Overview
Barbie: Vacation Adventure is a 2D side-scrolling game for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. It was developed by UK company Software Creations (later Acclaim Studios Manchester) in 1994.
Barbie decides to go on vacation around various states in the US. The game takes the form of Barbie recalling her adventures and recounting them, via letters, to the player (who will have been prompted to enter a name).
Plot
Barbie's trip around the US involves five different states (one of which is her home state). Before she goes anywhere, she will change outfits. The player cannot change what she wears but is able to select the color of various parts of her apparel: these colors remain with her during the rest of the sequence.
As she travels, Barbie gains points depending on the success in her completion of minigames. Each level concludes with her describing her exploits to the player.
The places Barbie goes to visit are:
Wyoming
Barbie decides she wants to go camping in Wyoming. She sets up a tent through a puzzle mini-game, and her other areas of interest include hiking - a platforming sequence - and a photography trail.
Iowa
In Iowa, Barbie attends the county carnival. She must seek a lost pig for a farmer, and play various carnival style mini-games, such as knocking down cans, feeding balls to clowns and testing her strength.
Florida
Barbie's main interest in Florida is the beach, and more specifically playing volleyball against another girl. She can also go swimming for quite a lot of treasure, but an air limit is imposed on the player.
Texas
At a western ranch in Texas, Barbie can go showjumping in a race where she must clear fences. She can also play a game of horseshoes.
California
In Barbie's home state, she returns home to find that she has been lavished with gifts from Ken. She has to find them from various places around the house and guess what they are correctly. It turns out that the small presents are just distracting Barbie and obscuring the even bigger present...
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