longer than a minute. 

Original Rip: http://smashcustommusic.net/game/1708

Download (SnowBlue Version): aHR0cHM6Ly9tZWdhLm56L2ZpbGUvMkpRbHpJSlEjdlRiLWJJaUdjQ2g2c05qbmloNnZsUk1DSkphellyZHpOd3E3bjRGeWJqWQ==

p@ss: redphantom