"Riva Ras Regas" definitely stands out for the setting and premise. Las Vegas was a very unfamiliar setting for the Scooby Doo franchise and sounded like a very interesting backdrop for a mystery. The premise also sounded different, and while magicians are not unheard of in Scooby Doo and the ghost of a former magician idea was done before to inferior effect in 'The Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show' episode "The Sorcerer's a Menace" this sounded like a different twist on the idea.
And it was. "Riva Ras Regas" is a very, very good episode indeed of the show and of the franchise and have always thought that. While not one of my favourite episodes of Season 1 or of 'What's New Scooby Doo' in general, that it had a different setting and tried and succeeded to do something new with what could easily have been too familiar ground was laudable and appreciated. As far as Scooby Doo episodes centered around a magician go ('The Scooby Doo Show's' "Scared a Lot in Camelot", still very good, and "The Sorcerer's a Menace", liked it when younger but has gone down in my estimations, this is probably the best and the most different.
The animation is full of vibrant colour, is fluid and beautifully detail. The music has plenty of groove while never jarring with the traditional atmosphere. The theme song is very catchy and the intro has always been one of the franchise's more creative ones. The chase song and scene don't disappoint and Lindsay Pagano was a nice addition. Love the Hex Girls, but it is nice to have a different musical act and Pagano was worthy. Her song is memorable while not being grating.
Voice acting is very good, especially the silky smooth voice of Steve Blum as Rufus. Rufus was a great character and helped make the second half intriguing, of all the magician characters in the franchise for me he is easily the most interesting and the one with the most depth. Also his inner motives are different. The villain is cool and spooky, though let down a little bit by neither the perpetrator or motive being a surprise. A letdown after the reveals for most of the previous episodes were surprising.
Did feel too that the coda was on the cheesy side. The mystery was fun and not dull, though more compelling in the second half. The humour hits too, did like the sauna scene and one of the funnier moments was Fred's hilariously bad impersonation of Engelbert Humperdinck.
In summary, very good. 8/10.
