Rating: 
Summary: Eh. Save your money.
Review: My daughter (almost four) begged for this game all holiday season. It was the sweetest thing, because she shyly told Santa this is what she wanted, and told people all December that Santa would bring it for her. Well, he did, and his reputation is tarnished in our house now!She was bored with it the first time she played with it. Your child's interaction consists of choosing which girl of three to skate (fun), choosing which outfit of five to wear (fun) and pressing the up or down arrow to make Barbie skate faster or slower to do the jumps (zzzz). Not by your own choice, you move the arrow to match the color of the line on the ice. Freestyle mode wasn't much better--go 'round and 'round in circles. There may be more to it but who cares at this point? My own personal mommy beef: Barbie never falls. Barbie either does the jump perfectly or doesn't do it at all. I figured they could put a little extra effort into the design and give the kids the all important (even if subliminal) message that it's okay to not be perfect, and that it's NORMAL to fall, or fail as the case may be. But again, it's Barbie, the perfect girl with the unattainable proportions, so what can you expect? :)
Rating: 
Summary: Make sure you have required hardware
Review: My daughter got this game for Christmas, when we went to install it we found that we needed a 3D video card. Out of 3 computers none of our computers have this card. When checking on the price I found the card costs more than the game.
Rating: 
Summary: A great computer game
Review: My daughters received this for Christmas when they were 7 and 10. They both loved playing it, and a year later they enjoy it just as much. It's easy to learn, and has unlimited combinations of hair, makeup and outfits to put Barbie in. I would highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A fun game for younger Barbie fans
Review: My three year old adores this game. The game only takes 2-3 hours to complete in one sitting, but my child has played it over and over, and still loves it. The box recommends this game for ages 5 and older, but my daughter can play this game by herself with ease, except for the maze (which is fairly easy, but she needs help working the arrow keys). This game is mostly a "paint" type game, where you decorate different rooms in a castle in order to save Prince Stephan and the castle. You paint and place different decorations about the castle, as well as "build" a planter and a mosaic tile. The game and the decorations are quite cute, and easy for young Barbie fans to do independently. I feel it does have some educational value as well, in that my daughter seems to have improved her mouse skills from playing this game, has grasped concepts like clicking a "done" button when she has completed a task, and seems to have become better at listening to directions. My one and only complaint is that I wish there had been just a couple more rooms in the castle to decorate. Still, for a fairly short game, it has lots of replay value in it, and the length is just right for a young attention span. I would recommend this game to people with young children who are Barbie fans, especially if their kids aren't quite ready for the more advanced thinking that games geared for older kids have. Don't get me wrong, I think older Barbie fans will like this game, too, if they want to play a game that mostly centered on decorating. I've had problems finding games that my daughter can play independently at her age, plus she's a huge Barbie fan, so this game was perfect for us.
Rating:
Summary: Barbie short adventure
Review: Nice game idea. Where's the rest of it? My 6 year old solved the "Mystery" in few hours and was left disappointedly looking for more. For the actually play time its not worth the price. Too bad, it looked like it had good potential.
Rating: 
Summary: She likes it!
Review: Purchased this for my 5-year old. First try, it was a little difficult, after that she could do it by herself. Has been playing and continues to enjoy the different wands and the different colors and designs that the wands make on each scene. Make sure you try different wands at each scene to decorate. We didn't realize that on the first go around. I recommend for 5-10 year olds! Definitely.
Rating:
Summary: Solve the Mystery, Stop the Thief, and Pick your Outfit!
Review: Really really really, important stuff first - Make sure you have a 3d Video card, and uninstall the Barbie genie bottle if you have it. Now, the review. I have to admit, when the first wave of Barbie software moved into my household, I was a little worried. Doing nails and hair just aren't my thing, but I found that even a 34 year old guy can enjoy, "software for girls." So pleased was I with the Barbie Hairstyler game, that in fact it was me who purchased Secret Agent Barbie. I was not let down. The full 3-D graphics are stunning (3d video card required.) I don't just mean they look good, they have the look and feel of artistry; like a Hollywood cinematographer designed them. The soundtrack rocks. Not only is the music really really good, but it fits each scenario (hard rock for action mode, suspenseful music for stealth mode.) And not only does it fit, but it sounds great! The action mode music has a brutally distorted rythm guitar with a very smooth string or synthesiser melody. As stated, it rocks. The story is very good. I have to give the designers a lot of credit for acknowledging that girls do not want a shoot-em-up. There is absolutely no violence in this game, but there is loads of sneaking around, puzzles, chasing, and jumping. It's even exciting to watch. The game is very very playable, and after two times through the storyline I have found not one single bug (and I've looked for them.) Some games defined in virtual 3d spaces have the tendancy to have things get stuck inside of other things. Like a character acidentaly jumping over a wall into an undefined room that there is no escape from because there is no floor to land on, aka - stuck. None of that here - hats off to the designers. There are a few scenes where the camera, which usually follows a chase plane perpsective, suddenly shifts to a third person view that makes it hard to control Barbie, but this only happes two or three times. I can usually tell from the kitchen when this occurs as it is followed by, "DAD! I need help." There are some aspects of the game that are especially aimed at femininity (the player gets to pick Barbie's outfit many many times throughtout the game.) And there are some other subtle aspects that I find hillarious (All men - except Ken - have a beer gut, and Ken is at the bottom of the Barbie Secret Agent team's totem pole, if he is on the pole at all.) The box says appropriate for a six year old. Content-wise I'm sure this is true, but control wise? I don't think so. But, if you want to have some fun helping your kid protect the treasures of the world from evil, then pick it up. It's a great game.
Rating:
Summary: Overall, one of the better Barbie games.
Review: The graphics in this game are adorable. The Barbie Pet Rescue Center looks like a very homey animal hospital. It is very modern...she has a computer for storing the animals' records and getting new missions via email. The check up room is realistic looking. You can bathe dogs, pull burrs off rabbits, and give out water and vitamins and dog biscuits (even to animals who are not dogs.) The play room is just so cute. There are two sections under Stacey's watch. The three puppies (a beagle, a dalmatian, and a yellow lab) sit in baskets and play a treat-catching game. The hamsters are cute but the game is very hard. I'm no good at it (and I'm 14. Yes, and I'm playing this game!) The bunny game on the other hand is so easy I completed it in 6 seconds, exactly. Then there are the kittens. Their game is with a wind up mouse and the arrow keys on the keyboard. Their little maze of cat furniture is very realistic. The turtle race game is fun but takes a long time. And last but NOT least is Sage, a golden retriever who, despite her habit of chasing chickens, is adorable. Her little doghouse has a yard and pillows inside...it's so cute...if this was real I'd adopt her! Anyway, the object of the game is to go on rescue missions with Barbie. Although amusing at first, you usually complete all the various reacues quickly, and then it gets monotonous. Barbie moves very strangely, for as great as the animation of this game seems to be. The missions involve clicking on useful objects to guide a reluctant animal towards you, then bringing it back to the center. There are a few problems. One: All the animals are referred to as females. Highly unlikely. Two: Almost all of them belong to families who are missing them. The emails and phone calls say "I think they're in Hideaway Hollow" or wherever. So...if the owner knows where the pet is, why don't they go get it themselves instead of calling Barbie? Three: Why does every single animal need coaxing? Four: For every animal Barb says "Her vital signs are strong. What a healthy girl!" Why don't some of them need medical attention? It would be educational if they allowed kids to help Barbie with a virtual operation...but I'm digging too deeply into this. There are a few unrealistic things, and it can get boring after a while, but overall the Pet Rescue is really cute and fun.
Rating: 
Summary: Not very true to life for knowledgeable horse riders
Review: The negatives of this game are in its limitations, it's incorectness of riding and horses, and in the fact that you can't do much with the horse (besides watch Barbie ride from behind) other than choose a color and run a brush over it in one area. For little girls who love horses and may have had a lesson or two, it's dissapointing. You aren't able to do things like put the horses tack on, to see the horse from any other angle that from behind it while Barbie is riding, and there are countless errors such as Barbie mounts from the wrong side of the horse only.
My 16 month old daughter thinks its really cool, but once we have run through the ride, it's very boring. Also, there are more games and decorating options than there are horse focused options.
Rating:
Summary: Mystery Ride
Review: This game is not worth the money. It plays the exact same trail ride, over and over. Sure, the suspect may change, but the game is always the same. After the child plays the game a few days, they are bored with the same senario, over and over. May be fine for the younger child that is o.k. with repetition. My 6 year old is tired of it, after just 3 days! I think you are just buying a name. Game could be much better.
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