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1 year ago
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Barbie gamer hive, it's your time to shine.
Barbie has given us all kinds of greatness in all different formats of media, but some of my personal favorite Barbie moments surround the Barbie video games.
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It was a special time to be a Barbie girl in the '90s and '00s as Barbie was exploring technology and bringing us along with her. When that meant video games, we were truly all in.
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Here are some of the best Barbie video games of all time.
1. Barbie, Commodore 64 (1984)
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Barbie's on a mission — to find the perfect outfit for date night with Ken. The date won't happen unless you nail the look, so you have to try different outfits and hairstyles, and you get to drive your convertible down the street past stores.
2. Barbie, PC and NES (1991)
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Barbie has a nightmare about not having the perfect outfit for the Fantasy Ball, so she wastes no time. Traveling to three different worlds, gamers have to collect accessories and clothing items that help craft Barbie's perfect look.
3. Barbie: Game Girl, Gameboy (1992)
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Back when the underwater level of any game was a feat to beat, Barbie did it mermaid-style and even in black and white; it was awesome.
4. Barbie Storymaker, Windows (1996)
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What a difference four years of graphic design advances made! This game let you put together and animate your own little videos using different Barbie characters.
5. Barbie Fashion Designer, Windows/Mac (1997)
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If you loved Barbie for the endless fashion possibilities, you loved this game which was coloring meets design as you piece together different Barbie outfits, customizing colors and patterns.
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And if that wasn't good enough, you got to see those designs come to life in 3D as Barbies took to the runway wearing them.
6. Adventures with Barbie: Ocean Discovery, Game Boy Color and Windows (1997)
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Barbie's ocean adventures looked shinier and more realistic than ever before. This Barbie was a whole marine biologist fighting against Captain Barnacle in a race to find the secret treasure, with your help.
7. Barbie Magic Hair Styler, Windows (1997)
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This Barbie game was arguably one of the best ones yet. Before we had YouTube and TikTok to feed our hair and makeup obsessions, this was the best you could get. Not one complaint here, this game fueled creativity for hours and probably kept a whole generation of girls from taking scissors to their own hair in boredom.
8. Barbie Nail Designer, Windows (1998)
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Nail queens, Barbie would never forget about you! Not only could you dream up cute nails on Barbie, but you could also print and wear your own designs.
9. Barbie Riding Club (1998)
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Barbie Riding Club let you pick out a horse, name it, and take care of it while also going on first and third-person riding adventures, sometimes with a buddy. As you and your horse travel the Secret Valley, you learn why it got that name, and adventure ensues.
10. Detective Barbie Series, Windows (1998-2000)
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I'm very biased in saying Detective Barbie was the best game (which later became a trio of games) on this list. This was living your best true crime life before Investigation Discovery and podcasts were a thing.
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Look at this crime computer and tell me it didn't inspire a generation of crime scene investigators! You cannot. Mysteries followed this Barbie, and she made the work of solving them look easy.
11. Barbie Super Sports, Playstation (1999)
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Barbie once again proved that sports weren't just for boys with this all-action video game where you could go pro as a rollerblader or a snowboarder. You got to pick out your gear.
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Then run through the courses collecting Barbie Bs and other goodies that convert to tickets or points.
12. Barbie Generation Girl: Gotta Groove (2000)
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Gotta Groove was dance girl representation, with cute outfits and unforgettable choreography that you were definitely guilty of practicing offscreen as well.
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Order the cards to create the perfect dance routine and nail the big performance for all your family and friends.
13. Barbie: Magic Genie Adventure, Game Boy Color (2000)
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This Barbie's a genie in a bottle that CAME with a bottle. Use a regular controller or the pink or blue genie bottle to help Genie Barbie save her kingdom and regain possession of her magic power gems.
14. Barbie: Explorer, Playstation and Windows (2001)
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If you loved Tomb Raider and you loved Barbie, you were psyched they gave her this badass game, where she really got to explore in a way she never has before. It also brings you to exotic locales like Tibet, Egypt, Africa, and Babylon as Barbie tries to solve the mystery of the mystic mirror.
15. Barbie: Groovy Games, Game Boy Advance and Playstation (2002)
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The puzzle game girlies loved this pick, with a variety of Barbie-themed mini-games to choose from.
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It also got in on the DDR-style game craze of the early aughts, all Barbie-fied, of course.
16. Barbie as Rapunzel, Windows, 2002
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Before Tangled, Rapunzel Barbie had suuuuch a moment. This game capitalized on that in such a fun way.
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And you got a DRAGON as you played through the storybook adventure, which was extra cute.
17. Barbie of Swan Lake: The Enchanted Forest, Windows and Mac (2003)
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Witchy girls loved mixing up potions in Barbie of Swan Lake.
18. Barbie Sparkling Ice Show, Windows (2002)
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There's something so captivating about ice skating, and this game brought those intense skills and cute costumes right into Barbie Land.
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While it could be complicated, a cute soundtrack and even better matches made this game a welcome challenge.
19. The Barbie Diaries: High School Mystery, Game Boy Advance (2006)
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High school felt oddly sophisticated for Barbie in spite of how much living she's done. The high school adventure had you go around school and talk to students and teachers as you tried to figure out how the valuable items for the school's charity auction went missing.
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Not only was this Barbie solving mysteries, but she was also in a band called the Charmz, who get threatened not to perform in the school's Battle of the Bands competition.
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We love Barbie's little logic grid to help her figure the case out, complete with cute drawings of all the suspects in play.
20. MyScene
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MyScene Barbie (the dolls, the movies, and the website) were a little Barbie subculture unto itself. An answer to Bratz, these barbies were way edgier and had a larger crowd of girls and guys they hung out with.
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This series also brought gaming with Barbie into the online world, with a website full of different games featuring the characters.
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