The Memory Lingers by the Creepy Barbie Video Game That Used My Name.

When considering characters in horror games, Barbie isn't the initial thought that springs to mind. Yet individuals who delved into the pleasantly spooky 1998 PC game Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper knows that Barbie certainly holds heroine capabilities.

The Absurd Premise

The premise is suitably strange: Barbie and her friend Becky have recently completed from their neighborhood investigator school, as obviously that's an actual institution. A "autumn benefit fair" is taking place locally, and Ken is strangely the event organizer, despite the fact he and Barbie are implied to be adolescents. But the night before the carnival begins, misfortune hits: Ken vanishes via a magic show mishap, and the charity money goes missing with him! As expected, it's the task for Detective Barbie, her friend Becky (who serves as her "mission control"), and the player to crack the case of his vanishing.

Investigator Barbie was saying gamer names aloud far earlier than Fallout 4 and Starfield attempted the trick — and she could articulate virtually all names.

The Strangeness Begins

The peculiarity emerges pretty much immediately. After booting up the game, users are asked to choose their name from a list, and Barbie will speak to the player by name during the entire adventure. I cannot emphasize how comprehensive and complete this name list is. Should you be a person who has historically had trouble discovering trinkets with your name on them at souvenir stores, you might believe you're unlucky here, but you're wrong. There are thousands of names on the list, which looks to include almost all versions of every girl's given name in existence, from extremely popular to surprisingly rare. Even though Barbie utters the player's name with a frankly terrifying amount of bubbly enthusiasm, it doesn't sound like text-to-speech, which has me pondering how long Barbie actress Chris Anthony Lansdowne remained in the studio reciting almost all girl's name under the sun.

Roaming the Festival

When gamers provide their name, they take command of Barbie as she examines the area of the crime. It's after dark, and she's all alone (except for Becky, who sometimes updates via the Crime Computer). Reflecting now, I can't move past how much exploring the game's creepy carnival grounds resembles playing Silent Hill 3. Admittedly, this carnival isn't covered in blood and rust, or infested with frightening monsters like Lakeside Amusement Park, but the vibes are decidedly creepy. Things only get more suspicion-raising when Barbie begins observing a dark figure prowling the park. Turns out she's not by herself after all.

It's hard to beat a tense chase down a hilariously extended slide to get your blood pumping.

Spooky Games and Hunts

While piloting Barbie through progressively disturbing rides and attractions (the festive item stockroom still haunts my dreams), the player will discover hints, which she sends to Becky to analyze. The clues finally direct Barbie to the mysterious figure's location, and it's her responsibility to find them, chasing Ken's kidnapper through a variety of carnival/theme park staples including collision vehicles, an huge slider with splitting ways, and a faintly lit romance passage. These chases were genuinely heart-pounding — the music becomes intense, and a single misstep could result in the suspect getting away.

Surprising Depth

Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper had a surprising level of depth, especially for a end-of-the-century interactive title aimed at young girls. Instead of outfitting Barbie, or playing with her horses, Detective Barbie concentrated on actual gameplay, had a compelling story, and was extremely spooky. It even had a degree of repeat play appeal — each playthrough changed the types of clues players would stumble across, and regarding 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 generate a apprentice investigator insignia to show off for top-tier social status.

A child's initial fright! The clues in this room creak loudly or appear abruptly as players examine them.

Influence and Successors

Of course, after a handful of reruns, you'd ultimately experience everything the game had to offer, but it was amazing in its era, and even generated two subsequent titles: 1999's Detective Barbie 2: The Vacation Mystery, and 2000's Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise. Mattel is still cranking out Barbie video games currently — the next one is Barbie Horse Tails (yes, another horse riding/accessorizing game), which launches later this month. Even though the images are a certain upgrade over Detective Barbie, I am skeptical Barbie Horse Tails contains the same degree of interactive complexity, replay value, or general spookiness as its late-nineties predecessors, which is a bit unfortunate.

An Introduction to Scares

Regardless of the company's initial goals for the game, Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper finally evolved into my introduction to scary media, and I'd appreciate observing Detective Barbie appear in another lighthearted-yet-creepy game that involves more than outfitting and pony play. Society possesses numerous pony lovers, but it could definitely use more resilient kid investigators solving high-stakes charity carnival crimes.