Snoopy vs. the Red Baron (video game)

Snoopy vs. the Red Baron is a flight combat game released on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and PC in 2006. As the name implies, the protagonist is Snoopy, the dog in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip, Peanuts. The game is based on one of the most famous Snoopy alter egos: a World War I flying ace battling against Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, the Flying Circus: Jagdgeschwader 1, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and other enemies of the war.

The game is introduced in a scene as Charlie Brown and Lucy van Pelt find Snoopy sleeping on top on his doghouse as usual and wondering what Snoopy might be dreaming about. Snoopy quickly wakes up shooting imaginary enemies. Charlie Brown replies that Snoopy is probably dreaming about being a famous World War I flying ace. The game then focuses on Snoopy's dream.

The game ends with a similar cutscene where Snoopy is acting out flying on his doghouse while typing a story. When Linus asks Charlie Brown what his dog is doing, Charlie Brown replies that he is probably working on a sequel, thereby implying a sequel to the game. It was called Snoopy Flying Ace.

Snoopy vs. the Red Baron is the first (and so far only) time the characters have been animated in 3D with the express permission and tacit approval of Creative Associates and the Schulz family for an officially licensed Peanuts product.

An earlier game with a similar theme and name, Snoopy and the Red Baron, was released by Atari in 1983 for the Atari 2600 platform. Despite the similarities, Snoopy vs. the Red Baron is not a sequel to the earlier Snoopy and the Red Baron. Planned releases for Xbox and GameCube were cancelled, possibly due to low sales for Xbox and limited resources for GameCube.

Gameplay
The game has 22 missions to complete, with upgradeable World War I-era planes, including Snoopy's Sopwith Camel, to control. Unlike the original comic, many Peanuts characters appear in the game as officers and pilots for the Royal Flying Corps. The main characters are:
 * Marcie/Juan de la Cierva-The flight instructor and scientist of the allied side
 * Lucy/Howard Hughes-The commander for the allies
 * Linus/Louis Blériot-The intelligence officer
 * Pig-Pen/Wop May-Snoopy's mechanic that also runs a shop for Snoopy to purchase comical secondary weapons. Snoopy can also buy upgrades to either his Health, Stunt Meter or his Machine Gun from Pig Pen.
 * Sally/Charles Lindbergh-The spy for the allies
 * Charlie Brown/Roy Brown-The janitor responsible for cleaning the allied hangar at RAF Halton.
 * Woodstock-Snoopy's sidekick that helps out by either operating the secondary weapons, or acting as a tailgunner on certain missions
 * Peppermint Patty/Amelia Earhart-Flies the allies' bomber, but she needs help defending the relatively slow aircraft

Other minor characters
 * Franklin/Joe Foss-Helps defend the bomber
 * Rerun/Richard Pearse-An Ace Pilot, he helps defend the bomber and gives Snoopy flying challenges.
 * Schroeder/Wright brothers-The sailor for the allies who helps Snoopy on select missions

There are also several Luftstreitkräfte enemies for Snoopy to shoot down in campaign mode. There are:
 * Junkers J.I-The weakest, and slowest planes that Ernst Udet owns, which makes up the bulk of his fleet
 * Fokker Eindecker-Stronger airplanes that are more powerful planes that Wolfram von Richthofen owns, and can fire a secondary weapon (Water Balloon).
 * Fokker Scourge-The most agile and powerful planes that Lothar von Richthofen owns. These can also fire a secondary weapon (Sky Rockets).
 * Spy bot-A small robot that hovers around buildings that are generally harmless, except in great numbers.
 * Bomb bot-A spy bot equipped with an explosive payload, which flies towards any allied vehicle
 * Schütte-Lanz-The storehouse for all Heli-bots. After releasing all of the heli-bots, it will start firing missiles at you.
 * Land mines-Modified Bomb bots that hover as a wall, preventing you from going to a specific area. If you come too close, they head toward you and explode.
 * Mark I tank-These can move on any terrain and have a powerful cannon.
 * PT Boats-Boats equipped with missile launchers. Mainly used to destroy buildings, or allied watercraft.
 * U-Boats-Large submarines that pop out of the water, and try to shoot you down.
 * Driller bot-A small, defenseless piece of mining equipment that drills for Unobtanium, or are used for destroying allied buildings.
 * Crawler bot-A large robot that is positioned on small legs that are shaped like legs of bugs. They guard the driller bots and shoot missiles at you.
 * M2 Browning machine gun-The standard anti-aircraft gun, but if you fly low enough, they cannot aim at you. However, this is anachronistic, as this weapon did not exist until 1921.
 * Manfred von Richthofen/The Red Baron-Fights Snoopy in the final mission. He has powerful missiles that will tail your plane, until you confuse it. The Red Baron is the most skilled pilot in Jagdgeschwader 1.

Trivia

 * Like the television specials, Snoopy and Woodstock were voiced by Bill Melendez and the gang was voiced by a new cast. This was also one of the last times that Melendez voiced his characters with the last being He's a Bully, Charlie Brown Olivia Dunford portrayed Sally, and her actual brother, Samuel Dunford voiced Charlie Brown.

Reception
The game was met with positive to average reception. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 79.14% and 76 out of 100 for the PSP version; 73% and 73 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version;  and 65.50% and 68 out of 100 for the PC version.