Barbie: Vacation Adventure
| Barbie: Vacation Adventure | |
|---|---|
 Sega Genesis cover art |
|
| Developer(s) | Software Creations[1] |
| Publisher(s) | Hi Tech Expressions[2] |
| Designer(s) | Neil Raine[2] |
| Series | Barbie |
| Platform(s) | Sega Genesis[1] Super NES[3] |
| Release date(s) | Sega Genesis: Super NES: |
| Genre(s) | Sports[2] Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player Multiplayer (up to two players) |
| Rating(s) | VRC: GA (general audiences) |
| Media/distribution | Cartridge |
Barbie: Vacation Adventure is an adventure/sports video game that takes Barbie on educational field trips throughout the United States of America.
[edit] Gameplay
The game is played using a side-scroller view similar to those found in most platformers.[4]
In Wyoming, Barbie spends her time going on a camping trip.[2] In her California home, she spends her days lounging in her apartment building.[2] In Iowa, she goes to the local county carnival to help find an escaped pig.[2] In Florida, she goes to the beach and plays volleyball and scuba diving.[2] In Texas, Barbie plays with horseshoes.[4] Barbie also has the option in Wymoing to ride on three different kinds of horses; each horse provides up to 23 frames of animation.[5]
This game is a part of the Sega Club collection; it is designed for younger female gamers in mind. On most of her trips, she travels with her best friend Midge Hadley, who the second player controls in two-player games.[2]
[edit] Criticism
This game is assumed to be an educational video game that teaches children how to recognize shapes.[6] However, literacy is also required to play the game.[6] A reviewer on MobyGames equates the "educational" elements in the game as teaching them to be "trophy wives.[6]" This game is just as insulting to its target audience of female children as video games in the Batman series are to male children by having the character be unrealistically powerful, rich and smart at the same time.[6]
No actual video game athletic skills are required in the beach volleyball, horseshoes, or rock jumping modes.[6] For example, there is no z-axis to determine how high or low the beachball is delivered to the other side, players just bounce the ball forwards and backwards constantly like in a traditional 2D video game.[6] There is a possibility of initiating long volley sessions without any points scored.[6] The jumping distance made by the Barbie character is merely determined how close the player is to the edge and pressing the jump button at an opportune moment.[6]
This video game apparently copied the media stereotype that "girls can't handle any gameplay that involves competing against each other.[6]" There is no high score board in the horseshoes challenge or in any other mini-game.[6] Players have to keep track of scores manually in order to work around the fact that the game doesn't let players automatically compare their scores with each other.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Release information (Sega Genesis version)". GameFAQs. http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/genesis/data/575728.html. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Additional information". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/game/snes/barbie-vacation-adventure. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
- ^ a b "Release information (Super NES version)". GameFAQs. http://www.gamefaqs.com/snes/575565-barbie-vacation-adventure/data. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
- ^ a b "Basic summary". Neoseeker. http://www.neoseeker.com/Games/Products/GENESIS/barbie_vacation_adventure/. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ^ "Barbie: Vacation Adventure sprites". NES-SNES-Sprites. http://www.nes-snes-sprites.com/BarbieVacationAdventure.html. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Barbie Vacaction Adventure (1994) SNES review". Ace of Sevens (MobyGames). http://www.mobygames.com/game/snes/barbie-vacation-adventure/reviews/reviewerId,74694/. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
