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 Snoopy's alter ego as a World War I flying ace, battling against Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, the Flying Circus: Jagdgeschwader 1, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, German Empire, Ottoman Empire, and other enemies of the war.

This is the first Peanuts game released on a Sony platform and the second overall Peanuts game based on Snoopy's ace pilot fantasies, after Snoopy and the Red Baron. It was followed in 2010 by Snoopy Flying Ace.

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 include Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Sally, Peppermint Patty, Marcie and more. There are also several enemies for Snoopy to shoot down, including the Baron himself.

Plot
Snoopy vs. the Red Baron begins with Lucy and Charlie Brown wondering what Snoopy does in his spare time, a World War I flying ace being one of them. Linus meanwhile, has just finished reading Snoopy's manuscript about his flying ace daydreams when Charlie himself comes up to read it.

In Snoopy’s manuscript, a fictional story set in 1916 Europe during World War I, Charlie Brown is the janitor for the Royal Flying Corps, Lucy is the general, Linus is the intelligence officer and Marcie is the head scientist. The Red Baron and his Flying Circus aided by Kaiserliche Marine begins an attack on Civilization Island (or Aerodrome Island). The Allies are able to successfully destroy both the Baron's base and a battleship that attacks the allied aerodrome.

Back at the aerodrome, Charlie Brown is perusing plans for a "doodlebug bomb," a weapon of mass destruction that could change the outcome of the war when he is kidnapped by a German spy. Conrad, one of Woodstock's relatives, explains the situation to Lucy who then has Sally doing a report on the Woods of Montsec, where the Luftstreitkräfte has built up a base. It is armed with Fliegertruppen. Their plan is to destroy the base before the Central Powers can build a new headquarters. Snoopy does so easily.

As Snoopy battles the Deutsches Heer in Verdun, Conrad manages to sneak into Charlie's cell in enemy lines and Charlie writes a secret message demanding his rescue as well as information that the Germans are beginning work on the Doodlebug bomb. To complete the bomb, they need unobtanium, so they have set up a mine in the Alps. When Lucy is informed of this, she dispatches Snoopy to the Mines of the Matterhorn where he defeats several fighter planes, a military train and a drilling automation.

As the Allied Forces move into Verdun Gorge, Lucy, Rerun and Franklin are captured, leaving Linus in command. Sending Snoopy to the gorge, the beagle sinks an aircraft carrier. With his plans foiled, Richthofen takes full command of the IGA and sends out a giant airship with the Doodlebug onboard. Snoopy takes off after it. First he disables the engines, frees Lucy, Franklin and Rerun and rescues Charlie Brown from the speeding Doodlebug bomb.

After defeating the Baron and the destruction of the Doodlebug, Snoopy heads back to the aerodrome to celebrate. He awakens from his dream when he heard Charlie Brown calling for him. Snoopy salutes him, leading Charlie Brown to utter "Why can't I have a normal dog like everyone else?"

Reception
The PSP version received "generally favorable reviews", while the PlayStation 2 and PC versions received "average" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.