Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase

Cross Neuromancer with In the Mouth of Madness, add a little bit of Tron, Terminator, and set it in the Scooby-Doo universe and you pretty much have the basis for Cyber Chase.

The Mystery Inc. gang go visit a college friend who has made a video game based on their exploits. But instead of enjoying the novelty they are terrorized by an entity born of a computer virus who has entered the real world. The gang are beamed into their own video game (called Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase) and are forced to play through the levels in order to catch the virus (so to speak), eventually encountering their digital selves and digital versions of classic villains from the past. Sharp viewers will recognize Cyber-Shaggy's alternate costume from the 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf.

It's very clever, with loads of potential, most of which is not realized with the brisk run-time. At least you'll never get bored. It's certainly one of the most subversive and mind-bending Scooby adventures. A video game arcade featured towards the end of their titular Cyber Chase even features the Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase video game, thus making it self-referential meta-fiction within self-referential meta-fiction within self-referential fiction. Phew...get your head around that. And if that wasn't enough, it's the only Scooby-Doo animated feature to spawn its own real video game (for the PlayStation and Gameboy Advance), which would make that game self-referential fiction within...oh man, I'm getting dizzy.

Smart and tightly-written, Cyber Chase's lack of scope is the only thing preventing it from being a classic.

Say what you want, I have been watching Scoob and the gang since it first aired (1966). I enjoy them all and this Chase through the past was written with an eye for long time fans and the gentle self-aware comedy we've come to love. The gang's whiz-kid friend has invented a computer game based on the antics of Mystery, Inc.(s) past cases. However a wicked game virus has been created by one of four possible suspects. When the gang is sucked into the Scooby game they must battle villains and the Virus on each level to get out. Along the way we are treated to the B-52s singing the signature theme, Roman warriors, Dinosaurs and the original monsters they fought in the first three seasons. Only this time -- they're not men in masks either. The real treat is when the gang meets themselves from the original show. (They are the actual characters in the game)Kudos for the mystery itself too. Fun clues are laid out for the ardent observer. This video marks the first of the new Scooby Movies that does not have Mary Kay Bergman voicing the red-haired beauty. Miss Bergman passed on about a year ago. Her voice is missed. The film is dedicated to William Hanna who also past away recently. If you're 5 - 14 or just a Scooby fan you will love this film!! A Scooby Snack for the eyes!!.........

That was a groovy ride through the years of Scooby Doo. So much nostalgia from the original series and the best of Is that It made perfect sense storywise to have It be such a big part of the story. A perfect blend for fans that grew up with the orinal series and those growing up with the newer one.

The after credits scene was a nice touch and shouldn't be missed.

A thoroughly modern twist on a retro favorite is the premise of this 2001 straight-to-video flick starring those meddling kids, and their Great Dane.

Mystery Inc.'s member, ascot-clad, egotist Fred Jones, prett damnsel-in-distress Daphne Blake, prepetually hungry Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, brainy Velma Dinkley, and of course, Scooby-Doo, are observing a video game based on their past adventures, created by their whiz kid friend Eric, when a virus becomes loose in the game. The gang is sucked into the game, and their goal is to capture the virus. Everytime they get one step closer, they travel to another level of the game, until they're at the last level, their hometown, Coolsville. They encounter a Malt Shop, andupon entering, they see cyber-versions of themselves (the original versions). The real Mystery Inc. must team up with the Cyber-Mystery Inc. to battle all of the monsters, no longer men and women in masks, but real monsters...zoinks!

I watched the various "Scooby-Doo" during the between 1985 and 1991 (Actually, the first series I saw, "13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo," came on when I was about 3 yrs. old, and was off the air by the time I was about 4 yrs. old--I never liked this series anyway), rerun episodes of "Scooby-Doo! Where Are You?" (my favorite of all the series) "Scooby and Scrappy," (one of the 4 worst series--"Pup Named Scooby-Doo" follows in its footsteps, as does "Scooby's Laff-a-lympics"-I vaguely remember this one), "Scooby-Doo Movies," and "The Scooby-Doo Show" (which was a decent mid-70s series). I hadn't seen any of the films, except for the live-action version (which I absolutely loved), and "Scooby and the Reluctant Warewolf" (which I couldn't stand), but this was a decent film. I know all of the cases, the monsters, the obvious and inside jokes...heck, I could solve the mysteries within 10 minutes. But this movie kept me guessing. It was really funny to see the characters more modernized, and what the retro counterparts looked like.

While this was a fun movie, the only complaint that I had about it was Shaggy's voice. I know it's not Casey Kasem, and it's too obvious. But once you get past that, it's not a problem. The other characters are voiced decently (they have had plenty of people voicing Velma and Daphne, but if they replaced Fred's voice, it would be a gaping hole--Frank Welker's voice is very key to the character). It's nice to know that some things don't change (like Fred being "all-ego"). But the idea of seeing him sans-ascot was pretty gutsy (that rediculous red ascot MADE Fred in the original series!). Scooby-Doo sounded the same, and he was just as loveable as ever (I never liked the cartoon much until I was the live-action film, but I ALWAYS loved Scooby!!!). Velma, however, is still my favorite character--she's smart, and sometimes has great one-liners. Daphne, for once, isn't the damnsel-in-distress---she's resourceful and smarter than her cyber-countepart. Fred was pretty cool, and Shaggy, as always, is a scene-stealer, but he's Shaggy--he doesn't need a reason.

My favorite scene was the scene where the gang meets their cyber-counterparts in the Malt Shop, and the scene at the carnival. Plus, the villians (REALLY monsters!) were cool--including the Creeper! I LOVED the episode with the Creeper (I kept chanting to myself "Creeper! Creeper!!!!" after seeing this!)

All in all, this was a decent film--plenty of laughs, and lots of adventure. If you like vintage Scooby-Doo, then this movie might peak your interest. The animation is great-and just as colorful as the original! Definitely take a look at this film--it's a cyber chase worth taking!!

1st watched 12/23/2001 - 7 out of 10(Dir-Jim Stenstrum): Well done straight to video movie of the popular who-dun-it crew from Hanna/Barbera. This movie does not take away those things that made the series popular(the smartly created whodunit, the funny antics of Shaggy & Scooby and even the theme music is pretty much the same). Many times new movie versions of old popular series' s distract from the original fun, but this one doesn't. It even gives us opportunity to remember back when the new crew meet up with the old crew in the computer game and even bring back the old monsters in the old shows. Overall a good combination of the new and the old. Way to go Scooby rooby-roo !!