Barbie Riding Club
You know how girls are always taught to share? This is the first game where I saw girls
actually unwilling to give up the mouse. Little girls really like horses, and this game gives
them the opportunity to ride them.
The player has a choice of four horses to ride - a Palomino, Paint, white and a
dappled-gray. The view you get is over the head of the horse, as you would get if you
were seated in a saddle, and coupled with the hypnotic sound of the hoofbeats gives a
pretty realistic sensation of riding. You will have to wait for virtual reality for it to get
better.
The play involves riding through scenic trails with Barbie, finding things and solving
puzzles. Barbie gently prompts you what to do and where to look, so it is easy for the
younger kids. The sounds are great; hoofbeats, neighing, birds and other ambient natural
sounds.
Four mouse actions control the horse: single and double clicking the left or right mouse
button. In this manner you can make your horse go faster, slower, jump over obstacles
and stop. There are races between Barbie and her friends - not between you and Barbie,
certificates to win, pictures to take and an opportunity to feed and groom your horse. I
found that just riding the trails was more fun than the racing.
When I first heard about the game I was hoping that it would tell me more horses;
introduce me to dressage, jumping, racing and training. These wer things that I have never
had the opportunity to find out about. I think Mattel missed and opportunity here for the
slightly older girls.
Reviewed by Genevieve
Ages 5+