Review #034: Barbie – Secret Agent – Royal Jewels Mission (GBA) ~ Girls Game?
Gamespot entryI can smell the comments already. I’m going to put my reputation on the line here. Oh, this review is going to be so much troll bait. You know what, I’m not to give a single care. Not only do I want to open my GBA month with a blast of an article, I want to prove something with reviewing this game. Since I got it so busy, I’m saying that the GBA month will last until roughly the end of November. I’ll write a Tumblr update soon to update my shedule. Anyways, let’s get serious. I’m going to review a girl children game for the Nintendo Gameboy Advance. I’m going to make it even better. I have beaten this game in my childhood and I wasn’t ashamed of it at all. There is a reason why I approve my comments, to only accept the serious ones. Don’t worry, the troll ones on this one will be deleted. A moderated comment section has benefits. Yeah. As always, feel free to leave a relevant comment in the comment section underneath this article.
Kids game
This game was originally owned by my sister when she was younger. Back then we couldn’t buy so many games, so I played every game I could get my hands on. My sister and I were playing this game together. This game is memorable to me because I have such fond memories with my sister playing this game. ^w^
But why would I be interested as a boy to play a game clearly meant for girls? Well, the subject material does a lot here. Why do boys want to be a superhero? Because that’s something that interests a lot of boys. Being a secret agent gives you that vibe of a superhero and to me it doesn’t matter that it’s a girls toy.
The story isn’t anything to write home about, it’s as basic as a children game can get. But it does get one job done, it draws kids in. It gives a sense of purpose to the game. Thanks to the story we also visit different locations around the world and it gives some great variety in the locations you visit in the game.
Discs
Tutorials, it can be such a pain. But this children game got it actually right. The first level is amazingly designed that little children learn to play this game with ease. You first start with a couple of jumps. Then the game hides the game mechanic that will drive children to explore the levels. In each level there are a certain amount of discs hidden. Getting all the discs will unlock a secret.
It never gets explain what the secrets do. At first it looks like a simple costume change. But it goes much further then that. Do you want to know what, well give the game a try. It’s worth it.
The goal of each level is trying to look for the exit. There are several levels ranging from England to China. Each level has various stages. So, this game isn’t a short one either. It doesn’t have a saving system but it does have a password system. So, with this the developers avoid the flaw of having kids save over the progress of the file of their brother or sister’s.
In the later stages of the game, you will be asked to use your gadgets creatively. When I was replaying this game to give it a second look, I did get a challenging time here and there. Yes, even as a 21-year adult. When you aren’t clever, this game can catch you of guard quite easily.
A negative of this game that I remember are the minigames in the final levels. It are the mini games at the start but sped up to a crazy speed. So, you will need less skill and more luck. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this game has mini-games. These are used to open gates and locked doors.
The other thingies.
This game controls pretty well. It’s fluid and responsive. You will need that because this is a stealth game. The controls are really straight forward. Logical, a kid needs to figure it out.
Visually, this game looks pretty nice on the Gameboy Advance. I have seen screenshots from the PC version of this game and the visuals of this version are quite better. They aren’t anything ground breaking but they do the job quite well.
Earlier I said that the controls are really good. A big part is the animation. Like I said for the graphics, it’s animated like a typical GBA would. This is actually a benefit of the game.
I want to address one final point of this game before I end this game, and that’s the music. Long time readers know that I can talk in great detail about the music of games. I even write a series about it. But there are low chances that the music of this game will appear on those lists. The reason for that is that it’s mediocre. It fits the mood and style of the game but it isn’t memorable. I have a hard time remembering tunes from the game.
And with that said, it’s time to go to the conclusion.
Conclusion
The bad:
– Mediocre soundtrack.
– Minigames are more annoying in the final levels.
– Weak plot, yet good enough to draw in kids.
The good:
+ Fun gameplay.
+ Rewards that are worth it to explore the level.
+ Different level styles. 🙂 (That’s something else for you to discover when you play the game.)
+ Great controls.
+ Password system.
+ Neat visual design.
Final thoughts:
So, if I haven’t proven my point yet; I think I will have to actually literally say it. This game is quite amusing. It isn’t the best game out there, but it’s better then you might think. It’s not just a game that you give your young daughter to enjoy herself. It’s a game that can be enjoyed by young and old.
While the younger audience would be more engaged by the story and setting of the game because they have the more child fantasy, the older audience can find their enjoyment in the great level design and fun game that is presented.
This game might have some flaws but the flaws aren’t game breakingly bad. When you put aside the “Barbie games are for girls” mentally and remember in the back of your mind that this game has some flaws but is very enjoyable, you won’t regret it. Give this game a shot and try to remember what I said in the review. Hopefully you will see that this game is actually well crafted.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading this first article of the GBA specials. I hope to see you in another article.~
Score: 70/100
