Action as never before! Barbie runs, jumps, climbs and dives through this action packed journey! Search exotic lands to find lost treasures - Africa, Tibet, Egypt and more! Solve puzzles, avoid traps, and uncover gems at each location. Collect power-ups and gain special skills to complete the level - jump higher, run faster and even walk on quicksand!

Discussion
So when you have a cover image that shows your character wearing an Indiana Jones inspired outfit and swinging like she’s Tomb Raider, the last game you’d expect this to be ripping off is…Crash Bandicoot?

That’s right, the little orange furry former mascot is what this game’s chasing. From the camera angle work, to the run animation, this is a woman too thin running through stages that seem just a bit to inspired from Sony’s sarcastic scrapper. You’ll take the pink and blond wonder toy through several stages including deserts, jungles, and more in search of artifacts pertaining to a magic mirror.

More often than not, licensed games are quick ships with little production values. Barbie Explorer throws in some surprises as the graphics are well polished, nicely stylized, and have enough variety to them that the linear stages don’t get boring or too repetitive. Barbie’s outfit features slight changes depending on the environment she’s in, which was a nice touch. The music is standard fare, but there is some nice voice work by Barbie, if maybe just a bit too much of it.

Oddly enough, the game’s only real kink is in the control. Walking and running are fine, but jumping is a nightmare. Too often the angle they want you to jump is not native to the angles in which Barbie moves. I spent 10 minutes on one spot because she kept either completely missing the platform, or the depth perception was a smidge off and I sailed past it. Worse yet, there are areas that resemble steep climbs; mud slides, avalanches, etc. and Barbie will have no chance to survive the environmental enemies that come at you while on these slides.

These control oversights are peculiar considering the targeted age group. Why would you release something that is frustrating to control into a market that’s just learning how to learn the controller?

Imperfections aside, Barbie: Explorer holds enough promise to pick up on the discount side for any up and coming young female gamers.
 

• Obvious Indiana Jones references about, with just a small dash of Lara Croft curiosity and dialogue.
   
• Did you know? The Pink color used in Barbie products and logos is actually trademarked as "Barbie Pink".
   
• This is another PlayStation game that tells the spec sheet to piss off. There's no 'spine' on the inner tray insert's left side.