Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper

"Not bad for a pauper game"

Let me start by saying this: I do not own that game, and never will, I just happened to play it, and really, it's not as bad as you might think. I have no clue what the "Princess and the Pauper" is, but Barbie is not in that game. It starts off with the "evil preminger", who wants to put the kingdom in chaos. Then, you play as the princess and the pauper and their 2 cats. They find portions of a map along the way that leads to the evil preminger's hideout.

To my surprise (or dismay), I found myself enjoying the game. The gameplay mechanisms work fine and the concept is fun. You can play as 4 different characters, the princess Anneliese, Erika, Serafina and Wolfie (Serafina and Wolfie are cats). Each character has its own unique ability. The princess has a pink shield (I have no idea why) that she can use to counter objects, Erika can sing and touch objects above her with the musical notes coming out from her mouth (hmm... okay), Serafina can climb up trees, and Wolfie can dig in the ground.

In each level, you are assigned 2 of these 4 characters to play as. Those 2 characters must team up by using their own ability in order to finish the level. In each level, you'll be given a task to complete (often finding items scattered through the level). To find those items, you'll need to solve simplistic and basic puzzles using the 2 characters' special ability. You can switch between the two characters you're controlling. You'll need to, in fact, because some of the puzzles can only be solved if the 2 characters team up.

The game is fun, but (obviously) easy and short. There are only 4 levels, each having about 5 sub-levels (the castle, the forest, the mine and the village). All sub-levels are identical, only the goal changes. After each level, there is a special stage which could be considered a boss. For example, reach the top before the room is filled with water.

There are 2 available modes at the start of the game, easy or normal. In easy mode, you can't die and have no life bar or anything of the sort. In normal mode, you can get hit by the enemies. I guess that's a good thing for little kids so they don't get frustrated from having to restart a level. Also, there is an arcade mode where you can play as 2 players one of the 4 mini-games.

The graphics in the game are simple. They use the minimum of what the Gameboy Advance is capable of. The backgrounds are bland, but the sprites are surprisingly clear and crisp. The character models look nice too. The music is okay too, there is not a lot of variety in the tracks though. The score and sounds are a bit plain. The music tends to repeat too much.

The game can be completed under a couple of hours (2-4 hours). Don't bother about this game unless you're a parent who wants to buy its 9 or less years old daughter a good game to play during a trip.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/14/04, Updated 09/28/05