TECHNICAL NOTE:
Set your refresh rate to 60Hz for this game, because it's framerate dependent and otherwise it won't run properly. Thank me later.
Yes, this is how the game starts.
The reason I started this blog was partially to give spotlight to obscure stuff that few have heard of. And today's entry will cover a masterpiece of obscure nonsense.
SCOOBY DOC 4: THE DESTROYER: FEATURING ATSUSHI ONITA (yes, that is the full title) is a Mega Man boss rush fangame by RED-FIRE and Majestic Sales Inc., the former of which was also the creator of GRAND DAD, a previous entrant on this blog. By that pedigree, you should know what to expect- smooth action platforming combined with an array of wickedly obscure references. But Scooby Doc 4 goes much bigger than its spiritual predecessor in two key ways.
In the gameplay department, it is a LOT more elaborate- and wickedly difficult in places. Some of these bosses are QUITE hard by the standards of the series.
And in the reference department... Grand Dad contained itself to bootlegs. Scooby Doc 4 is a free-for-all of "whatever the creators thought was funny or interesting". And all of it is given a loving treatment worthy of the finest shitposts.
WHAT IS A SCOOBY DOC 4?
There's some important context that doesn't matter at ALL for this game, but I felt the need to share anyway. Deep backstory to complete shitposts is my jam.
This is nominally a sequel to one of RED-FIRE's other games, Skull Man Kills, but it stands on its own nicely. (I've played that game too, it's okay. What's most notable about it is the fact that it was unfinished for years, only to have the final two bosses added in MUCH later.)
Scooby Doc 4 was the second attempt to make a sequel to this game, and the only one to reach full completion. Skull Man Kills 2 was canned in the demo phase, and Skull Man Kills DX, a remake of this game, got closer, but didn't get across the finish line.
At least the latter has an alpha you can play, and there's some neat stuff in it. But that's beyond the scope of this entry.
As for the other elephant in the room, Scooby Doc 1-3 are janky Mega Man Maker levels by one of the creators, TwistC, and somehow the idea to title this game Scooby Doc 4 came about. Only really notable for the third one being unbeatable after updates to MMM.
PLOT:
Skull Man finds an interdimensional portal called a WARGATE, jumps in with his pal Toad Man behind him, and you fight a bunch of absurd bosses. That's it.
What, were you expecting anything deeper with that title? Nope. You're not going to get anything resembling coherency here. Just enjoy the fireworks. And all the incredible misspellings.
And marvel at the weirdness of a purple Dust Man who keeps changing his name every time he speaks, then explodes. Welcome to Scooby Doc 4.
GAMEPLAY:
For the most part, this functions like your typical Mega Man experience. You run, you jump, you shoot- and instead of a slide, you have a wall jump and dash. Which you WILL need to use to their fullest to survive the onslaught ahead.
The physics are also a fair bit floatier than the usual heaviness of a Mega Man game- but not in a bad way. It fits the frantic nature of the bosses you'll be facing.
In between bosses, there's a shop that you can buy stuff at. There are alternate weapons here (though I never used any of them, a simple buster is better than all of them. But they're there if you want them.)
But the more important thing is the huge array of HATS!! You'll get to see those throughout this playthrough, because I exclusively bought those instead of any of the weapons. I'm sure they would have made some of the bosses easier, but oh well.
If you get perfect runs on bosses, you get more currency, so theoretically you could buy everything in a single playthrough if you're good enough- I am not good enough for some of these bosses.
Anyway, let the mayhem begin!
BOSS 1: THOMAS
Origin: Thomas the Tank Engine/Mega Man 5
Oh hi, Toad Man and Toad Men from different Mega Man games over the years. How are you doing?
Anyway, Thomas looks pretty goofy, but he's probably the only boss that functions like a usual Robot Master fight. He acts like a souped up version of Charge Man with a couple new tricks. He'll shoot up a bit of coal that explodes into a Centaur Man-style barrage, charge about back and forth along the bottom of the screen...
And do this, charging from the background at you. Terrifying.
He's also one of the few bosses to have a second phase. When he reaches half health, his tactics will change to add more bullets- the charging attack is particularly dangerous in this phase. Still, though, he's not difficult at all, especially if you use the walls of the arena to dodge him reliably. He's one of the bosses that I can reliably do a perfect run on with no issues.
This is the only traditional Mega Man boss in the entire game. Enjoy it while it lasts. Thomas is a fun opener that sets the stage for more epic madness later.
Oh, and the music is a boss remix of Thomas' theme. Epic.
BOSS 2: TAURUS
Origin: Ford Autos
Just in case you still somehow thought this was going to be a normal game, this boss will blow that notion out of the air. Busting out from the Ford Logo background, the Ford Taurus is a simple fight.
Scattering bouncing bursts of smoke in various heights and angles, occasionally rushing towards you, it's all pretty easy to deal with. The only thing that makes it a bit tricky are the solid cones that keep you from easily dodging around the car's attacks. Other than that, this feels like a midboss in a proper Mega Man stage, and it's definitely the easiest fight in the game.
Not that that's a bad thing mind you. Just simple.
BOSS 3: BLACK MAGE
Origin: Final Fantasy 1
Yeah, we're doing this. After a brief trek across the overworld map, you get to the next boss, Black Mage, who has a few different overworld lines he can say randomly before the fight begins.
He'll use three different magic spells- dropping icicles on your head, spawning lightning bolts that appear on your location, and summoning columns of fire that send out little embers. None of these are particularly difficult to dodge, but the cramped size of the battle box makes it a bit more challenging than you'd expect.The only reason this fight isn't over quickly is the fact that a barrier is in place when Black Mage is attacking. When the spell stops, it goes down, and that's your cue to whale on him. Another breezy early-game boss- and the last one that I would call effortless.
BOSS 4: CRANK
Origin: Super Mario Bros. 2
Oh hey, look, it's Wart. Where's his vegetable machine-
Oh.
No boss here. Skull Man just dies, and you go onto the next boss like nothing happened. I burst out laughing the first time this happened, and it's sheer abruptness is still pretty funny.
BOSS 5: REDSKULL
Origin: Captain America & The Avengers
This is the first actually difficult boss in the game, for a few reasons. First one is due to his size- the top of him is the only part that's damageable, and this configuration of platforms makes it awkward to get up there. The bigger problem, though, are his attacks.
His most frequent are these big red fireballs that go towards your last location, and come out four in a row. It's very easy to get clipped by these by accident.
His second attack is a Wily Capsule 7-esque barrage of sparks that track you for a short distance, stop, then start moving again. He'll fire up to three of them, and stopping to try and hit him can get you smacked pretty easily while they're around.
What you really want to have happen is for him to use this move. These lasers flash in and out of existence, and it's pretty easy to dodge around them as they move towards you on the highest platform. Except the green ones that blink in and out much faster.
Red Skull is a nice difficulty spike, and his pattern is fun to dodge despite his awkward boss arena.
BOSS 6: SHADOW
Origin: Shadow the Hedgehog
That's right, there's vehicle segments in this game too, it has everything! Unfortunately, this is the weaker one of the two types. By far.
These motorcycle controls are... not the best. You can't dash when you're on the bike, and firing to the left is really difficult. Worse is the physics- the bike keeps getting pulled to the left, fast. And that can make dodging stuff REALLY difficult.
Thankfully, Shadow's attacks aren't too much of a pain to deal with- he only has two of them. Well, that and the green globs of gunk that pile up on the road, but they're easy to jump over.
For most of the fight, Shadow will just drive back and forth, but he'll either bounce around in a ball, or rise up and fire the chaos emeralds at you. Neither is terribly difficult to dodge in theory, but the janky bike makes it a quite annoying to get around them.
He doesn't have enough health for this to be a problem really, but the OTHER boss that uses the bike will earn far more of my ire.
At least this fight has Contra Hard Corps music playing in the background.
BOSS 7: JOE RUSH/GIGA JOE
Origin: Mega Man/Gundam
One of two actual levels in the game, this one has a bunch of Sniper Joe-themed enemies in it, starting with these cute girly ones that fire wavy hearts. They're not too difficult to deal with.
The most annoying foe to deal with are these Gundam Joes- their missiles home in you from across the screen, and can't be disposed of. Thankfully, most of them can be simply run away from.
There's also these cute little Joe blobs that can't be killed, and are mostly effortless to get around. The only real platforming gimmick in the level are these falling blocks, but other than that it's mostly just an enemy rush.
The funniest part are these Toad Man joes that don't have shields- they're just big meat hunks for you to blast away. Or run past if you don't feel like dealing with them. And they're the only enemy in the level that isn't mildly annoying thanks to their lack of shield.
Honestly, this level is kind of meh- it feels like the run-and-gun levels in Cuphead in that it feels like it was included out of obligation. At least it's over quickly.
As for the boss, Giga Joe, it's a bit frustrating to deal with at first, but once you get the pattern down he's not too bad. He'll fire off these bullets that shoot down at you from up above, and occasionally lower his shield to expose himself.
The annoying part though, is when he jumps up and fires giant tri-spreads of bullets around, which are much harder to dodge while he's jumping. On the upside, his back is fully exposed to your bullets.
I wouldn't say this boss is the best, but he's mostly inoffensive. And I love how he falls into the arena and crushes a random Joe scientist.
And thankfully he doesn't have too much health, so him being shielded all the time isn't much of an issue.
BOSS 8: SPIDERMAN
Origin: Spider-Man Cartoon Maker
Oh, look it's windows 98-
OH GOD NO NOT SPIDER MAN AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA- anyway, next boss.
BOSS 9: NANOBOTS/MR. BIG
Origin: Gradius/Parodius/Narc
The second type of vehicle segment gets introduced here, and it's shoot-em-up stage where Skull Man transforms into a spaceship. These Gradius drones occasionally fire bullets at you, and they're not much of a threat.
The penguins are a bit more troublesome to deal with since they fire vertically, but the walls are far more of a hazard than the enemies. Weirdly, you can go through the walls, but they still hurt you. Thankfully, you have three hits in the shoot-em-up levels, but the walls are still a big hazard.
In between enemies, you have giant metal balls falling from the ceiling, which fall with regular timing and are easily dodged...
Oh, and giant evil lasers coming from the left side of the screen, of course! Classic. They're not hard by themselves, but combined with other enemies they can be a little tricksy.
Eventually Mr. Big will pop out of the background and fire giant five-way spreads of his tongue at you while moving up and down, and occasionally spewing a few fireballs. Honestly, he's a pretty simple boss. Too bad the giant gore-filled second form from NARC isn't here, oh well. Still a fun little capper to the stage, and it's a great gag having this digitized terror appear in an 8-bit shmup level.
BOSS 10: BUSHIE
Origin: Cutman's Bad Scizzors Day
Hey, that's a familiar tileset- how are you doing, Air Man? But the ominous glowing tiles and weird logo will give you pause. for good reason. This boss is the toughest one yet.
The boss is a weird, malformed sprite of George W. Bush that hovers about on a white house platform and shoots tornadoes at you. Both in the traditional Air Man fashion horizontally, and summoning four around himself to toss at you all at once. Both can really trip you up when you're trying to hit him, which is its own kettle of fish.
The height and erratic flight pattern make him difficult to hit if you don't use the wall to get up high, and that's just the first phase!
In the second phase, he'll turn into this horrifying thing, firing lasers while zooming towards you, then move directly above while firing a huge spread of projectiles. The only safe time to hit him is after he moves back to the center and stops, but you won't have much time to deal damage.
If you're fast, you might be able to hit him while he's doing the laser attack, but that's risky. It's a brutal second phase, but once you get the pattern down it's more of a battle of attrition than anything else. I wouldn't say he's terribly FUN to fight, but I respect it, and it's one of the best jokes in the whole game.
BOSS 11: SPACE SNOWMAN
Origin: Cho Aniki
This is a weird boss (I know, as if the entire game isn't weird as hell) because of the way you kill it. The heart flies around from place to place, always just out of reach while the giant snowman it belongs to unleashes all sorts of hell.
The arrow attack is rather easy to dodge, and the elephant trunks are easy when you get the hang of them when you learn you can just dash back and forth.
But the bouncing snowmen are quite a mess. Bouncing around, shooting bullets aimed towards you... they do a treacherous dance, likely to slam into you while you're attempting to dodge.
The lightning reticle attack can be quite a mess to deal with as well if you don't carefully space them out- difficult to do while you're trying to land hits on the heart. This boss is chaotic as all hell, but once you get into a groove, it's fun to dodge and weave around its various tricks.
BOSS 12: A TRUCK
Origin: Mega Man 10
GOD DAMMIT NOT AGAIN-
This is the last time this gag occurs. No more fake bosses for the rest of the game.
BOSS 13: NON-HUMAN
Origin: Action 52
Okay, I'm not ashamed to admit that this jump killed me just as many times as the actual boss. Anyway, hope you like Action 52!
Non-Human is a simple boss, firing out various projectiles in a narrow hallway. Big rocks that bounce, green fingers that jump right before they reach you. The trickiest ones are the skulls that split into four when they hit the ground.
Once you get into a groove, it's a fun boss battle, even if the magnet mechanic can really test your reflexes. And I do love how the new sprites for the face are just as strange and off-model as the original one.
BOSS 14: WESTBORO BODY
Origin: Rex Ronan: Experimental Surgeon
The OTHER actual level in the game, this one is based off the incredible (and awful) edutainment game Rex Ronan: Experimental Surgeon- and is better than that game all by itself. I love how the background warps oddly, like it's pulsing flesh.
There's some neat enemies here, like these flying UFO things that shoot directly towards your location...
Or these satellite dishes that fire lasers straight ahead. Sadly the weird flesh jaw things that protrude from the ground intermittently cannot be killed, but they're not too hard to dodge either.
The last hazard are these bowser shell-looking things that roll back and forth, even through walls. They get placed in a few fiendish configurations, like this one here.
Like the Joe Rush, this stage doesn't have much in the way of platforming gimmicks, but the enemy placements here are far more interesting and challenging than the other one, so I like this stage more.
The "boss" is just a tobacco-riddled tooth that you have to shoot the grime off of. It's more tedious than anything, but I do appreciate the reference to the source.
BOSS 15: ALBATROSS
Origin: Bionic Commando
In its home game, the Albatross only took up one screen. In this game, it's a hell of a lot larger, serving as the setting for a whole level. I love this imposing as hell opening shot, by the way.
Unlike the other stage, you can't actually kill anything in this one. These swirling neon orbs are completely invincible, which makes them a heck of a lot harder to dodge. They're even color-coded- the green ones go in circles, the yellowish ones bounce up and down.
It's also a hell of a lot more cramped, especially in this bit near the end with the three paths. I recommend taking the top one, it's the least deadly to deal with.
It may be a simpler stage, but the core of the Albatross is a lot harder than Mr. Big was. The guns on it shoot huge spreads of bullets while the big guns stream out these giant blue and white lines of projectiles- but you can dodge most everything by simply moving up and down.
Less simple is the second phase after the barrier goes down. The spread guns keep blasting away, but now there are targeted lasers aimed directly at you. It's a lot harder to dodge them while managing to land hits on the boss, but quick reflexes will win the day.
Just don't get killed by the last-ditch giant neon laser attack. Don't worry, it'll explode right after it uses it.
Honestly, I like this shoot-em-up stage a LOT more than the other one. It's much more distinctive and the boss is a lovely little challenge with some nice bullet hell.
BOSS 16: STAGE SELECT/SLAMMAN
Origin: Mega Man 2
Oh boy. This is my pick for the most outrageously cool boss in the entire game. It starts off with a room resembling MM2 Wily 4, with you falling into a spike pit...
Which kicks you back to the menu. Continue restarts you in the room with the pit, password does nothing. But hitting stage select...
Which takes you to the boss. The stage select portraits of Mega Man 2, come to life to attack you in a Seven Force-esque bonanza of a boss fight! With a boss remix of the MM2 stage select theme, too!
Words cannot describe how cool this is. And it plays just as well as it sounds.
Each RM uses a truncated version of their standard boss moveset to attack you. They're drawn in a random order, but you'll have to kill all of them to win. Of course, each of them drops a bit of health when they're destroyed.
Some of them are easier than others- Wood Man, Air Man, and Crash Man are almost effortless. Bubble Man, Flash Man, Heat Man, and Metal Man require a bit more thought to deal with.
But of course, the Quick Man one is predictably the hardest. Flying all around, spawning his homing boomerangs everywhere, and generally making a complete nuisance of himself. I do not know how you're supposed to beat this phase without dying, but who cares.
I do love how when you kill one of the Robot Masters, their portrait gets replaced with Skull Man's. It's a convenient way to track how far you've come in the fight.
And of course, once you finally get rid of them all, the final form reveals itself! It's... a guy with a basketball for a head. Slamman is pretty pathetically easy, only flinging around bouncing basketballs while leaving a huge blind spot in front of him, but after fighting eight midbosses in a row, one needs a breather.
This is my SECOND favorite boss fight in the entire game. It's full of variety, has a banging song, and the concept is just incredible. This is one of the big reasons to play this game, right here.
BOSS 17: KILLER TANK
Origin: Proto Man's Return
The final four bosses bar you from accessing the shop, so if you've still got business, get it done now. The final gauntlet of Scooby Doc 4 is no joke.
Well, the Killer Tank is kind of a joke. I love this boss as a concept- all the Mega Man killers (and quint) in one big ride armor? That's so funny. But this boss will kick your ass if you're not careful.
The Mirror Buster attack where it leaps up and slams into the wall is pretty easy to dodge, even if the rocks it spawns have very narrow gaps between them. The Screw Crusher move can be dodged with expert dash-dancing, so it's not much of a problem.
But the Ballade Cracker attack requires you to bait the Crackers into proper positioning so you can jump over them, and the shrapnel the crackers explode into. That one's a bit difficult to deal with. Even so, this is a very pattern-based boss in line with your usual Mega Man shenanigans. If you've gotten this far, or you're an MM veteran, this guy won't be a problem whatsoever.
BOSS 18: ATSUSHI ONITA
Origin: FMW
Here we go. This is the boss in the subtitle of the game, who's Featured. And he does NOT disappoint. Hell, he gets an entire intro sequence with an FMV while you ride on a raft to his boss room.
I won't keep you in suspense- Atsushi Onita is the best boss in the entire game. His attack pattern is full of randomness, but you're always given enough time to react to every single thing he can do- and he can do a LOT of things.
In between attacks, he'll short hop a couple of times, make a big leap, then teleport away while tossing a fluorescent light at you.
Then, six silouettes will appear around the arena- look for the darkest one. He'll come out of that, tossing ANOTHER lightbulb. Every spot he can appear is still dodgeable, no matter where you are in the arena- you can use walljumps to get around a majority of the possible spawn points.
As for his actual attacks, he has a LOT of them. The easiest one is when he disappears and spawns a bunch of crosses from the ceiling- some good old dash-dancing will take care of that. This is the only breather you get in the whole fight, and you can't even damage him during it.
The firebomb that scatters more fire bursts up from the ground is only marginally more difficult- but you still have to dodge Onita's hops while that's happening.
The hardest attack to deal with, though, is when he tosses exploding lightbulbs into the center of the screen that explode into eight-way bullets. At different angles, too, so you can't just stand in one spot and let both pass you by.
This whole fight is constantly keeping you on your feet, never letting you breathe for a moment. And the music, Killer Marshal, an excellent remix from an obscure SNES game starring this man, just heightens that tension. It's a pulse-pounding piece that makes you want to suplex GOD.
I could go on, but I could say very little about this fight that can properly illustrate the sensation of playing it. This fight is an incredible adrenaline rush, a beautiful dance of dodging and weaving around his various moves that's downright electric. Few platformer bosses are as well-executed as this one. Atsushi Onita is a JOY to fight, and the number ONE reason to play this game. Just to fight THIS BOSS.
And when you kill him, he goes up in a HUGE chain reaction explosion just to give you that last bit of sensory overload. It's wonderful.
BOSS 19: SCOOBY DOC
Origin: None
The ruler of the Void, and the final boss. Scooby Doc reveals himself...
And his first phase is a royal pain in the ass. You get the motorbike again for this, and Scooby Doc's attacks do NOT favor it. Throwing out blue sparks that require you dodge in a very specific manner to the right, that I can never manage to get around consistently.
The purple stalagmites are the only one I can dodge consistently, since it's just about jumping up and to the right, four times in a row. But it's all too easy to get yourself smacked owing to the constant leftward drift of the bike.
And then there's this attack with the spread bullets... that I have NO idea how to dodge without getting hit. Not helping matters is Scooby Doc constantly flying up and down, obstructing your attempts to hit him again and again, especially since you can only hit HIM, not the Eggman-esque pod he's riding in.
This game came so close to ending on a crummy note... but thankfully, the second phase picks up the pieces that the first nearly broke.
BOSS 20: FINAL DOC
Origin: None
Now this is an epic slugfest, more than worthy of being the final boss. Instead of a pattern-based reaction test like Atsushi Onita was, Final Doc is a battle of attrition par excellence. All of his attacks are designed to deny areas of the arena, while you scrounge for the ability to fight back.
The only way to hit him with the Buster is to jump on top of these disappearing platforms and shoot him in the face. Unfortunately, they do not respawn unless both are gone, so you'll have to make your way to the other side of the arena to earn more footing. And his attacks do not make that easy- starting with this one, where he summons a giant ring around himself, spews aimed concentrations of circular bullets, then flings the huge circle at you. Careful positioning is key.
Then there's this attack- summoning red Wargates that draw in huge amounts of fireballs around them. It's an unpredictable attack, but you're given just enough space to dodge if you're fast enough. If you save one of the disappearing platforms, you can use that to leap out of the way.
It's worth noting that the walls are NOT climbable in this room, so you have to play by the rules of a standard Mega Man arena. Which makes dodging the horizontal and vertical lasers he summons a lot harder to dodge. Once four arrows spawn, they fire in their chosen directions all at once, with zero warning. And they track you, too, so madly dashing may deny you the space to evade damage.
His feet are solid platforms that obstruct your ability to dodge in just the right ways, especially in this attack with the eyebeams narrowing your playfield and homing bullets aimed directly at you.
Every part of this boss is designed to limit your space, and force you to take every opportunity you can to win. It's a brutal fight that can last a long time, but absolutely climactic enough to end this game on.
Especially with the MUSIC, a remix of a theme from Clock Tower and the freaking Scooby Doo theme music. It's epic.
And when you finally kill him, it ends in a huge explosion and angry screaming. Excellent.
BOSS RANKING (From Worst to Best)
I know the motorbike bosses are at the bottom but I couldn't stand using that vehicle, I'm sorry.
Crank/A Truck/Spiderman (come on, these aren't even bosses)
Scooby Doc
Shadow
Taurus
Black Mage
Nanobots/Mr. Big
Joe Rush/Giga Joe
Bushie
Redskull
Westboro Body
Thomas
Space Snowman
Non-Human
Killer Tank
Albatross
Final Doc
Stage Select/Slamman
Atsushi Onita
FINAL THOUGHTS
So, what a game, am I right?
This is another game I was super excited for before it even came out. A boss rush combined with a huge shitpost, starring one of my favorite robot masters? This game was MADE for me, and it's been one of my favorites for a long time.
The mechanics, though not totally jank-free, work extremely well. The music is AMAZING, and has no right to go as hard as it does for a huge shitpost like this. And the boss selection is eclectic, challenging, and full of variety and great gags.
I highly recommend this game to anyone that likes Mega Man, great boss fights, or just wants to take a walk on the weird side. Scooby Doc 4 delivers on all fronts. It's incredible.
GAME LINK:
https://smedis2.itch.io/scooby-doc-4
SOUNDTRACK:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBDDjSkXnatLbK5J7YyYV6Z-pFL-A1cRI