Plus, this game was just a big part of my childhood, and I thought it would be interesting to revisit it for the sake of nostalgia. I wanted to analyze it with fresh eyes and see how the gameplay held up. Now that I’m an adult with my own adult life, I thought it would be really fun to go back and play my old favorite game, Barbie Horse Adventures: Wild Horse Rescue. Although I did play quite a lot of games when I was younger, I missed out on a ton of different genres or properties I really would have liked if someone had encouraged me to try them. Everything from the look to the sound effects to the gameplay design of these types of games is eerily similar, with all of the pink and the cheery feminine voices and sparkly sound effects (if you know, you know). Of course, there isn’t anything inherently wrong with the content of these games, but it did put me in a box, so to speak. Naturally, the games I played all fell into one of two categories: being under the umbrella of traditionally “girly” intellectual properties like High School Musical, Hannah Montana, or of course Barbie, or being about a traditionally feminine occupation or role, like Cooking Mama or Disney’s Princess Magical Dress Up. I found a sort of workaround, though, because I would watch Power Rangers and say my brother “made me” or watch him play Bioshock under the guise of spending quality time with him. I certainly felt drawn to things that were “made for boys,” but there was also an intense pressure to present as femininely as possible. I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian family in the heart of the South, and although I don’t recall anyone explicitly telling me I couldn’t play those games, I never really did. I can’t quite remember why I never played for myself, but I think it was a combination of unfamiliarity with dual-stick controls and the underlying belief that those games weren’t for girls. While my brother and our neighbor friends were playing Fallout, Halo, and Star Wars Battlefront, I would often sit and watch. This is in part because I spent the most time playing on that console, shoring up my allegiance to the PlayStation brand. Of all of the various consoles we had, though, I’d say the PS2 was the most formative for me. My siblings and I had a few different consoles growing up, from a Gameboy Advance to a Wii to an Xbox 360. At least if I have to admit to this, it’s under the pretext of having a sweet job where I get to write about video games.Īnyway, it was only natural that that love of horses crossed over into my gaming. I think because I repressed all the embarrassing stuff, like pretending to be a horse on the playground. I always forget it was such a big part of my life. I started horseback riding as an extracurricular when I was in third grade and continued through the end of middle school. It was only a matter of time before I outed myself as a reformed horse girl on the internet. What was my favorite game growing up, you ask? Well, Barbie Horse Adventures: Wild Horse Rescue, of course. For some, it was Super Mario Sunshine, or Ocarina of Time, or maybe GoldenEye. Everyone has their favorite game from growing up.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |