Barbie Horse Adventures Mystery Ride (Windows)

In BARBIE HORSE ADVENTURES MYSTERY RIDE, Barbie's friend, Teresa, is getting ready to compete in a championship horse show. But just hours before the show, someone steals Teresa's prize show horse, Lucky; Barbie volunteers to ride out to look for Lucky. Players direct Barbie's horseback riding by using the arrow keys, selecting which paths to ride, and determining whether the horse walks, trots, or canters. Barbie she looks for clues as she rides through the forest, prairie town, and desert gardens, and players help Barbie interview suspects, use a metal detector to find clues, wield a slingshot to move troublesome objects, and solve 10 kinds of logic puzzles.

The adventure story is quite good and the virtual horseback riding is amazingly realistic. The logic puzzles are cleverly woven into the mystery story. For example, when Barbie stops at an antiques store, she discovers that someone recently traded a watch for new reins. To see the watch, which is buried under a pile of jewels, Barbie helps the store clerk match similar jewelry pieces into groups and moves them.

This Barbie software is very satisfying to play. Not only is the mystery complex and intriguing, but players can do typical Barbie-type things, including dressing Barbie in outfits. The virtual horseback riding seems amazingly realistic because of the way the 3D scenery passes as you move.

Available on: Windows
Not available online
Genre: Educational
Developer: Vivendi Universal Games
Released on: February 23, 2004
Price: 20
ESRB Rating: E