Customer Reviews

Barbie Groovy Games

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A surprisingly good collection of games that proves there's more to Barbie than clothes and makeup.

Overall: 8.4
A young children's game for the GBA that is actually worth the money, which is not that common.

Everyone loves to make fun of Barbie, admit it, you do, too. But regardless of how people feel about her, the fact remains that Barbie has stayed among the most popular toys for young girls for decades, no mean feat. This past decade has seen Barbie appear in animated form on the computer and most recently on video gaming systems. The games are a mixed bag, with some really good ones mixed in with some stinkers. Barbie Groovy Games is one of the better releases and demonstrates that some companies actually do care about their products, even when targeted toward the "girl games" crowd.

There are nine games included of the mini-game sort. Most are familiar types such as matching, "follow that button" memory, hangman, checkers, tetris, tic-tac-toe and the like. But Digital Illusions Canada and Vivendi Universal have managed to add special features and twists to make almost all of these games a little out of the ordinary and a whole lotta fun for younger players, thanks to their obvious research into what really constitutes an enjoyable game for the little fry.

Bubble Machine is a tetris-like game with a Placer Racer (from the Hoyle games) twist: players use a bubble machine to pop bubbles of three in a row. Checkers is simply checkers, but checkers is a great strategic game to offer and is one that usually doesn't make it onto a mini-games collection. Daisy Derby is a hangman game where horses race to the finish line instead of drawing a figure, and Conga Line is a fun arcade style game that involves picking up dancers to add to the conga line. Gems and Jewels is a "four in a row" game that features other matching characteristics besides just colors. D.J. Booth is a matching game that offers new twists like taking away points from the other player and wild cards, and Four Scoops is another "four in a row" game that uses scoops of ice cream. Groove and Move is a button matching/dancing game and Tic-Tac-Toe is, you guessed it, tic-tac-toe.

With the exception of Tic-Tac-Toe, all of these games are fun to play because of their thoughtful design and colorful graphics. Motifs of pretty butterflies and flowers abound, along with cute items like bubbles and ice cream. The features added to each old standby adds new fun for kids for most of the games (with the exception of tic-tac-toe, possibly one of the lamest games ever and one that is impossible to make challenging), and the sheer variety of games included will keep kids playing for a while. However, while all these new twists make these activities more engaging, it's the fact that all the games are also 2-player that really adds to the game as a whole. Think car trips with little kids, think loooongggg car trips.....

Playing against a friend or sibling with these games is really a lot of fun, especially in Daisy Derby, where kids can enter their own words for opponents to guess and Checkers. Four Scoops and Gems and Jewels are great critical thinking games where players have to think hard to keep from giving the winning move or piece to the other player. The other games are also more fun to play with others.

The interface is quite easy to use and young kids will be able to pick the game up and start playing quickly. Moving back and forth between games is very simple and usually just involves going backwards through the menus with a button. The number of players has to be set for the whole game at the beginning, but the difficulty levels can be reset at each individual game. There are three difficulty levels, but for the most part I didn't see much difference between levels, except that the action in Conga Line and Groove and Move was faster, and the words were harder in Daisy Derby.

The colors and designs are unashamedly Barbie Pink, but none the worse for that. The games are all very colorful and replete with cute items, like butterflies, flowers, hearts, bubbles and stars. The backgrounds are light and bright, which certainly helps in seeing what is happening on the screen, unlike many GBA games.

A delightful collection of games for young girls and boys (yes, young boys will have fun, too; although they may balk at mom or dad buying them this game personally, they'll definitely not object to playing with their sister's copy.) The variety and quality of these games will keep kids playing a long time, plus the 2-player feature decidedly adds to the longevity. Unlike many of the platform style games for this age group, these games' very essence is that of replayability, always a consideration when purchasing a game for children. Best for ages 5-10, although many older kids will get a kick out of playing, too, as did my 12 year old and friends. Parents will appreciate the value for the money with this game.

Reviewer's Scoring Details

Gameplay: 8.5
A good collection of engaging games that will keep young kids' attention for a long time.

Graphics: 8
Great graphics!

Sound: 8
A nice variety of sound and music, a different tune for each game. The music is catchy and not jarring on parents' ears.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Most of these games are pretty easy, with the exception of the critical thinking ones like Four Scoops, Checkers and Gems and Jewels.

Concept: 7
These games have been done before many, many times, but the presentation and quality of these add something extra.

Multiplayer: Yes
There is a 2 players mode, which is more fun than playing by yourself.

My 6 year old daughter loves to play it. The only problem is that my 3 year old son is constantly trying to borrow it from her!! Great games and easy to play. Highly recommend for the 8 yrs. and under crowd.

The variety of fun games keeps her interested when we're on long trips. The graphics are nice and she likes to be able to play against Barbie and her friends.

We received this game yesterday and my 4-year old was a little frustrated at first because there are so many games, but once we maneuvered through it together, she easily got the hang of it and is already playing all of the games. She gets very excited when she "wins" and I think this game would be just as entertaining for an older girl as well. Having nine games, they can move onto another when they get bored with or master one. Great game, and at this price would make a great inexpensive gift!

wow this is such a great game. it has nine classic games that are great to play over and over again. this summer we went to a far away place and this game kept me entertained. i hardly notice the time passing. its great travel game. even my brother likes some of the games. i tell you, this was the best 30 dollars i ever spent. my parents also agree and approve that this is a great and fun game for girls or boys.

I'm typing this for my 5 year old daughter who wants to tell how much she LOVES this game:
" I think this game is good because if your child wants to play it and no one else wants toyou can challenge one of Barbie's friends or her in one of the games."

I bought this for my niece for her birthday. She loved it. I checked with her yesterday and she still loves it. Her mom says that it is an easy game for young girls that has longer gameplay than most. It is similar to the Mario Party game series; but with cute graphics and Barbie. I thing it was a good purchase. Great price too.

Barbie Groovy Games is a very entertaining game, but it gets boring after a while. First of all, I would have to say that this game is centered on young girls, as do most Barbie games. The graphics definitely present a girly theme. But, this is not your average Barbie game. There is no designing of Barbie's wardrobe invovlved. This is not another poor excuse for an action game where you have to manuver Barbie around with limited skills to use. This is a collection of fun mini-games to play by yourself or with a friend.
Many of the mini-games teach girls problem-solving and logic skills, which is very good. But, be aware that this is not a game that will have you hooked for months. It is just a fun little game to play with a friend. Listen to the words a friend. If you have more than one friend over your house this game will not be a good choice because only two people can play at once. I have summarized my review in the following list of pros and cons.

Pros:

It is one of the few games centered toward young girls.
It is more fun than the average Barbie game.
It teaches girls problem-solving and logic skills.
It is pretty entertaining, sometimes even to older girls.

Cons:

Boys will probably not want to even go near it, never mind play it.
It gets boring after a while.
It is not good if you have more than one friend over.

My 5-year-old loves it. I thought it would be something vacuous with pretty packaging--sort of like Barbie herself, but it's surprisingly fun. Not bad at all. And Barbie and her friends are hot as ever.

I bought this game for my 6 yr. old daughter who had almost given up on the other GBA games she has. Since she got this game she can't put the GBA down! She absolutely loves it and I've even enjoyed playing it!!! This is an excellent game for the girls with such a variety of games to choose from! It gives them the choice of easy, medium, and hard to make it more of a challenge once they get familiar with the games. If you have a girl that has a GBA this game is a must have!!!