Barbie (1991 video game)

Barbie
NES box art
DeveloperImagineering
PublisherHi Tech Expressions
ProducerDan Feinstein
DesignersAlex DeMeo
Barry Marx
ProgrammersHenry C. Will IV
Chung S. Lau
Mark Morris (additional)
ArtistsFrank Lam
Jesse Kapili (additional)
Jogene Kapell (additional)
Mike Sullivan (additional)
ComposersMark Van Hecke, Ken Kirschner, Billy Pidgeon, Danny Ray
SeriesBarbie
PlatformsNintendo Entertainment System, MS-DOS
Release
  • NA: December 1991
  • EU: 1992
GenrePlatform
ModeSingle-player

Barbie is a multi-platform video game developed by Imagineering for Hi Tech Expressions. It is based on Mattel Inc.'s doll of the same name and was created in an attempt to get more girls to play video games. As such, it is one of the few explicitly girl-oriented NES games. The game takes place in a dream where Barbie must travel through three different worlds (Mall, Underwater and Soda Shop) to gather accessories before attending a ball to meet Ken. Despite it having been of little interest to typical gamers at the time of its release, critics including staff writers for Velikij Drakon and Allgame have praised it as "not bad" for a generic platformer. Others including Justine Cassell and Nathanael Ng of the Georgia Institute of Technology have advanced the view that its genre is not appropriate for its content.