It is every little girl's dream to become Barbie. And if your little girl is at all like mine, it is also her dream to own her own horse. In the case of Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus, a winged horse is even better than the normal hoofed ones.
The storyline of the game follows that of the animated movie - as far as I can tell from commercials we've seen for the movie, at least. You play as Barbie who, with the help of her magical friend Pegasus, is trying to stop an evil wizard from turning the country to stone. There's a bit more to the plot than that, but I'll leave some surprises for you to discover as you play them. Of course, Barbie is actually playing the role of Princess Annika, not Barbie herself, so that's a little confusing at times. But if you've seen any of the recent Barbie movies on video or DVD, you'll understand. Or, I should say, your daughter will understand. While I don't want to sound as though I'm stereotyping here, all the "pink fluff" (as my son calls it) tends to make boys turn away from this particular game and look for something with a little more action to it. If you have a daughter anywhere older then four who is still interested in Barbies, then she'll most likely enjoy this game.
The interface is easy to use. There is a tutorial of sorts at the start of the game, where you learn how to interact with world objects, fly on Pegasus and move around the game. The only keys needed are the arrow keys and the space bar, so it is easy to teach even the youngest computer kid how to make Barbie move around the game world. It did start to annoy my daughter after a while that when you pushed the forward arrow Barbie didn't continue to move forward without holding down the key, but she's also used to games that have "auto-run."
The story begins in The Cloud Kingdom, where Princess Annika and her family reign. Here you join up with Brietta the Pegasus and Shiver, an adorable little polar bear cub with a mischievous streak that makes children giggle as they play the game. Here you also practice jumping, flying and ice skating. In other words, you get to learn the game before really getting in to the adventure. What's nice about this tutorial, though, is that it is as much fun as the game itself.
The game is divided into "chapters" where each one is its own series of puzzles. The game has so much to do, that even after spending her allowed hour a day on the computer playing this game exclusively, my daughter has only passed through the first couple chapters after weeks of play. In the first chapter, the Forbidden Forest is a dark and scary place. Here the first puzzle is a matching game that is relatively complex. You have to pair up images that are often very similar in order to make the tiles disappear and be able to pass into Ferris' Shack. Another puzzle in this chapter is like a computerized jigsaw puzzle. You have to match the shape of the pieces that lay on the ground to where they fell from to complete the steps. There are mazes and puzzles galore in this game, and it all ties in with the overall story well. My daughter really feels as though she's playing her way through a movie.
As a parent, I like that the game is completely non-violent. While there is a conflict in the storyline, Barbie is resolving that conflict through solving the puzzles. She's trying to rebuild the Wand of Light by filling it with love and light. This is good magic, in other words - pretty pink stardust and soft twinkling lights. It's a far cry from many video games that appeal to children. The game saves automatically, so you never have to worry about your little one becoming frustrated because something happened and progress was lost. Many of the puzzles require some thinking ahead, all of them make your child really pay attention to what is happening on the screen. Details are important in many of the puzzles, which is a good thing in my opinion. I didn't see a way of setting a difficulty level, though, so I'm sure that there comes a point where the puzzles wouldn't be challenging to a child who might still be interested in Barbie.
Overall, I think this is a great alternative to many games that are out there as having been designed for children. While the storyline might seem trite and sugary to an adult looking at the game, little girls will still most likely eat it up. And in this case, that's what really matters.
I’ve played computer games since college, addicted first to story type games like Might and Magic. I have 3 children who also love computer games. My oldest son is a typical kid who loves the challenge of pressing the right combination of buttons and levers on a joystick in just the right way to make something happens, and frequently gets frustrated with mom’s slow fingers. ;) We use computers for both education and entertainment, and sometimes even bribery for good behavior.
The “glory days” of computer gaming for me were when games like Spectre Supreme, Pirate’s Gold, the Might and Magic series, the original Prince of Persia… those sorts of games were coming out on a regular basis. Back then I owned a Macintosh and was a die hard Mac fan. I was one of the first in my area to buy an iMac and on it learned the joy of playing games on the internet like daily crossword puzzle and “mind bender” type puzzles. My first online RPG was given to me for Christmas the year EQ was released, and I was hooked from day one. I played EQ for about a year. I started playing DaoC during late alpha testing, and was hooked on it.. well, to be honest I still am. I’ve tried pretty much every MMORPG I can get my hands on, from big names like EQ, to more obscure ones such as Underlight. I’ve been writing for IMGS since the first DaoC guide, and find I love the challenge of learning a game and presenting what I’ve learned (and sometimes my opinions), to other players.
I’m not a very strong player as far as learning PvE or quick reaction times, so I tend to stay away from games where I’m pitted against someone else in a way that requires physical (rather than mental) response. I still enjoy story and puzzle games, and in a way that’s how I still approach online games. I would much rather spend hours working through a quest than 5 minutes in combat against another player. I still get lost in simulation type games, obsessing over them until I’ve gotten them beaten. And I like being able to sit down at the computer when I’ve got less than half an hour and playing through a few levels of a puzzle game. I tend not to like first-person shooter type games, or anything with person to person violence, so I steer away from them unless they are fantasy based settings. All in all, I enjoy computer gaming so much that my life feels incomplete somehow when my computer is down.
