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When you think of characters in horror games, Barbie hardly is the primary idea that springs to mind. Yet individuals who experienced the delightfully dark 1998 PC game Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper recognizes that Barbie truly possesses survivor qualities.

The Unusual Storyline

The storyline is fittingly bizarre: Barbie and her companion Becky have newly finished from their neighborhood investigator school, since naturally that's a thing. A "fall charity carnival" is in town, and Ken is strangely the chairman of the event, although he and Barbie are implied to be adolescents. Yet the nighttime before the carnival starts, tragedy strikes: Ken vanishes via a magic act accident, and the benefit cash goes missing with him! Of course, it's the responsibility of Detective Barbie, her friend Becky (who serves as her "guy in the chair"), and the player to crack the case of his vanishing.

Sleuth Barbie was speaking player names out loud long before Fallout 4 and Starfield tried the gimmick — and she could say almost every name.

The Creepiness Starts

The oddity starts almost right away. Upon starting up the game, users are invited to pick their name from a list, and Barbie will speak to the player by name throughout the game. I cannot emphasize how long and thorough this selection of names is. For those who has often struggled locating souvenirs with your name on them at gift shops, you might think you're out of luck here, but you're incorrect. There are thousands of names on the list, which appears to catalogue nearly every variation of every girl's given name in existence, from extremely popular to unexpectedly uncommon. While Barbie speaks the player's name with a truly unsettling amount of bubbly enthusiasm, it doesn't seem like text-to-speech, which has me questioning how long Barbie actress Chris Anthony Lansdowne spent in the recording booth rattling off almost all female name under the sun.

Investigating the Fair

After users input their name, they take command of Barbie as she explores the scene of the crime. It's late at night, and she's totally solitary (except for Becky, who sometimes updates via the Crime Computer). Reflecting now, I can't overcome how much roaming about the game's spooky festival site is similar to playing Silent Hill 3. Admittedly, this carnival isn't covered in blood and rust, or plagued by frightening monsters like Lakeside Amusement Park, but the feel is unquestionably eerie. Things only get more suspicion-raising when Barbie begins observing a dark figure lurking in the fair. Turns out she's not by herself after all.

It's hard to beat a tense chase down a absurdly lengthy chute to boost your adrenaline.

Eerie Attractions and Pursuits

While controlling Barbie through increasingly unsettling amusements and displays (the festive item stockroom still gives me nightmares), the player will find evidence, which she forwards to Becky to examine. The clues finally direct Barbie to the unknown person's location, and it's her duty to find them, following Ken's captor through a variety of amusement park standards including bumper cars, an huge slider with splitting ways, and a poorly illuminated love tunnel. These chases were truly thrilling — the music gets tense, and a single misstep could result in the suspect fleeing.

Unexpected Complexity

Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper had a astonishing degree of complexity, especially for a 1990s click-based adventure targeted at female children. Instead of costuming Barbie, or engaging with her equines, Detective Barbie focused on genuine interactive elements, had a captivating plot, and was incredibly eerie. It even had certain replayability — each run-through switched up the varieties of hints players would stumble across, and regarding Ken's kidnapper, there were multiple suspects — the offender's persona varied every playthrough you played. When the puzzle was unraveled, players could even produce a apprentice investigator insignia to exhibit for top-tier social status.

Baby's first jumpscare! The clues in this room squeak noisily or emerge unexpectedly as players examine them.

Heritage and Follow-ups

Naturally, after a couple of repeats, you'd eventually see everything the game had to offer, but it was incredible for its time, and even generated two subsequent titles: 1999's Detective Barbie 2: The Vacation Mystery, and 2000's Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise. The brand remains releasing Barbie video games nowadays — the next one is Barbie Horse Tails (yes, another horse riding/accessorizing game), which comes out soon. While the graphics are a definite improvement over Detective Barbie, I question Barbie Horse Tails features the same level of gameplay depth, replay value, or overall eeriness as its 1990s forerunners, which is a bit unfortunate.

An Entry to Fear

Despite Mattel's original intentions for the game, Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper finally evolved into my entry point for frightful entertainment, and I'd enjoy witnessing Detective Barbie feature in another fun-but-spooky game that extends past outfitting and pony play. The globe contains many equestrian enthusiasts, but it could certainly benefit from more resilient kid investigators unraveling critical benefit festival cases.