Part nostalgia-bomb, part note-taking and part FAQ, what started in GameTrailers as a video game blog is now on Blogger. This blog is a look back at video games, both popular and obscure, from the video game industry's infancy all the way to the previous console generation.
Interesting backstory behind this one. Unlike the other videos in this Let's Play, the video quality is a tad different. This is because I did this on Bizhawk on my old desktop to see if the old desktop could handle recording Game Boy Advance games. Thankfully, the answer was yes, and interestingly, it handled it even better than the laptop I used for all the previous videos. For some reason, however, this one started getting more views than the final part of my Super NES Inspector Gadget Let's Play did on a daily basis. I suppose it will only be a matter of time before it becomes the most-viewed video on my channel. So, yeah, enjoy the game as well as all of the dialogue in it. I leave the lines of dialogue up for a couple of seconds on purpose so you can read it without pausing. I've been thanked at least once for this. And yeah, the soundtrack needs to be on YouTube, badly. I never even thought that this video would get all the traction that it did, and if you've enjoyed it, thank you. I've got a lot more where that came from; just check out my channel. Enjoy.
EDIT (April 8, 2020): This now has more likes than that Inspector Gadget Let's Play video. Never thought this would ever happen.
Well, here we are: the final battle with Wenlock. Guess what? It's pretty short.
Vs. Wenlock
Password: Ollie, Castle, Wenlock, Wand
All of the people are rescued, and now it's up to Annika to face Wenlock.
To beat Wenlock, wait for him to stop walking around and charge his wand up. Get onto the chandelier above him with the Flutter Jewel and stand on it for a few seconds, causing the chandelier to come down and hit him. After three hits, Wenlock switches to a different strategy. It's a game of "find the nut" and he'll teleport around, leaving three statues of himself on the ground. If you've paid attention, you should be able to tell easily which one is the real one. After doing this three times, Wenlock gives up and you finally win. You did it!
One more level to go before we finally face Wenlock!
Glacier 1
Brietta tells you to look high and low to find all the villagers, but if you've made it this far, you've probably been doing this the entire time...so what's the point?
Also, Brietta probably did more than fly Annika around in the movie. Just saying.
Anyway, when you try to use the Wand of Light on the ice blocks, nothing happens. You'll have to move a little further to the right to find the Warmth Jewel, which will melt the ice blocks when you have it selected.
When you see ice blocks, go ahead and break them with the Warmth Jewel. Most of the time, you'll find villagers encased in stone.
Just like in all ice levels, it takes a second or two for Barbie to get started while walking, and she can slip around a little bit. Just jump straight up, and while you're walking forward, jump forward to jump start Barbie.
Enemies here include snow foxes that hide in the snow and run around.
Glacier 2
Password: Wenlock, Wenlock, Giant, Wenlock
The trolls from the forest and the mini-Gryphons make a return appearance here.
You'll also start seeing volcanic geysers in the ground that harm Annika if the steam hits her.
For the final key door, you'll have to make staircases with the Wand of Light. The final dress is the same as the fourth one, but instead of purple with pink it's green with yellow.
Glacier 3
Password: Pegasus, Wand, Pegasus, Annika
Nothing much to talk about here.
The Snowball
Password: Annika, Castle, Wenlock, Castle
For this one, Annika falls after the ice blocks she stands on break from underneath her. As a result, she now has to avoid being crushed by a giant snowball. Use Down on the Control Pad as you swing the Wand with the Warmth Jewel, and keep going right no matter what.
When you reach the floor made of ice blocks, head to the right. The snowball will go through them and you'll head to the final level.
Yes, let's put the completely predictable, gloomy looking forest area that is a staple of everything ever enjoyed by children under six years of age. It's only natural!
Forbidden Forest 1
Once you're done with the second bonus level, you'll finally land in the Forbidden Forest. Wenlock's spell may have turned villagers into something other than stone, so keep a look out.
Shortly after the beginning of the level, you'll find a green jewel. This is the Flower Jewel, which allows you to change enemies into plants with a dark green butterfly that flies forward whenever you use it. This changes the miniature Gryphons and fish here into logs, which is somewhat chuckle-worthy. It's also very useful, as you can use said logs as platforms to get to other areas.
Annika will notice that the fat green men walking around look human, and that they may have been changed into something by Wenlock's magic. Use the Flower Jewel to change them back into stone, then use the Wand of Light to turn them back into people again.
The yellow plants shoot out spores that slow you down when they touch you. You'll have to wait for the spores to disappear again before you can return to normal speed. If you use the Flower Jewel on them, they'll change into springs that you can use when the Flutter Jewel can't get you anywhere.
You can go up the vine by repeatedly jumping on it, but standing on it will cause Annika to slide down.
Forbidden Forest 2
Password: Wenlock, Wenlock, Pegasus, Wand
Spiders hang around underneath some of the branches and drop down when you get close. If you hit them with the Flower Jewel, they'll turn into sunflowers. This only last for a few seconds, sadly, so you're better off just offing them with the Wand of Light.
Also, you now see the big ugly green guys in greater numbers. You also see the female equivalents of them at this point, too.
Forbidden Forest 3
Password: Wand, Castle, Ollie, Annika
If it feels like you're skipping a big part of the level, you aren't. There's a huge pit of water that the Twirl Jewel won't even come close to clearing. Instead, your only way across is turning a miniature Gryphon into a log with the Flower Jewel and riding him all the way to the other side.
For the dress area, get on the chandelier, then destroy the blocks. The chandelier will rise as you get rid of them all.
If you mess this up or fall off, you'll have to wait for the timer to run out as the game doesn't let you use anything other than the Wand of Light.
Ollie the Giant
Password: Pegasus, Wenlock, Ollie, Wand
Wenlock is at it again. This time, he sics Ollie the Giant on you.
Use the Flower Jewel on the mini-Gryphons he throws at you. When they turn into logs, Ollie will trip and fall when he steps on them. Use this as your best opportunity to move to the other side.
When he runs onscreen as opposed to walking, stay off of and stand between the tree stumps so you don't get hit by the fruit that falls when he stomps the ground.
Bonus Stage 3
Password: Annika, Wenlock, Annika, Wand
Now you just collect the coins while they're just out there in the open, along with getting them from the clouds and rings from the first two bonus stages.
We head down to the village for the second stage. As you can see, Wenlock brought his brand of evil here, as well.
Kingdom Village 1
You'll be using the Flutter Jewel to find a lot of the people around here, so the game kinda rewards you for exploring by actually letting you get through the game.
The enemies here include frogs that jump up and down in water, and hedgehogs that roll back and forth on the ground. The gryphons also make a return appearance here. At the top of one of the houses, you'll get the Twirl Jewel, which allows Annika to twirl across pits of water. If you land into the water, you'll be taken back to the spot of dry land where you fell into the water from.
Kingdom Village 2
Password: Wand, Castle, Ollie, Castle
You'll find a large group of stone blocks shortly after the beginning, and behind these blocks is the key door.
For the key room to get that third costume, just break the blocks so you can make a staircase to it. That's it. The third costume is just like the second one, except blue instead of pink. Gee, thanks, game.
When you see what looks like the beginning of the bridge, use the Twirl Jewel to get across.
Kingdom Village 3
Password: Wand, Pegasus, Ollie, Wenlock
There's not much new to this level, really.
Fight with Gryphon
Password: Ollie, Ollie, Wand, Wenlock
Annika meets Wenlock again, and this time, you'll have to deal with the Gryphon.
Yes, I know it's spelled Griffin here, but I'm spelling it the proper way since they just spell it as so in the game to make it easier for little girls to pronounce.
To beat the Gryphon, use the Twirl Power to move away from the Gryphon as soon as it's directly above you. Stand on a bridge, get out of the way and watch the Gryphon run smack into the bridge. After three instances of this, you win. Could this possibly be any easier?
Bonus Stage 2
Password: Castle, Ollie, Wenlock, Wand
This time around, you'll have to fly through cloud rings in order to get the coins. What, they couldn't do this in the first bonus stage?
Once again, you get another picture from the movie and another hit point for your maximum health.
Back in 2014, this was the first GBA game I posted on the blog. Two years later, this would be the first GBA game I would play for my channel.
The Arcade mode lets you play the mini-games.
The only difference between Easy and Normal mode is the inclusion of hearts for a health meter; on Easy mode, you can take damage as much as you want and there is no such thing as a health meter.
Cloud Queen's Throne Room
Yep, another full-length feature starring Barbie made into a game. In this one, you play as the headstrong Princess Annika. The game starts with Annika talking to her sister Brietta, when all of a sudden her friends throw a surprise birthday party for her. Before the party can get underway, everyone except Princess Annika is turned to stone. We soon find out who the guilty party is: Wenlock, whose laugh fills the room.
Go to the right and jump up the two platforms to get the Wand of Light. From there, you can use the B button to swing the wand around near the statues to change them back into people again. You can also use Up and Down on the Control Pad to swing upwards and downwards, respectively. The downwards swing is actually more of an overhand swipe, and it can be used to hit low-lying enemies.
When you change the statue nearest the wand back into human form, I swear that she has this expression on her face that looks like awesome.jpg. I kid you not. Same with the guy next to her. You are going to be seeing this a lot throughout the game.
When you change everyone back, you'll meet Wenlock, who rides into the castle on his gryphon and reveals he turned everyone in the land into stone for the sole purpose of getting Annika to marry him. (Could he have tried any harder?) When she refuses, Wenlock changes Brietta into a flying pegasus. Annika wants to change her back with the Wand of Light, but in a twist that is perhaps best suited to TF art, Brietta is perfectly okay with this and is all like "Well, since I'm a pegasus, I can fly you places." Annika does just that.
Since I've played the game, I've also seen the movie. If you compared this with the movie, you'll notice that the plot of the game is very loosely based on the movie. Annika isn't around in the beginning, and she's a Pegasus at first before becoming turned back into a human. Also, Annika had to create the Wand of Light herself; there certainly wasn't one within easy reach inside the castle. Stranger still, Annika and Brianna's parents don't show up in this game at all.
Cloud Palace
Annika and Brietta land in another area of the castle, and there are still many more people who need to be freed from their stone forms.
The icon in the lower left lists how many people you have yet to free. When you free someone, one of the purple circle turns into the shape of a human. Free everyone to enter the next level.
You'll also see the Wand of Light in the upper-left corner. This will show what wand power you currently have.
Enemy roll call for this one: birds that just sit there on the statues, bugs that crawl around on the floor that can be hit with the downward swing, and miniature gryphons. The regular gray stone is your only means of attack; you cannot attack with any of the other jewels you find in the game.
You'll find the Flutter Jewel in this stage. Switch between the Wand of Light and the Flutter Jewel with the R button and press B to use it. This will allow you to reach places that Annika normally couldn't jump to.
The block with the heart on it contains a heart, and you can get it by hitting the block with the Wand of Light. The heart replenishes only one heart, so be careful.
Cloud Palace 2
Password: Wenlock, Pegasus, Annika, Ollie
Yep, even some Game Boy Advance games had passwords. At least the ones in this game are mercifully short. After all, this is a Barbie game.
Anyway, if there are stone blocks in front of you, you can use the Flutter Jewel to break them instantly as you rise into the air.
There are platforms that go up and down throughout this level, but the Flutter Jewel makes them much easier to reach.
One of the people you free here will have a key. When you pick up a key, you can press Up in front of a door to open it. Luckily, the door is close by. In every key room, you can find a costume...if you can get it before the time runs out. Luckily, this room is so dreadfully easy that only the slightest of hand-eye coordination is involved. Just break the blocks and jump to grab the costume. There are three more costumes in the game besides the one you start with and the one in this room. You can change costumes whenever you want, but other than a cosmetic change for Barbie, they don't do much else.
Cloud Palace 3
Password: Castle, Wand, Wenlock, Pegasus
We have balconies instead of windows! Variety!
A few of the mini-gryphons are flying around, but you can easily swat them out of the air with your wand.
Fight With Wenlock
Password: Castle, Wand, Annika, Wenlock
After everyone in the palace is accounted for, Annika meets Wenlock and his flying gryphon again. There's still more of the land to free from stone, but before you can deal with that, you'll have to deal with Wenlock himself.
The game actually tells you straight up how to beat him: use the Flutter Jewel to stand on the chandelier hanging on the ceiling, causing it to fall. When Wenlock stands in the center of the room after gingerly walking from one side of the room to the other, that's your cue to stand on the edge of the chandelier after getting up there with the Flutter Jewel so it can come down and hit him. After three hits, it's on to the next destination.
Bonus Stage 1
Password: Annika, Pegasus, Annika, Castle
Before you enter the next stage, you'll be flying around on Brietta the Pegasus landing on clouds. Keep pressing A to stay in the air. When you land on them, you can then collect a coin. You'll need all ten to unlock a picture from the movie. It takes time to land on the cloud, bounce off of it and get the coin, so don't do this too close to the left edge or you'll miss the coin. If you play on Normal Mode, you'll also get an extra heart that will increase your maximum health. If you don't get all 10 coins, you can play the bonus stage again until you get it right.
You'll eventually enter the Kingdom Village, which is full of snow and has a lot of houses.
If you press Select, you can switch between any of the costumes that you can collect in the bonus areas. The new dresses don't change the gameplay and are simply for show.
For this one, Annika falls after the ice blocks she stands on break from underneath her. As a result, she now has to avoid being crushed by a giant snowball. Use Down on the Control Pad as you swing the Wand with the Warmth Jewel, and keep going right no matter what.
When you reach the floor made of ice blocks, head to the right. The snowball will go through them and you'll head to the final level.
Vs. Wenlock
Password: Castle, Annika, Annika, Annika
All of the people are rescued, and now it's up to Annika to face Wenlock.
To beat Wenlock, wait for him to stop walking around and charge his wand up. Get onto the chandelier above him with the Flutter Jewel and stand on it for a few seconds, causing the chandelier to come down and hit him. After three hits, Wenlock switches to a different strategy. It's a game of "find the nut" and he'll teleport around, leaving three statues of himself on the ground. If you've paid attention, you should be able to tell easily which one is the real one. After doing this three times, Wenlock gives up and you finally win. You did it!
We're nearing the end...and this isn't any more fun as it was in the beginning.
Glacier 2 (continued)
Password: Castle, Wenlock, Giant, Giant
Since ArmagideonTime forgets the key door because he had no idea he didn't have the key, here's what the last costume stage is.
For the final key door, you'll have to make staircases with the Wand of Light. The final dress is the same as the fourth one, but instead of purple with pink it's green with yellow.
Brietta tells you to look high and low to find all the villagers, but if you've made it this far, you've probably been doing this the entire time...so what's the point?
Also, Brietta probably did more than fly Annika around in the movie. Just saying.
Anyway, when you try to use the Wand of Light on the ice blocks, nothing happens. You'll have to move a little further to the right to find the Warmth Jewel, which will melt the ice blocks when you have it selected.
When you see ice blocks, go ahead and break them with the Warmth Jewel. Most of the time, you'll find villagers encased in stone.
Just like in all ice levels, it takes a second or two for Barbie to get started while walking, and she can slip around a little bit. Just jump straight up, and while you're walking forward, jump forward to jump start Barbie.
Enemies here include snow foxes that hide in the snow and run around.
Glacier 2
Password: Castle, Wenlock, Giant, Giant
The trolls from the forest and the mini-Gryphons make a return appearance here.
You'll also start seeing volcanic geysers in the ground that harm Annika if the steam hits her.
For the dress area, get on the chandelier, then destroy the blocks. The chandelier will rise as you get rid of them all.
If you mess this up or fall off, you'll have to wait for the timer to run out as the game doesn't let you use anything other than the Wand of Light.
Ollie the Giant
Password: Giant, Annika, Pegasus, Annika
Wenlock is at it again. This time, he sics Ollie the Giant on you.
Use the Flower Jewel on the mini-Gryphons he throws at you. When they turn into logs, Ollie will trip and fall when he steps on them. Use this as your best opportunity to move to the other side.
When he runs onscreen as opposed to walking, stay off of and stand between the tree stumps so you don't get hit by the fruit that falls when he stomps the ground.
Bonus Stage 3/Glacier 1
Password: Wenlock, Wand, Castle, Giant
Now you just collect the coins while they're just out there in the open, along with getting them from the clouds and rings from the first two bonus stages.
Well, the game tries to be interesting here, but it just falls flat.
Forbidden Forest 2
Password: Wand, Annika, Castle, Castle
Spiders hang around underneath some of the branches and drop down when you get close. If you hit them with the Flower Jewel, they'll turn into sunflowers. This only last for a few seconds, sadly, so you're better off just offing them with the Wand of Light.
Also, you now see the big ugly green guys in greater numbers. You also see the female equivalents of them at this point, too.
Forbidden Forest 3
Password: Wand, Wenlock, Annika, Wand
If it feels like you're skipping a big part of the level, you aren't. There's a huge pit of water that the Twirl Jewel won't even come close to clearing. Instead, your only way across is turning a miniature Gryphon into a log with the Flower Jewel and riding him all the way to the other side.
Yes, let's put the completely predictable, gloomy looking forest area that is a staple of everything ever enjoyed by children under six years of age. It's only natural!
Forbidden Forest 1
Password: Annika, Castle, Giant, Wand
Once you're done with the second bonus level, you'll finally land in the Forbidden Forest. Wenlock's spell may have turned villagers into something other than stone, so keep a look out.
Shortly after the beginning of the level, you'll find a green jewel. This is the Flower Jewel, which allows you to change enemies into plants with a dark green butterfly that flies forward whenever you use it. This changes the miniature Gryphons and fish here into logs, which is somewhat chuckle-worthy.
Annika will notice that the fat green men walking around look human, and that they may have been changed into something by Wenlock's magic. Use the Flower Jewel to change them back into stone, then use the Wand of Light to turn them back into people again.
The yellow plants shoot out spores that slow you down when they touch you. You'll have to wait for the spores to disappear again before you can return to normal speed. If you use the Flower Jewel on them, they'll change into springs that you can use when the Flutter Jewel can't get you anywhere.
You can go up the vine by repeatedly jumping on it, but standing on it will cause Annika to slide down.
Wow, it's like they made the second unlockable costume solely for completists. And by completists, I mean little girls who put superficial things like color over anything else. Then again, I'm talking about little girls, so who am I to complain, hmm?
Kingdom Village 2 (continued)
Password: Annika, Annika, Wand, Annika
For the key room to get that third costume, just break the blocks so you can make a staircase to it. That's it. The third costume is just like the second one, except blue instead of pink. Gee, thanks, game.
Kingdom Village 3
Password: Annika, Wand, Castle, Wenlock
There's not much to this level, really.
Also, you can't attack with the Flutter Jewel? For someone raised on fighting games, that's shenanigans.
Fight with Gryphon
Password: Castle, Annika, Annika, Wand
Annika meets Wenlock again, and this time, you'll have to deal with the Gryphon.
Yes, I know it's spelled Griffin here, but I'm spelling it the proper way since they just spell it as so in the game to make it easier for little girls to pronounce.
To beat the Gryphon, use the Twirl Power to move away from the Gryphon as soon as it's directly above you. Stand on a bridge, get out of the way and watch the Gryphon run smack into the bridge. After three instances of this, you win. Could this possibly be any easier?
Bonus Stage 2
Password: Annika, Castle, Giant, Wand
This time around, you'll have to fly through cloud rings in order to get the coins. What, they couldn't do this in the first bonus stage?
Once again, you get another picture from the movie.
After everyone in the palace is accounted for, Annika meets Wenlock and his flying gryphon again. There's still more of the land to free from stone, but before you can deal with that, you'll have to deal with Wenlock himself.
The game actually tells you straight up how to beat him: use the Flutter Jewel to stand on the chandelier hanging on the ceiling, causing it to fall. When Wenlock stands in the center of the room after gingerly walking from one side of the room to the other, that's your cue to stand on the edge of the chandelier after getting up there with the Flutter Jewel so it can come down and hit him. After three hits, it's on to the next destination.
Bonus Stage 1/Kingdom Village 1
Password: Annika, Castle, Annika, Wenlock
Before you enter the next stage, you'll be flying around on Brietta the Pegasus landing on clouds. When you land on them, you can then collect a coin. You'll need ten to unlock a picture from the movie. It takes time to land on the cloud, bounce off of it and get the coin, so don't do this too close to the left edge or you'll miss the coin.
You'll eventually enter the Kingdom Village, which is full of snow and has a lot of houses. You'll be using the Flutter Jewel to find a lot of the people around here, so the game kinda rewards you for exploring by actually letting you get through the game.
The enemies here include frogs that jump up and down in water, and hedgehogs that roll back and forth on the ground. The gryphons also make a return appearance here. At the top of one of the houses, you'll get the Twirl Jewel, which allows Annika to twirl across pits of water.
Kingdom Village 2
Password: Annika, Annika, Wand, Annika
You'll find a large group of stone blocks shortly after the beginning, and behind these blocks is the key door.
I'm beginning to wonder if this game could become any harder.
Cloud Palace 2
Password: Castle, Giant, Pegasus, Giant
Yep, even some Game Boy Advance games had passwords. At least the ones in this game are mercifully short. After all, this is a Barbie game.
Anyway, if there are stone blocks in front of you, you can use the Flutter Jewel to break them instantly as you rise into the air.
There are platforms that go up and down throughout this level, but the Flutter Jewel makes them much easier to reach.
One of the people you free here will have a key. When you pick up a key, you can press Up in front of a door to open it. Luckily, the door is close by. In every key room, you can find a costume...if you can get it before the time runs out. Luckily, this room is so dreadfully easy that only the slightest of hand-eye coordination is involved. Just break the blocks and jump to grab the costume. There are three more costumes in the game besides the one you start with and the one in this room. You can change costumes whenever you want, but other than a cosmetic change for Barbie, they don't do much else.
Cloud Palace 3
Password: Wand, Pegasus, Giant, Castle
We have balconies instead of windows! Variety!
A few of the mini-gryphons are flying around, but you can easily swat them out of the air with your wand.
Yep, I'm showing off a Game Boy Advance game...and of all the games I could possibly have debuted on the PrinceWatercress Blog, I chose this one.
Cloud Queen's Throne Room
Yep, another full-length feature starring Barbie made into a game. In this one, you play as the headstrong Princess Annika. The game starts with Annika talking to her sister Brietta, when all of a sudden her friends throw a surprise birthday party for her. Before the party can get underway, everyone except Princess Annika is turned to stone. We soon find out who the guilty party is: Wenlock, whose laugh fills the room.
Go to the right and jump up the two platforms to get the Wand of Light. From there, you can use the B button to swing the wand around near the statues to change them back into people again. You can also use Up and Down on the Control Pad to swing upwards and downwards, respectively. The downwards swing is actually more of an overhand swipe.
When you change the statue nearest the wand back into human form, I swear that she has this expression on her face that looks like awesome.jpg. I kid you not. Same with the guy next to her. You are going to be seeing this a lot throughout the game.
When you change everyone back, you'll meet Wenlock, who rides into the castle on his gryphon and reveals he turned everyone in the land into stone for the sole purpose of getting Annika to marry him. (Could he have tried any harder?) When she refuses, Wenlock changes Brietta into a flying pegasus. Annika wants to change her back with the Wand of Light, but in a twist that is perhaps best suited to TF art, Brietta is perfectly okay with this and is all like "Well, since I'm a pegasus, I can fly you places." Annika does just that.
Cloud Palace
Annika and Brietta land in another area of the castle, and there are still many more people who need to be freed from their stone forms.
The icon in the lower left lists how many people you have yet to free. When you free someone, one of the purple circles turns into the shape of a human. Free everyone to enter the next level.
You'll also see the Wand of Light in the upper-left corner. This will show what wand power you currently have.
Enemy roll call for this one: birds that just sit there on the statues, bugs that crawl around on the floor that can be hit with the downward swing, and miniature gryphons.
You'll find the Flutter Jewel in this stage. Switch between the Wand of Light and the Flutter Jewel with the R button and press B to use it. This will allow you to reach places that Annika normally couldn't jump to.
