Barbie

"Pink everywhere..."

As I popped in this cart and sat down, I had to think to myself, what in the hell was I doing? From the beginning tones of the title theme, I knew that I was in for something that was going to drive me out of my head and probably get me laughed at by my wife in the process. Regardless of the cat-calls and the laughter that erupted from my lovely bride when she asked what I was playing, I pressed on into the cute depths of the Barbie world. I found out several things in the process that were and weren’t quite evident from just looking at the cart. The platform portions of the game are actually solid and there are some interesting ways to complete the stages, which makes this a five right off the bat.

The story, or at least what I can gain from it, is that Barbie is just settling down for the night, without Ken and her friends, and starts to dream. Each of these dreams takes Barbie to a different place and a different situation depending on her tasks. One night, she might dream of the pet shop or the toy shop, but in the process, she has to overcome whatever obstacles are in her way. In these dreams, she is not all powerful and requires the help of some cuddly friends in order to complete her quest. Whatever the rest of the story might be, I have no clue, because I couldn’t make heads or tails of it to be honest.

Playing in Barbie requires little thought and really, you have to know how to play a game that features plenty of jumping and plenty of timing in order to be successful. This is a one player game, and the solo feature makes it a point of showing you where and what you have to hit and what you have to avoid in order to complete the stages. Most of the time that you’re playing, you have to avoid various obstacles that are either being thrown or shot at you in various points. There are places where you have to use pets in order to get your task accomplished, as they will help you to avoid certain dangers that Barbie herself is not able to.

Throughout the game, you’ll notice that there is a small meter above your score in the lower right hand portion and this is something that you need to watch. There are floating Z’s that represent your power bar and once it is depleted, then Barbie will wake up and you have the option to either continue the game or go back to the main screen. From what I’ve seen, there is no password feature and there is no way to continue the game if you choose not to keep playing, which makes this a one-sitting type of game. If you’re looking to save and continue another time, then you’re looking up the wrong game, because there is no battery pack in this unlike the Zelda games.

The pets is where the game play is actually pretty interesting and makes for difficulty, because from what I can gather, there is a charm bracelet in the lower left hand corner of the screen with different charms. Depending on the pet that you encounter, you have to use a specific charm and throw it at the pet to get them to perform a task that will ultimately help you. However, it is a matter of timing and a matter of which charm you use to get the pets to do what they are supposed to. Consider this an idea of skill and trial and error when trying to get the kitten to run and move something and the bird to flap up and down to create a platform of sorts.

Control is a major factor in Barbie, and you’ll be doing plenty of jumping to get around the hazards that stand between you and completing a sequence. While the jumping portion of the game is pretty easy to get a hold of and even the movement of Barbie back and forth across the screen, you have to get used to using the charms. When you throw a charm, you can toss it quite a distance in order to reach your intended target. By pressing down the throw button and moving the directional pad in a certain direction, you can get the charm tossed into the air and then have it land where you need it to go. This adds a bit more difficulty to the overall game and just a little more fun in trying to experiment where you have to throw and have it land.

The most evident portion of the game that you’ll be running into and something that you might have had a clue to, is the overuse of the color pink. In all of my years of actually playing video games, I don’t think that I’ve ever had the misfortune of playing something that looked like the inside of a bazooka bubble gum wrapper. The stage designs are actually pretty cute, but very basic in the way that the design of the platforms and even the way that hazards get in your way. Something that is worth noting is that Barbie’s hair tends to move when she jumps and moves across the screen, which was pretty amusing on the first time seeing it.

The audio portion of Barbie is pretty basic as well and consists of a tune that is both uplifting and repeating in some form or another. You’ll notice that when you’re locked in a place where you have to figure out the puzzle in order to continue, the music takes a slightly different tone than when you’re simply running through the stages. Another point to the sound effects is that they lack in all areas other than blips and bleeps when hazards are in your way, or you’re throwing one of your charms at an animal and it responds just briefly with either a bark, meow or squawk.

Barbie isn’t a bad game in the platform genre, but I have played much better on the NES and other various 8-bit systems. Targeted at younger gamers, namely female gamers, this is one of those games that you would collect for the sole purpose of having it in your collection, or in my case, just being able to say that you’ve played it. Although it doesn’t have much hold for me, the use of the animals and even the use of the charms, targeting of the charms and the different puzzles that become evident, this is worthy of taking a look at, even if the name scares you. Like a moped, this game is rather fun to play with, but you wouldn’t want your friends to see you playing with it.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 10/27/03