Scooby Adventure - Episode One

Remember Shaggy, Scooby, and the rest of the gang from your favorite Saturday morning cartoon? Well, they're back - in a River Rapids Rampage Adventure that you control. This fun, free game is available at net-games.biz.

In typical Scooby Doo style, the game begins with Shaggy and Scooby talking to a creepy looking Mr. Culpepper. He's got a hot sauce factory that makes the Five Skull Fire Sauce, produced with a special pepper that grows only in the Haunted Temple of Lost Souls. Fortunately, he's collected enough peppers for his own personal supply. So what's the problem? Shaggy's chili recipe, "like, needs that ingredient!" And nobody who goes into the haunted temple could ever make it out alive.

Of course, Shaggy and Scooby go anyway. They borrow a map from Mr. Culpepper and take off to collect some supplies near the river, which has been overtaken with dangerous jungle animals.

Your job in this little mission? You've got to collect handy items on your way to the river in order to fend off monkeys, snakes, lions, and crocs. If one of these animals manages to scare Shaggy and Scooby before you've figured out how to chase it away, then your Scare- meter starts to fill up. When the Scare-meter is completely full, the game ends.

Once you do make it to the river, you'll take the canoe to the next part of the game. Here, you have to navigate river rapids and avoid crocodiles, piranhas, and a "Mayan Mayhem" that pops out from behind the bushes. Try to canoe through the river, and avoid maxing out your Scare-meter. If you make it to the end, you've won the game.

There's more to come in Episode Two of Scooby Adventure. Maybe in the next episode, Scooby and Shaggy will finally get their hands on those crazy hot peppers in the Temple of Lost Souls. For now, I'm just happy that they made it through the Rampaging River Rapids alive!

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Quadramania

On first glance, it seems a bit like Tetris. Then, you realize it's Quadramania, a totally different tetris-style game from Clever Media.

Here's what's similar to Tetris: You get a single-colored combination of square tiles to place on the board, just like in Tetris. You also get to see the piece on the side of the screen before it's delivered. While you're deciding where to place your piece, you can turn it around in all directions. That's pretty much where the similarity ends.

The goal of Quadramania is to form single colored rectangles that are at least 2 by 3 tiles long. You're first instinct will be to attempt to form lots of differently colored rectangles in different places on the game board by fitting together the pieces you receive (again, remember Tetris?) But then you'll realize that this is not the way to go.

The best strategy is to make one big single colored (say, pink) rectangle in the middle of the screen and then use all the other colored (blue, green, orange) pieces you get to trim the sides and make it an even rectangle. That's because your big pink rectangle will count for nothin' until there are no offensive pink tiles sticking off where they shouldn't be.

Something to keep in mind when playing the game is that you can place any tile over any other tile AS LONG AS IT'S NOT THE SAME COLOR. That means, you can put a blue piece right on top of that annoying pink protrusion, as long as you're not covering up any blue tiles in the process. If you are, you'll have to use an orange or a green piece instead.

The bigger the rectangle you form, the more points you get. Once the rectangle is single-colored and evenly sided, it will disappear from the screen and get added to your point total.

As the board gets filled up, the spaces around the sides start to disappear, leading to a much smaller place to place your tiles. Try to score more points to restore the game board to its former size.

Sounds complicated? It is, a little bit. But I think that's because new players are so taken aback that the Quadramania is really nothing like Tetris. Play a few times, and you'll get the hang of it.

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Add it Up

There's nothing better than a math game to put those brain cells to work. Add it Up is a timed game of logic that does just that!

The game is set up on a square grid full of smaller squares containing numbers. Your job is to click on numbers that add up to a target total, shown at the top right of the screen. The more numbers you use, the more points you get. For example, if you're shown a target of 18, you could just pick a 9 and a 9, but you'll score more points if you choose a 5, a 4, a 6, and a 3.

Another way to score big points is to complete your math problem before the time on the clock runs out. The quicker you solve it, the more bonus points you get.

The game ends when you run out of possibilities. That's why it pays to pick your numbers wisely (but quickly!) - don't use up all of the 1's on your first move. You may need one later on. Once you're out of options, the computer will subtract 500 points for every number left on the grid - a hefty penalty.

Add it Up is another stimulating and fun game from Clever Media. It's so enjoyable to play free games that require a bit of skill and mental power while also featuring great graphics and no bugs.

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Digital Air Hockey

Who doesn't love air hockey? Now you can play this arcade classic online, at Gamescene.com.

In typical air hockey fashion, you're presented with a puck, a paddle, and an air hockey table. What's not so typical is that you get to pick the skill level of your opponent: easy, medium, or hard. Then, you battle against a computer to become air hockey champion. But take note: even if you're really good at air hockey, it's not so easy to beat a computer at the game.

On the easy level, I had some technical difficulties with my playing partner. At a certain point in the game, he grabbed hold of the puck and stopped playing. And on the medium level, my opponent was far more skilled than I at digital air hockey - he knew all of the best maneuvers.

What's nice about the game are the arcade style graphics and the authentic sound effects - you'll hear the white noise sounds of an air hockey table in the background while you play. Score eleven points first and you'll win the game.

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Brick Invaders

You won't find any sort of invasion in Brick Invaders from Clever Media, but you will find a rubber ball that packs a punch and colorful walls of breakable bricks.

This free game is well designed and fun to play. At each level, the player is presented with a wall of bricks, including extra-tough bricks, bombs, and command centers. Use your paddle at the bottom of the screen to deflect a little ball in the right direction. The ball will bounce off the sides and top of the screen, and off of any brick, but if you miss it on the way down, it will disappear into the dark unknown.

What should players watch out for? First of all, there are the bombs woven into every wall. You can see them, but you may not realize that breaking the surrounding bricks will send them flying in your direction. If you get hit by a bomb, you lose a ball.

It's also important to always catch the ball before it hits the bottom. Every player starts off with four extra balls, but once your ball supply is gone the game ends.

One fun feature of Brick Invaders is that the ball acts like a ball should. If it breaks a brick on the top of the wall, it won't come straight down - instead, it will continue bouncing between the top of the screen and the other bricks on the wall. This move will break a lot of bricks, and score lots of points.

Once you've broken every brick in sight, move your magic ball on to the next level. The game ends at Level 20.

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Finish Line

At the start of the game, you get to take your pick from four different cars. Then the race track music commences as the timer starts ticking. Your goal is to make one lap around the track as fast as you can. Watch out for the sharp turns and the usual obstacles (cones, construction barriers) - running into them will slow you down. On the other hand, your car is practically impenetrable, so you might as well go as fast as you can, even if you spend the whole race skimming the sides.

The main difference between this and a real arcade game? No driving skills will help you ace this one. There's no mock steering wheel or even a joy stick. You have to learn how to control a high speed vehicle with two or three fingers on the arrow keys.

I thought this game was a really cool take on a video game classic. It's fun to try out different cars and see which one will help you beat your previous time. The finger maneuvering is a little bit unwieldy, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be zipping around the track.

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The Wheel Of Misfortune

Nothing like a dark comedy to get your blood goin' in the morning. That's when I played The Wheel of Misfortune, a new free game on net-games.biz. It's a funny, yet slightly disturbing aim and fire game. On each level, you have a complete supply of knives and a spinning target. Right in the middle of the target lies, you guessed it, an "assistant." You get a different assistant on every level, but it's always a living breathing (graphic) person in the center of the Wheel of Misfortune. At every level, you'll receive a different set of instructions. You might be instructed to pop all the balloons in under 15 seconds, but avoid all the dollar bills. Or, hit all the coins, but don't hit the balloons in under 10 seconds. To play, just aim with your mouse and click to fire as your target circles around the wheel. If you hit all of the targets, and don't hit your assistant, then you get an A+. Lower grades are assigned when you've wounded your assistant or missed some of the targets. And if you commit manslaughter while playing this risky game, then you receive a big fat F, but you do get to try the round again if you want to. As the levels progress, the wheel spins faster and the targets are harder to hit. Cute sound effects in the background feature cheering and jeering onlookers. This game is definitely worth a round or two if you don't mind dark humor.

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