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When considering leads in scary games, Barbie hardly is the first name that springs to mind. Yet individuals who played the delightfully dark 1998 PC game Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper recognizes that Barbie absolutely has final girl potential.

The Unusual Storyline

The storyline is appropriately absurd: Barbie and her companion Becky have recently completed from their area sleuthing college, since naturally that's a thing. A "autumn benefit fair" is happening nearby, and Ken is somehow the chairman of the event, even though he and Barbie are implied to be teenagers. But the night before the carnival begins, tragedy strikes: Ken disappears via a magic show mishap, and the charity money goes missing with him! As expected, it's up to Detective Barbie, her friend Becky (who functions as her "mission control"), and the player to solve the mystery of his absence.

Sleuth Barbie was speaking player names aloud far earlier than Fallout 4 and Starfield tried the gimmick — and she could say almost every name.

Things Get Weird

The peculiarity emerges nearly instantly. When launching the game, users are asked to choose their name from a list, and Barbie will speak to the player by name all through the experience. I cannot emphasize how comprehensive and complete this name list is. If you're someone who has historically had trouble discovering trinkets with your name on them at gift shops, you might think you're out of luck here, but you're wrong. There are thousands of names on the list, which appears to catalogue almost all versions of every girl's given name in existence, from incredibly common to surprisingly rare. Even though Barbie utters the player's name with a truly unsettling amount of cheerful excitement, it isn't similar to text-to-speech, which has me questioning how long Barbie voice actress Chris Anthony Lansdowne stayed in the sound room listing virtually each female name under the sun.

Roaming the Festival

After users input their name, they assume control over Barbie as she examines the area of the crime. The time is late, and she's completely by herself (except for Becky, who periodically contacts via the Crime Computer). Looking back, I can't overcome how much wandering around the game's eerie fair location resembles playing Silent Hill 3. Sure, this carnival isn't covered in blood and rust, or infested with frightening monsters like Lakeside Amusement Park, but the feel is unquestionably eerie. Things only get more suspicion-raising when Barbie starts noticing a mysterious silhouette roaming the grounds. It appears she's not alone after all.

There's nothing like a anxious follow down a hilariously extended slide to get your blood pumping.

Eerie Attractions and Pursuits

While controlling Barbie through more and more creepy games and exhibits (the spooky decoration closet still haunts my dreams), the player will find evidence, which she transmits to Becky to examine. The clues eventually point Barbie to the unknown person's location, and it's up to her to hunt them down, chasing Ken's kidnapper through a variety of fairground classics including bumper cars, an massive chute with diverging routes, and a faintly lit romance passage. These chases were genuinely heart-pounding — the music gets tense, and one wrong move could result in the suspect getting away.

Surprising Depth

Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper had a surprising level of depth, especially for a 1990s click-based adventure targeted at girl youths. In place of costuming Barbie, or interacting with her ponies, Detective Barbie concentrated on actual gameplay, had a captivating plot, and was creepy as hell. It even had some replay value — each playthrough changed the kinds of evidence players would come upon, and regarding Ken's kidnapper, there were several persons of interest — the identity of the guilty party varied every playthrough you played. Once the mystery was solved, players could even produce a young sleuth emblem to show off for ultimate peer respect.

Baby's first jumpscare! The clues in this room groan audibly or pop up suddenly as players scrutinize them.

Influence and Successors

Certainly, after a few replays, you'd eventually see everything the game had to offer, but it was remarkable back then, and even produced two follow-ups: 1999's Detective Barbie 2: The Vacation Mystery, and 2000's Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise. The brand remains cranking out Barbie video games to this day — the next one is Barbie Horse Tails (yes, another equestrian/customizing adventure), which launches later this month. While the graphics are a clear enhancement over Detective Barbie, I am skeptical Barbie Horse Tails includes the same amount of play detail, replay value, or typical creepiness as its end-of-century ancestors, which is somewhat disappointing.

An Introduction to Scares

Regardless of the company's initial goals for the game, Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper ended up becoming my entry point for frightful entertainment, and I'd love to see Detective Barbie star in another lighthearted-yet-creepy game that extends past costuming and equestrian activities. Society possesses plenty of horse girls, but it could definitely use more hard-boiled Junior Detectives unraveling critical benefit festival cases.