Last year, we were amazed at the appearance of Barbie’s iconic 1950s Chevrolet Corvette in Forza Horizon 5 and her super sweet special guest appearance in Candy Crush Saga. This year, a video game starring Barbara Roberts from Malibu and Barbara Roberts from Brooklyn has been announced while those on the gritty and barbaric side of gaming either guide Lara Croft on her darkest journey yet or hunt her and three other survivors down in Dead By Daylight. The history of Barbie games has been decisive with the negative receptions of the Barbie game for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Barbie: Explorer as quite notorious examples of infamy and fond memories of some of my fellow 2000s kids playing BarbieGirls.com, despite its notable issues, but it would be quite convenient of a lucky winner of the Barbie-themed Xbox Series S and its own Dreamhouse that were part of the amazingly ambitious marketing of Barbie: The Movie last year to pre-order a copy of the upcoming instalment for the Xbox Series X|S. After encountering a gorilla looking disgruntled in a Sailor Moon costume, let us discuss the full potential of Barbie Project Friendship.
C’mon, Barbies! Let’s go party!
The objective of the game is to restore the fun of a community centre under a sky so blue in Malibu. Yes, a Miley Cyrus reference was intended. As you can tell, the game’s graphics are based on the animation style in Barbie: It Takes Two, Barbie: Epic Road Trip, Barbie: Big City, Big Dreams and Barbie: Life In The City. Looking at the way any of the two Barbies construct or sort out a certain thing, such as a load of boxes to unpack and a sandcastle at the beach to build makes me suspect that the control method will be like the efforts to bake sweets as Patisserie Peach in Princess Peach Showtime!; all about the timing. There will be supporting characters to encounter in activities, including Ken, Teresa and Nikki that will be explained a little later. The simplicity and vibrance in terms of graphics and the open-world aspect of the main gameplay remind me of My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure. Well, both games are developed by Outright Games. The plot may sound quite simplistic with not much of a conflict, but supported by the screenwriter and producer Ann Austen, the game may still have some of that 3+ charm blooming like a garden of pink tulips.
I have a feeling that the open-world aspect of Barbie Project Friendship will not be as big as wreaking havoc in Grand Theft Auto V but can still be as joyfully casual as gathering essences in the Wii version of MySims.
If Club Penguin Island was still around, there probably would be a snowcastle building activity for members to try out.
There appears to be a small variety of different gameplay styles to make the experience fairly ambitious, including:
- A rhythm game that consists of Fortnite Festival vibes as the Barbies rock out on their guitars
- A tennis minigame that vaguely reminds me of Swing Kings, a minigame from Mario Party 8
- A minigame consisting of the objective to power up a bicycle
- A skateboarding game that seems influenced by the Tony Hawk games
It sounds like other minigames will include making the best ice cream with Ken and perhaps an arcade game tournament hosted by Teresa. Some of these minigames seem to require the cooperation between two players or just one player with a CPU, thus providing some multiplayer mode value. It is understandable why a fellow gamer would prefer to continue the sole focus on the engaging platforming pizzazz inspired by the Kirby series in Gimmick! 2 though, considering how much time and effort it would take to ensure the best outcome of each minigame in a party game and chances are that some will be less effective than others. Nonetheless, I can see that there is a lot of trust put into the production of the game, reflecting on the previous experiences in developing titles such as Rainbow High: Runaway Rush and LOL Surprise! B.B.s Born To Travel at Outright Games.
This minigame seems to be an example of teamwork a player can try with another player or a CPU. Trust me, I suspect from experience as I recall playing those pair minigames in Wii Party with my sister back in the day.
I also sense some Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi vibes here.
What other features will be in Barbie Project Friendship? There are outfits to unlock and let the Barbies wear, including one that looks like an honourable tribute to the plastic starlet’s debut in 1959. Earning new outfits as part of a rewards system seems rather predictable, but I cannot resist such customisation in a game as I love brawling with Princess Peach in her red dress inspired by Pauline and it is understandable why some tomb raiders would try to help the younger Ms. Croft survive in a new outfit based on her classic incarnation named the “Retro Fit” in Dead by Daylight. You can decorate rooms in what appears to be the dreamhouse, quite like transforming certain aspects of the rooms of Laura and her family’s residence in Laura’s Happy Adventures. I am already curious about a possible update for the game that will provide new features, much like the “Super Stylin’” update for Bratz: Flaunt your Fashion provided dresses from the Stylin’ Soiree to unlock and the options to take photographs at any of the three locations. Why not welcome back Queen Amelia as part of a “Royal Welcome” update? These customisation options in Barbie Project Friendship provide some element of creativity for creative young minds aside from the importance of establishing decent gameplay and chances are that a future update can elevate the experience to some extent.
Several months after the game’s launch, perhaps there could be a DLC pack consisting of even more outfits, much like how there was a DLC pack for Bratz: Flaunt your Fashion based on the “Girls Nite Out” line from 2004 that was re-released in 2021.
Perhaps an update or DLC pack can also provide some new interior decorating options, quite like a stuff pack for The Sims 2, The Sims 3 or The Sims 4. However, it would not be necessary or it may not be satisfying to some of my fellow gamers as plenty of us recall the backlash against the Katy Perry’s Sweet Treats stuff pack for The Sims 3.
The credibility of Barbie: The Exhibition has turned High Street Kensington into High Street Ken and the faintly noticeable hype for Barbie Project Friendship is on in honour of the plastic starlet’s 65th anniversary. Chances are that recommending Barbie: Project Friendship to a die-hard Call of Duty comrade would be like recommending a Nerf gun to Lara Croft, but I suspect that it will simply be a decent casual experience primarily aimed at young girls, considering the competence of the casual game developments based on franchises aimed at children from Outright Games. It seems like a fanmade project titled “Barbie Girls Rewritten” that is basically a recreation of BarbieGirls.com has been postponed and in need of help for a while, but at least Barbie Project Friendship will be launched for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox X|S and Steam on the 25th of October, the same day as the launch of Sonic X Shadow Generations, the anticipated remaster of Sonic Generations featuring Shadow the Hedgehog’s side of the story. Feel free to stick to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Unleashed if you or any young relatives personally consider Barbie Project Friendship too “girly”, but ultimately, one’s interests are not based on their gender and you can be a fan of any franchise you love.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Unleashed will come out a week before Barbie Project Friendship and Sonic x Shadow Generations, making 2024 an even more ambitious year for Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo aside from their participation in three modes of Fortnite and the launch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate.
Could there be a blue Barbie Dreamhouse newly built near a lovely flower garden in Minecraft if you happen to be a Minecrafter who also adores Mattel’s plastic starlet in the meantime? On second thought, I am pretty sure that Merryweather’s argumentative magic could be involved…
