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Detective Barbie is a series of three mystery themed point and click adventure games starring the character Barbie. The series consists of Detective Barbie In the Mystery of the Carnival Caper! (1998) Detective Barbie 2: The Vacation Mystery (1999), and Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise (2000). The first two games were developed by Gorilla Systems Corporation and published on the PC by Mattel Media/Mattel Interactive. The third game was developed for the PlayStation by Runecraft.
| Detective Barbie | |
|---|---|
| Genre(s) | Mystery, Adventure |
| Developer(s) | Gorilla Systems Corporation (Carnival Caper and Vacation Mystery) Runecraft (Mystery Cruise) |
| Publisher(s) | Mattel Media/Mattel Interactive |
| Original release | 1998-2000 |
| First release | Detective Barbie In the Mystery of the Carnival Caper! 1998 |
| Latest release | Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise November 20, 2000 |
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In the late 1990s, Mattel often provided the first two games as an included bonus with their pink-and-silver Barbie PCs made by Patriot Computers.[1]
Detective Barbie In the Mystery of the Carnival Caper! was the 9th top-selling computer game at 13 software retail chains representing 53 percent of the U.S. market for the week that ended December 5, 1998.[2]
Detective Barbie In the Mystery of the Carnival Caper!
Ken went to a local carnival and volunteered for a disappearing magic trick and now he can't be found. It is up the player to locate him.[3] Tasks include gathering clues in specific locations of the park, solving puzzles, and playing mini-games.
Detective Barbie 2: The Vacation Mystery
Team Barbie Detective (Barbie, Ken, and Becky) solve a mystery regarding a series of antique jewels that have been stolen at Lighthouse Cove hotel.[4] Players can use the Barbie GamePad to play the game.[5] Clues are on different locations each new game. Clues bring Barbie closer to solving the mystery and make her find puzzle pieces that contains a mysterious message on the back once fully assembled.[6]
Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise
Announced on November 20, 2000, this was a two-player game.[7][8] The premise involves Barbie investigating the disappearance of artworks from a cruise ship.[9]
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In the case of the computer games, the entire game has a standard point-and-click style controlled via a mouse. Players move Barbie to a new location by moving the mouse to the edge of the screen, where the cursor will turn into a big pink arrow. Players click on hotspots to interact with them, while interacting with characters to uncover clues.[10]
Detective Barbie In the Mystery of the Carnival Caper!
Richard Cobbett of PC Gamer said the game had neither glitz nor glamour.[11] SuperKids said "persistence, patience, and good directional abilities" were required to solve the case, instead of logic and deductive reasoning skills.[12] Russian website 7Wolf wrote that the graphics were simple, but that it was a good game for girls to unite around.[13] Michelle Regna, writing for Buzzfeed, said the best part of the game was its rides, such as the "Tunnel of Love".[14] Drew Dakessian of Wired said that the game "enabled me to live out my girl-gumshoe dreams."[15]
Detective Barbie 2: The Vacation Mystery
SuperKids thought the game may be too difficult for young players, and recommended that people with short attention spans should stay away from it.[16] The Boston Herald thought the game wasn't innovative but that it would still provide hours of entertainment,[17] though it did describe the game as one of the "hottest new releases" in the children's interactive software space.[18]
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