Barbie as Sleeping Beauty

PC version requires:
P100, Windows 95 or Windows 98, 16MB RAM, 40MB HD, 4x CD-ROM, 16-bit Sound Blaster or compatible sound card, VGA color monitor, 16-bit Direct X compatible

Mac version requires:
Power PC/100 MHz, System 7.6.1, 4x CD-ROM drive, 24MB RAM, 40MB HD, hi-color

Description:

Barbie stars as Princess Rose in this adaptation of Sleeping Beauty. The princess is cursed by an evil fairy on her birthday, who vows that the young royal heir will prick her finger and fall into an endless sleep before her 16th birthday. A good fairy amends the curse with a counter spell. Instead of a dreadful state, the princess will instead fall into a dream-filled slumber. But, of course, the fairies hope to avoid the curse altogether.

Move into the future as Princess Rose is preparing for her big birthday. Along the way there are games to play, including a hide and seek game with five fairies, a musical memory game, and designing a crown.

Just before Princess Rose goes into the banquet hall, she is lured into a room where the evil fairy waits. She is tricked into pricking her finger on the spindle needle and falls into a deep sleep.

It is up to the game player to help Prince Ken awaken the sleeping princess.

Features:

• Barbie!
• 10 games, puzzles and activities including musical memory, dress and crown design, a briar maze and hide and seek with the fairies
• Two play modes which encourage imagination and problem solving

Technical aspects:

Report and Conclusions:

The program states it is for ages 4 and up, but the limit should be at 8 years of age. Any child over that age will find this too quickly played.

When the princess falls asleep, everyone else in the castle does too. In this case, the castle host is represented by two guards, the king and queen, and one baker. The 11-year-old girl who tested this program - and who has more than 15 Barbie dolls in an ever-expanding collection - first looked puzzled, then said, "If that's most of the people in the castle, they've got trouble!"

Her concluding comments were: "It's for 6-year olds. It's way too easy for 11-year olds. It's one of those games you do when you don't want to think."

That is the biggest problem with this program. It is not challenging. While bright and colorful to look at, the program is caught napping in a market of intriguing, high-quality games for children.

On the plus side, Barbie as Sleeping Beauty features music that nicely keeps with the tone of the game. As a bonus, the CD can be played for the music alone, if the first track is bypassed. Though not long time-wise, the music has a wonderful, soothing feel to it which captures the fairy tale theme.