''Detective Barbie'' is a series of three mystery themed point and click adventure games starring the character

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

. 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 (Known as Mattel Media until 1999) was a video game publisher and software distributor. History Mattel originally founded the company as Mattel Media in February 1996, as an aim to expand into the multimedia unit by producing ...

Mattel Interactive Mattel Interactive (Known as Mattel Media until 1999) was a video game publisher and software distributor. History Mattel originally founded the company as Mattel Media in February 1996, as an aim to expand into the multimedia unit by producing ...

. The third game was developed for the PlayStation by

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History

The games were sold with pink-and-silver Barbie PCs. ''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.

Plot

''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. 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 a wheelchair-using computer whiz named Becky) solve a mystery regarding a series of antique jewels that have been stolen at Lighthouse Cove hotel. Players can use the Barbie GamePad to play the game. 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.

''Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise''

Announced on November 20, 2000, this was a two-player game. The premise involves Barbie investigating the disappearance of

artworks A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetics, aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from ...

from a cruise ship.

Gameplay

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.

Critical reception

''Detective Barbie In the Mystery of the Carnival Caper!''

Richard Cobbett of PC Gamer said the game had neither glitz nor glamour. SuperKids said "persistence, patience, and good directional abilities" were required to solve the case, instead of logic and deductive reasoning skills. Russian website ''7Wolf'' wrote that the graphics were simple, but that it was a good game for girls to unite around. Michelle Regna, writing for Buzzfeed, said the best part of the game was its rides, such as the "Tunnel of Love". Drew Dakessian of ''Wired'' said that the game "enabled me to live out my girl-gumshoe dreams."

''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. The Boston Herald thought the game wasn't innovative but that it would still provide hours of entertainment, though it did describe the game as one of the "hottest new releases" in the children's interactive software space.

References

{{Barbie video games Barbie video games Detective video games Gorilla Systems games Point-and-click adventure games Video game franchises introduced in 1998 Video games developed in the United States Windows games Works about vacationing