🔗 Share this article I'm Still Haunted by the Spooky Barbie Video Game That Remembered My Name. When considering characters in horror games, Barbie isn't the first name that springs to mind. However, those who delved into the delightfully dark 1998 PC game Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper recognizes that Barbie absolutely has heroine capabilities. The Unusual Storyline The storyline is fittingly bizarre: Barbie and her companion Becky have newly finished from their area sleuthing college, because of course that's a real concept. A "seasonal fundraising festival" is happening nearby, and Ken is inexplicably the event organizer, despite the fact he and Barbie are implied to be teens. But the night before the carnival begins, disaster occurs: Ken vanishes via a sorcery performance error, and the donation funds disappears with him! Naturally, it's the task for Detective Barbie, her friend Becky (who acts as her "guy in the chair"), and the player to unravel the puzzle of his absence. Sleuth Barbie was uttering user names out loud well before Fallout 4 and Starfield used the feature — and she could articulate virtually all names. The Strangeness Begins The peculiarity emerges almost right away. After booting up the game, users are asked to choose their name from a list, and Barbie will address the player by name during the entire adventure. I must underline how extensive and detailed this list of names is. Should you be a person who has consistently found it difficult locating souvenirs with your name on them at gift shops, you might think you're out of luck here, but you're incorrect. There are thousands of names on the list, which seems to list nearly every variation of every girl's given name in existence, from extremely popular to astonishingly scarce. Even though Barbie utters the player's name with a truly unsettling amount of lively energy, it doesn't sound like text-to-speech, which has me wondering how long Barbie voice actress Chris Anthony Lansdowne remained in the studio reciting damn near every female name under the sun. Investigating the Fair Once players have entered their name, they take command of Barbie as she examines the area of the crime. It's late at night, and she's all alone (except for Becky, who sometimes updates via the Crime Computer). In retrospect, I can't overcome how much exploring the game's spooky festival site is similar to playing Silent Hill 3. Sure, this carnival doesn't feature blood and rust, or overrun by horrifying beings like Lakeside Amusement Park, but the atmosphere is distinctly spooky. It only grows more paranoia-inducing when Barbie begins observing a mysterious silhouette lurking in the fair. Turns out she's not by herself after all. Nothing like a anxious follow down a hilariously extended slide to get your blood pumping. Spooky Games and Hunts While controlling Barbie through increasingly unsettling amusements and displays (the festive item stockroom still haunts my dreams), the player will come across clues, which she forwards to Becky to analyze. The clues eventually point Barbie to the unknown person's location, and it's her duty to hunt them down, pursuing Ken's abductor through a variety of amusement park standards including bumper cars, an enormous slide with diverging routes, and a dimly lit tunnel of love. These chases were authentically exciting — the music turns suspenseful, and one wrong move could cause the suspect getting away. Remarkable Detail Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper had a astonishing degree of complexity, especially for a end-of-the-century interactive title designed for female children. Rather than costuming Barbie, or interacting with her ponies, Detective Barbie focused on genuine interactive elements, had a engaging narrative, and was incredibly eerie. It even had certain replayability — each run-through changed the kinds of evidence players would come upon, and concerning Ken's kidnapper, there were multiple suspects — the culprit's name altered with each session you played. After the case was cracked, players could even print out a apprentice investigator insignia to display for top-tier social status. Baby's first jumpscare! The clues in this room squeak noisily or emerge unexpectedly as players investigate them. Legacy and Sequels Naturally, after a few replays, you'd eventually see everything the game had to offer, but it was amazing in its era, and even produced two follow-ups: 1999's Detective Barbie 2: The Vacation Mystery, and 2000's Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise. The company continues cranking out Barbie video games nowadays — the next one is Barbie Horse Tails (yes, another pony care/styling experience), which releases in the coming weeks. While the graphics are a definite improvement over Detective Barbie, I am skeptical Barbie Horse Tails contains the same amount of play detail, replay value, or general spookiness as its end-of-century ancestors, which is somewhat disappointing. An Introduction to Scares Irrespective of Mattel's original intentions for the game, Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper finally evolved into my introduction to scary media, and I'd enjoy witnessing Detective Barbie feature in another lighthearted-yet-creepy game that extends past costuming and equestrian activities. The globe contains plenty of horse girls, but it could absolutely employ more hard-boiled Junior Detectives solving high-stakes charity carnival crimes.