Good grief, this game is a treat
By Paul Hunter
I grew up a huge fan of Snoopy, so I knew I had to jump at the chance to try Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club, out today on Nintendo Switch 2. I wasn't sure what to expect, but to my delight it ended up being a fun action-puzzle game that kept me engaged from start to finish. Cradle Games and GameMill Entertainment worked on it together, and you can tell it was put together with a lot of respect for the famous franchise.
You get to play as Snoopy, team up with Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang, and solve mysteries around the neighbourhood. The whole idea actually works well. The puzzles are just right, not too easy or too hard, especially important given this game naturally is targeted at younger audiences. The sports mini-games were a surprise with lots of different types to keep things fresh.
The game has a lot of Peanuts humour, which made it feel warm and enjoyable. On Nintendo Switch 2 you get enhanced visuals and performance compared to the original version that released last fall. So is Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club worth playing on Nintendo Switch 2? Let's find out!
The mysteries in the game are a nice fit for the Peanuts world. There are cases about missing kites, stolen food, lost sports equipment and even a case about the rumoured Lake Ness Monster. The Lake Ness case made me smile, it was my favourite of the bunch. None of the cases are too serious or dramatic, it's just Snoopy and his friends having a blast playing detective in their own neighbourhood.
What I liked about the game is how many familiar characters get involved. You get to recruit Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, Lucy, Marcie, Schroeder, Franklin, Pig-Pen and Sally Brown into the Great Mystery Club. Each character has a skill that helps with the cases, so when a new character joins it changes how you solve the cases.
The story is about friendship and working together, and it has a good message about the importance of being yourself. Snoopy is very funny, as are the other characters, and the dialogue overall is pretty lighthearted. Overall the story in Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club is true to Peanuts, making it a great game for kids into the franchise, or the perfect way to introduce it.
There are many more costumes to try out. Pirate Snoopy comes with a shovel for digging up dirt. Metal Detectorist Snoopy uses a metal detector to find buried treasures. Gardener and Beagle Scout Snoopy help you clear obstacles like leaf piles to find items and paths. Then there's the Flying Ace, which lets you fly a plane and dogfight against the Red Baron. That one surprised me most, I loved it.
What makes this system work well is how cases use these abilities together. During one investigation I used Sight Mode to spot a clue, then pulled out the metal detector to dig up a buried item. That kind of easy-to-understand problem solving keeps the game exciting.
The neighbourhood you'll explore is an open world that you see from a third-person view. You can freely explore places like the school, park, downtown area, residential streets, baseball field and the Kite-Eating Tree. It's not a huge map but it's well laid out and fun to move around in.
The mini-games in the game are also a point. You play a baseball game that rewards you with lollipops based on your score. There's a football game with timing-based button presses, soapbox racing around the neighbourhood, and making potions in Woodstock's lab. You even get to play Schroeder's piano to unlock songs. I spent a lot of time playing the piano, perhaps out of nostalgia for the 90s cartoon. You can also collect marbles around the world to unlock outfits for Snoopy, which gives you a reason to explore every nook and cranny between cases.
The one thing to note is that cases do involve some backtracking between locations as you gather clues and check in with characters, but it's not a big deal and didn't bother me much. Overall the costume switching system and the mini-game variety make for a satisfying gameplay experience that kept me engaged throughout.
The Nintendo Switch 2 version runs at 4K when it's docked and 1080p when in handheld mode with HDR support. It has better lighting, grass effects and shadows compared to the original release and the texture resolution has also been improved. I spent minutes just walking around the park in docked mode looking at the lighting and shadows.
The voice acting is excellent, and what's really cool is characters are fully voiced. Snoopy's barks and thoughts are really funny, Lucy sounds sassy and bossy just like she should, while Marcie has a serious tone that fits her perfectly. The voice acting brings a lot of personality to the dialogue, and the Peanuts characters sound like you remember.
The game runs smoothly on Nintendo Switch 2, with quick loads and brief transitions between areas. The frame rates are higher than the original release, too. Overall, the presentation does justice to the Peanuts franchise, with everything looking and sounding great.
Final Score: 7.5/10 - Good
Developer: Cradle Games
Publisher: GameMill Entertainment
Genre: Puzzle, Adventure
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.
By Paul Hunter
I grew up a huge fan of Snoopy, so I knew I had to jump at the chance to try Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club, out today on Nintendo Switch 2. I wasn't sure what to expect, but to my delight it ended up being a fun action-puzzle game that kept me engaged from start to finish. Cradle Games and GameMill Entertainment worked on it together, and you can tell it was put together with a lot of respect for the famous franchise.
You get to play as Snoopy, team up with Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang, and solve mysteries around the neighbourhood. The whole idea actually works well. The puzzles are just right, not too easy or too hard, especially important given this game naturally is targeted at younger audiences. The sports mini-games were a surprise with lots of different types to keep things fresh.
The game has a lot of Peanuts humour, which made it feel warm and enjoyable. On Nintendo Switch 2 you get enhanced visuals and performance compared to the original version that released last fall. So is Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club worth playing on Nintendo Switch 2? Let's find out!
Story and Narrative
Storywise, Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club starts at Charlie Brown's house where you learn how to solve mysteries. Soon enough, Snoopy becomes the leader of the Great Mystery Club and out to the neighbourhood you go to start solving cases.The mysteries in the game are a nice fit for the Peanuts world. There are cases about missing kites, stolen food, lost sports equipment and even a case about the rumoured Lake Ness Monster. The Lake Ness case made me smile, it was my favourite of the bunch. None of the cases are too serious or dramatic, it's just Snoopy and his friends having a blast playing detective in their own neighbourhood.
What I liked about the game is how many familiar characters get involved. You get to recruit Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, Lucy, Marcie, Schroeder, Franklin, Pig-Pen and Sally Brown into the Great Mystery Club. Each character has a skill that helps with the cases, so when a new character joins it changes how you solve the cases.
The story is about friendship and working together, and it has a good message about the importance of being yourself. Snoopy is very funny, as are the other characters, and the dialogue overall is pretty lighthearted. Overall the story in Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club is true to Peanuts, making it a great game for kids into the franchise, or the perfect way to introduce it.
Gameplay and Mechanics
The gameplay is built around investigation and tied into that is Snoopy's costume switch system. You press L to open the costume menu and switch between Snoopy outfits, each with its own tools. Detective Snoopy is the one you'll use most, which lets you hold ZR to activate Sight Mode that highlights things you can interact with around you. You can also hold ZL for Pathfinding, which shows the footprints left behind by the person you're investigating. These two abilities alone help you solve a lot of puzzles.There are many more costumes to try out. Pirate Snoopy comes with a shovel for digging up dirt. Metal Detectorist Snoopy uses a metal detector to find buried treasures. Gardener and Beagle Scout Snoopy help you clear obstacles like leaf piles to find items and paths. Then there's the Flying Ace, which lets you fly a plane and dogfight against the Red Baron. That one surprised me most, I loved it.
What makes this system work well is how cases use these abilities together. During one investigation I used Sight Mode to spot a clue, then pulled out the metal detector to dig up a buried item. That kind of easy-to-understand problem solving keeps the game exciting.
The neighbourhood you'll explore is an open world that you see from a third-person view. You can freely explore places like the school, park, downtown area, residential streets, baseball field and the Kite-Eating Tree. It's not a huge map but it's well laid out and fun to move around in.
The mini-games in the game are also a point. You play a baseball game that rewards you with lollipops based on your score. There's a football game with timing-based button presses, soapbox racing around the neighbourhood, and making potions in Woodstock's lab. You even get to play Schroeder's piano to unlock songs. I spent a lot of time playing the piano, perhaps out of nostalgia for the 90s cartoon. You can also collect marbles around the world to unlock outfits for Snoopy, which gives you a reason to explore every nook and cranny between cases.
The one thing to note is that cases do involve some backtracking between locations as you gather clues and check in with characters, but it's not a big deal and didn't bother me much. Overall the costume switching system and the mini-game variety make for a satisfying gameplay experience that kept me engaged throughout.
Presentation and Audio
The Peanuts 3D art style in this game looks great. The character models are really faithful to the comic with fun animations that show each character's personality. Snoopy's expressions in particular are excellent, I smiled often at his silly antics. The environments are detailed, too, with Peanuts places that look colourful and shiny, like right out of the cartoon.The Nintendo Switch 2 version runs at 4K when it's docked and 1080p when in handheld mode with HDR support. It has better lighting, grass effects and shadows compared to the original release and the texture resolution has also been improved. I spent minutes just walking around the park in docked mode looking at the lighting and shadows.
The voice acting is excellent, and what's really cool is characters are fully voiced. Snoopy's barks and thoughts are really funny, Lucy sounds sassy and bossy just like she should, while Marcie has a serious tone that fits her perfectly. The voice acting brings a lot of personality to the dialogue, and the Peanuts characters sound like you remember.
The game runs smoothly on Nintendo Switch 2, with quick loads and brief transitions between areas. The frame rates are higher than the original release, too. Overall, the presentation does justice to the Peanuts franchise, with everything looking and sounding great.
The Verdict
Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club on Nintendo Switch 2 is a thoroughly enjoyable action-puzzle adventure. The persona swap system keeps investigations satisfying, the mini-game variety adds great pacing, and the story is warm, funny, and faithful to the Peanuts brand. Nintendo Switch 2 upgrades make this the best-looking and smoothest version of the game. It's on the shorter side and experienced gamers will find the puzzles straightforward, but the charm and quality more than make up for it, and it's perfect for kids. This one is easy to recommend.Final Score: 7.5/10 - Good
Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club details
Platform: Nintendo Switch 2Developer: Cradle Games
Publisher: GameMill Entertainment
Genre: Puzzle, Adventure
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.