Detective Barbie in the Mystery Of The Carnival Caper!

The Good
When the most entertaining part of a game is its name selection screen, you know you're in for it. But what a name selection screen! The first game in the Detective Barbie trilogy claims there are more than 50,000 voiced names for the player to select from, and I believe it. Granted, most of the names seem procedurally generated, and I'm also not sure why you can't just enter your own name, but hey, browsing through these is amusing.

The Bad
Once you get to the game itself, though, woof. Ken and some charity money have gone missing during a magic show, and it's up to Barbie to explore a carnival to find both them and the culprit.

Immediately, the game suffers visually from an incredibly garish color palette that lacks any proper shading and results in one of the ugliest games I've played. Rather than control Barbie directly or click to a certain point to move her, you instead use the mouse to steer her directionally, which is simultaneously unintuitive and unwieldy.

Were I a young girl, playing a detective game starring Barbie might sound like fun, but unfortunately there are no real clues to fit together or mysteries to solve. Instead, you must find a few objects with a magnifying glass and bring them to their corresponding areas while Barbie and her friend Becky solve the mystery for you.

There are a few carnival action minigames mixed in, nearly all of which are poorly coded and uninspiring. You also have Barbie nagging you nonstop the entire game – she won't leave you in peace for more than five seconds.

The Bottom Line
There's so little here that you can't even enjoy Detective Barbie on a "so bad, it's good" level. And while the hidden clues and culprit are randomized each time you play for "replayability," it's hard to imagine the game's target audience ever wanting to do so.