''Barbie: Super Model'' is a one or two-player educational action video game that allows the player to play as Barbie. It was released for the

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

, SNES and MS-DOS in 1993.

Gameplay

The main part of the game comprises very simple arcade-style sequences. In each level, the player must navigate from one end of a horizontally scrolling area to the other, avoiding all of the obstacles and potential

hazard A hazard is a potential source of harm Harm is a moral and legal concept. Bernard Gert construes harm as any of the following: * pain * death * disability * mortality * loss of abil ity or freedom * loss of pleasure. Joel Feinberg giv ...

s coming towards the main character. Players can either do the "normal" difficulty level with everything or the "easy" difficulty level that allows younger children to try the matching games without dealing with the side-view levels. The levels each have a different theme. The themes include driving Barbie's convertible in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, roller skating in Hawaii, walking in the snow during a vacation in Vail, and riding her bike in New York City. The arcade-style sequences are interspersed with sections that test the player's memory. At the half-way point of each level the player can

practice Practice or practise may refer to: Education and learning * Practice (learning method), a method of learning by repetition * Phantom practice, phenomenon in which a person's abilities continue to improve, even without practicing * Practice-based ...

Barbie's moves for a fashion show. At the end of each level, the player must correctly perform these moves from memory.

Bonus round

By collecting certain objects, the player can unlock bonus rounds. The aim of these rounds is to dress Barbie and choose her makeup and

earring An earring is a piece of jewelry attached to the ear via a piercing in the earlobe or another external part of the ear (except in the case of clip earrings, which clip onto the lobe). Earrings have been worn by people in different civilizations an ...

s in order to match magazine covers. The two-player option is essentially the same as the one-player option; the players take turns in completing the same levels, and do not interact with one another. The two-player mode is in the game to let the players compare high scores with each other.

Reception

''Barbie: Super Model'' garnered mixed reviews upon release. In a 2.8-out-of-five review, '' Nintendo Power'' described the game as "a sort of Sim Model experience", writing that while fans of Barbie may enjoy the interactivity, other players will most likely not be interested at all. Writer "Miss Chlevous" of ''

GamePro Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...

'', who scored the game a 2.5 out of five, found the presentation alright but criticized the gameplay for being too slow-paced and primitive, recommending it only to Barbie fans and video game beginners. David Sheff used ''Super Model'' as an example of the lack of difficulty common in video games targeted towards girls, while other book authors were critical towards the game for its stereotypical emphasis on sex appeal, fashion and appearance.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1993 video games Action video games

Super Model A supermodel, also spelled super-model or super model, is a highly paid fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in ''haute couture'' and commercial modeling. The term ''supermodel'' became prominent in the po ...

Video games set in Colorado DOS games Hi Tech Expressions games North America-exclusive video games Sega Genesis games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Video games based on toys Video games set in Hawaii Video games set in New York City Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games developed in the United States Children's educational video games Works about vacationing