Barbie Beauty Boutique – PC – Review

Join Barbie, Teresa and Christie on a glamorous outing of fashion and fun! Whether it’s a wedding party, a dream date or an award show, they’ll be dressed to the nines and wow everyone in sight.

Similar to the previous makeover titles Barbie Hair Designer and Barbie Digital Makeover, this title again lets users makeover Barbie and two of her friends to their heart’s content. Hair, nails, makeup and clothes can all be added, changed and mixed in four different areas of play. Hair styling is easy to accomplish, just choose a hair style, then use the scissors to adjust the hair length. Hair color and streaks can be added, plus the hair can be put up in many interesting lifts. There are also hair accessories which are similar to the plastic barrette variety for little girls; these are fine, but additional items that older girls wear would have been appreciated, as well.

Nails can be lengthened, painted and bejeweled for just the right look for any occasion. The polishes are a mix of solids and fun patterns, which can be virtually painted on the nails. The jewels are really fun to add. Makeup is very easy to apply, but isn’t quite as fun as the nails and hair because it’s mostly applied automatically by clicking, instead of having the option to paint it on. The clothes section is the least fun aspect of the program, as players basically just choose different outfits and mix and match.

Once all four areas have been played, users can watch a short cartoon of her character getting the makeover, then appearing at the end of whichever event she attended. These videos would be better if they showed Barbie and friends at the actual event, moving around a little, then leaving.

And that’s it, folks! The creations can be printed out, but this pretty much is a one-trick pony.

As stated above, there have already been at least two makeover programs from Mattel that I know of, having owned both of them. Each one was a good program, so how does this latest one stack up? Pretty well, except for the omission of a personal photo import feature, which was the biggest attraction of Barbie Digital Makeover. Despite being difficult to figure out initially, that was the coolest feature and girls of all ages loved seeing themselves with different hairstyles and makeup. It was especially a hoot to makeover dad, plus any other males in the house.

Barbie Beauty Boutique sports a 3D look, plus the models can be rotated in the hair department, which is a great improvement. Mixing and applying the colors is easy and there are erase options for most choices, but an “undo” button would have been easier to use.

This is a good makeover program that girls will enjoy, even ones that think they’re too old for Barbie. Too bad it doesn’t include an import feature for photos, though. Also, the price is high for such a narrow program, $30 is a lot for a makeover game.

Gameplay: 7.5
Girls and makeup go hand in hand, despite how parents may feel about Barbie or girl stereotypes. Girls just naturally love to play with clothes and makeup. As such, this is a fun game that girls will enjoy plenty, old and young. However, this is a very narrow game and as such, may not get all that much use after awhile.

Graphics: 8
Barbie and her friends all look fabulous! The 3D look is very nice, and the rotation in the hair section works well. The colors are vibrant and look very realistic.

Sound: 7
The sound is wholly average, but at least not annoying.

Difficulty: Easy
Super easy, a four-year-old can pop in this CD and begin playing without any help.

Concept: 7
Barbie and her makeup have been on the computer before, and this isn’t radically different from any other makeover title. Also, a photo import option should have been included.

Overall: 7.5
Girls of all ages will have fun making over Barbie. There are lots of choices, and colors can be hand-mixed for just that right shade. More options would have been better, such as a photo import feature and more depth to the endgame videos, but this is still a fun makeover program that Barbie-loving girls will have fun playing.