Move Over, Grand Theft Auto… Remember Barbenheimer?! It was a cultural divide in our nations that tore apart audiences all around the world, even the Oscars. Why are we talking about that now, in 2026? Well have you not heard? Grand Theft Barbie is the new culture shift. There is a new blonde in town, or maybe an old blonde? Barbie is back, and this time she is bringing decades of gaming history with her in Barbie Rewind. Who needs high speed car chases and explosions when you have a Dreamhouse to decorate and a horse to ride? Priorities people! Let’s go.
Now, I was very much a Barbie girl growing up. The dolls, the accessories, the questionable amount of pink plastic scattered around my bedroom. However, despite being convinced I played a Barbie video game many moons, Barbie Rewind has convinced me that I perhaps kept it physical. Whilst I have plenty of nostalgia for Barbie herself and all that she stands for since the film, I genuinely had no idea she had been quite so busy in the gaming industry.
So Barbie Rewind is exactly that; a rewind on the collection of classic Barbie games spanning the 90’s and noughties, alongside a cosy little Dreamhouse decorating experience. It’s a big trip down memory lane, lots of gaming history crammed into one game and a reminder that video games were ruthless back in the day.
“Ken, This is my Dreamhouse…MINE.”
On top of the collection of retro games included here, Barbie Rewind also offers a cosy little decorating experience where you can decorate your very own Mojo Dojo Casa House. Think Unpacking, but with considerably more pink and a lot more Barbie. You start by working through the house, room by room, unpacking delivery boxes of items and deciding where everything should go. It’s cute, simple and satisfying.
What I particularly liked was the attention to deal when it came to the furniture. Each piece is labelled by the year it originally appeared In Barbie’s history, dating all the way back to the 60’s. There were even a few bits I was convinced I had owned as a child. As you progress through the house, you unlock more furniture, wallpaper and decorative bits-and-bobs, and there is over 250 items to play around with.
It’s not just Barbie’s dreamhouse you’ll be decorating. You can also decorate rooms for Teresa, Skipper and Ken. Yes, you can decorate his Mojo Dojo Casa House. If you choose to seek revenge, that is between you and the Barbie God.
I had a cute time with this side activity. The pixelated cosy aesthetic works well, and there’s enough furniture and customisation that you could feasibly start again and create something entirely different once you’ve unlocked everything. I imagine for those younger than myself, there’ll be hours of fun to be had.
A Blast from the Plastic Past
Now, onto the main event. Barbie Rewind brings together 16 classic games from the 90’s and 2000’s, spanning the NES, Game Boy, the OG PlayStation and a few in-between. As someone who somehow missed playing with a digital Barbie through her entire gaming career growing up, I was quite intrigued to see what she’d been getting up to. Turns out, quite a lot. To help you on your way and see if your favourite game is included, I got you. I present to you the list:
- Barbie (1991) – NES
- Barbie: Game Girl (1992) – Game Boy
- Barbie: Super Model (1993) – Genesis/ Super Nintendo
- Barbie: Vacation Adventure (1994) – Unreleased (Genesis/Super Nintendo)
- Adventures with Barbie: Ocean Discovery (1999) – Game Boy Colour
- Barbie: Race and Ride (1999) – PlayStation 1
- Barbie: Super Sports (1999) PlayStation 1
- Barbie: Fashion Pack Games (2000) – Game Boy Colour
- Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise (2000) PlayStation 1
- Barbie: Pet Rescue (2001) Game Boy Colour
- Secret Agent Barbie: Royal Jewel Mission (2002) Game Boy Colour
- Barbie: Groovy Games (2002) – Game Boy Advanced/PlayStation 1
- Barbie: Gotta Have Games (2003) – PlayStation 1
- Barbie Horse Adventures: Blue Ribbon Race (2003) – Game Boy Advanced
- Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses (2006) – Game Boy Advanced
- The Barbie Diaries: High School Mystery (2006) Game Boy Advanced
- Barbie as the Island Princess (2007) – Game Boy Advanced
The games themselves are a mixed bag, which I suppose is to be expected when your revisiting toy-tie in titles that are over 30 years old. They’re short and sweet, and very much a product of their time and some have certainly aged better than others. Game Girl (1992) is a cute little side scroller where Barbie eventually becomes a mermaid. This game slaps. Meanwhile, Barbie (1991) had me questioning my entire gaming ability because I couldn’t get over a ledge and Barbie appeared to be throwing mysterious crumbs around. Your guess is as good as mine there, pals.
Interestingly, one of my favourites of the 16 was Barbie: Vacation Adventure, a game developed back in 1994 that officially never saw the light of day until now. You travel across different American states, taking part in various activities from setting up camp in Wyoming to carnival games in Iowa, horse-riding in Texas and treasure hunting in Florda. There is a surprising amount of variety here, and I particularly enjoy the underwater section. That being said, some of mechanics are frustrating as hell. This is to be slightly expected, there is only so much we can do to bring these games back to life using the controllers we have today.
Thankfully, Barbie Rewind includes (funnily enough) a rewind feature, allowing you to roll back your mistakes rather than repeatedly starting over. It’s a welcome addition and one I have seen before when the remaster of the original Rayman landed on our screens earlier this year. It’s a welcome addition especially when dealing with some of the unforgiving controls and platforming sections. It doesn’t make every game magically enjoyable, but it does take some frustration away.
“Do you guys ever think about dying?”
Elsewhere, Barbie: Race & Ride has you exploring different trails and solving puzzles. I do have recollection of this game to be fair, but I don’t think I owned it, so this may be a popular revisit for many who may have! There are some complete clunky misses that may be only for those who owned them back in the day and would want to return: Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise … I am looking at you.
There was one game which genuinely left me baffled. I was presented with icons of shoes, bags, tops, but no amount of button bashing seemed to achieve anything. Perhaps I am missing something glaringly obvious but as we know, these games won’t be particularly intuitive by today’s standards.
Ultimately, there is a certain charm to this collection, even when the games themselves are a bit questionable. To me, not everything has stood the test of time, but I’m not sure that is even the point here. There’s something lovely about being able to revisit these little pieces of gaming history, even if your experiencing them for the first time like I did. I do question however, how long would maybe be spent ‘revisiting’ but that isn’t for me to judge. Maybe it’s worth it just for that bite of nostalgia.
Is it Kenough?
One thing I do think is worth a little spotlight is the care that has gone into preserving Barbie’s history. Alongside the games themselves, there’s the ‘Catalogue’, which is essentially this little museum dedicated to Barbie’s journey throughout gaming. It takes you through the years, the appearances across consoles, handhelds and PC and with pictures as evidence.
It’s a lovely little touch that gives context to those who want to know a little more on the collection, rather than simply chucking a load of games at you and calling it a day. I think the biggest question I have is who this is game is aimed at. Those who grew up with these games will undoubtably get a bigger nostalgia hit than I did. Whilst younger fans will probably have a great time with decorating the dream house, will the younger fans even want to tolerate the clunk and awkwardness of the older games? Maybe it’s for someone like me, who falls in the middle ground. I can tolerate the clunkiness because I once was aware of it and played through it. That clunk was apart of my history in gaming, but I certainly won’t be rushing to replay every single game, warts and all. However there’s clearly been an effort to celebrate and preserve a part of gaming history that perhaps doesn’t get the same attention as other retro franchises. For those who grew up with these games, I imagine it’s a nice trip down memory lane. It’s been a surprisingly little history lesson for me, with a health dose of pink thrown in for good measure.
That being said, there is something to enjoy here even if you’re not quite the target audience (maybe nobody is the target audience? Or maybe everyone is?). It might not be the gaming event of the year, or November (Sorry Barbie), but it is a very sweet celebration of a plastic icon that is forever busy over the decades. It’s Barbie’s world, we are just living in it. I think she’s Kenough.
Barbie Rewind is out on the 12th November on PlayStation 5 (review platform), PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC via Steam
Developers: Digital Eclipse
Publisher: Atari
Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.
If you enjoyed this article or any more of our content, please consider our Patreon.
Make sure to follow Finger Guns on our social channels. Twitter, Facebook, Twitch, Spotify or Apple Podcasts – to keep up to date on our news, reviews and features.
