Adventures with Barbie: Ocean Discovery

Adventures with Barbie: Ocean Discovery
Adventures with Barbie: Ocean Discovery
Developer(s)	Gorilla Systems Corporation; Realtime Associates (Game Boy Color);
Publisher(s)	Mattel Media
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows; Game Boy Color;
Release	Microsoft Windows ; 1997 ; Game Boy Color ; 1999
Genre(s)	Adventure

Adventures with Barbie: Ocean Discovery is a 1997 video game developed by Gorilla Systems Corporation and published by Mattel Media for Windows. A version for the Game Boy Color developed by Realtime Associates was released in 1999, simply titled Barbie: Ocean Discovery.

The game was Mattel Media's first adventure game featuring the character Barbie.^[1] Its financial success led to Mattel Media producing further girl's games over the next few years.^[2]

Gameplay

Gameplay involves swimming around the ocean as Barbie and solving puzzles in search of a sunken treasure. ^[3]

The PC and GBC versions are slightly different; The dolphin plays a more significant role in Windows than it does in the Game Boy Color version.^[4]

Critical reception

Entertainment Weekly felt the game was "underwhelming".^[5] The New York Times thought the game's mentions of Barbie's marine biology degree was a "nod toward enlightenment" for the girl's game genre,^[6] while From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games thought the game saw the series branching out from the "true pink fluff" exemplified in titles like Barbie Fashion Designer.^[7] French reviewer PVG24 felt the game successfully penetrated the local market.^[8]

Promotion

In a promo with Coca-Cola for its line of Barbie Software Products for Girls during the holiday season and into 1998, Mattel Media arranged a $5 coupon for Adventures with Barbie Ocean Discovery and Barbie Magic Hair Styler inside 12- and 24-packs of Coca-Cola "Santa Packs."^[9]