Barbie (1984 Video Game)

Barbie™ is a Commodore 64 computer game that was released in 1984. It is a strategy game with an 8-bit art style. Barbie is going on a date with Ken, so the player has to pick the right style for the date.

Official Description[]

"Barbie™

What could be more fun than dressing BARBIE™ Doll? How about changing her hair style? Or hair color? Now you can even dress BARBIE in outfits that you design yourself, because America's favorite fashion doll has come to the computer screen. With the BARBIE Computer Activity Toy, BARBIE comes to life right on your screen so you can make endless selections that you control with your joystick.

Hear Ken™ talk to BARBIE on the phone and invite her to a picnic, the prom, or an afternoon at the tennis courts. Enjoy the fun of seeing BARBIE drive to the shopping mall. Take BARBIE to the boutique. Choose formal gowns, tennis outfits and swimwear. If a dress is the wrong color, you can change it...or even design a whole new outfit with belts and shoes to match!

At the hair salon, you can change her hair. Make it short or long, straight or curly—blonde, red or even blue! The BARBIE Computer Activity Toy gives you new ways to play with BARBIE.

Dress BARBIE For Her Date With Ken, Design and Alter Her Outfits.
Shop in Four Different Stores or Go to the Hair Salon.
Choose From Over 1000 Combinations of Outfits, Dresses, Swimwear, Shoes and Hair Styles.
Modify with Seven Colors and Six Different Patterns.
Joystick Controlled.
One Player."

Gameplay[]

The game starts with Barbie in her house. At 1pm, she gets a phone call from her boyfriend Ken and he asks her on a date. There are six possible dates: Picnic, Gym, Tennis, Prom, Dinner, and the Pool. Barbie leaves her house and drives her yellow convertible to get ready for the date. She can drive to Eve's Boutique (which sells casual and sporty clothing), Bo's Swimwear, Sunshine Salon (a hair salon), Dresses (which sells fancy clothing) and Eric's Shoes. The player has to stop in front of the location they want to go into, and they have an hour to get ready for the date.

The player must pick the right type of outfit for the date. For example, if Ken asks Barbie out to the pool, she has to buy some swimwear. If Barbie picks the wrong outfit, they can't go on the date. Also, Ken sometimes changes plans and the player has another hour to get ready. To pick different hairstyles, clothing and shoes for Barbie, the player has to use the joystick to move an on-screen hand over what they want, then click on things to select them. There is no currency or budget in the game, so the player can pick whatever they want.

At the salon, the player can pick different hairstyles and colours for Barbie. At the clothing stores, the player can pick different outfits for Barbie and change the color and patterns on the outfits. In the shoe store, the player can pick different shoes for Barbie and change the color of the shoes. At 2pm, Barbie and Ken will either go on a date, or Ken will change plans and Barbie will have to spend another hour getting ready. If the player picked the right style for the date, they will get to see Barbie and Ken on the date while music plays.