Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses

The fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses serves as a loose inspiration for the plot of the animated film Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses, which is based on the same name as the direct-to-video animated movie that was released in 2006 under the same name. In the film, Genevieve, one of the twelve princesses who live in a castle with their father, King Randolph, and their father’s window, is played by Barbie. They lead a carefree lifestyle, so Randolph invites his cousin, Duc, Hess Rowena, to raise them in the manner befitting princesses in his stead. However, she makes their lives a living hell and kills the king, so they have no choice but to flee to a fantastical land their mother brought to life through her stories. They, along with Genevieve’s friend Derek, are cornered there by Rowena, and they are required to use a goblet to collect the magical water that will help cure their father. Genevieve is controlled by the player within a complete 3D environment, but the player has only a limited amount of freedom, and the game occasionally features short branching. She can be moved in any direction and jump while she is spinning, which allows her to complete platform sections and avoid water that kills instantly. The gameplay consists of various moving platforms, elevators, gaps, and media that vanish after the player has stood on them for an extended period. There is no health system, and she has an infinite number of lives, regenerating immediately after reaching the point of no return. Gems are available for her to collect all along the path. She occasionally comes across animals that she can pet. Many different areas contain brief minigames that can be accessed by walking into large coins that spin around. In one of them, the player takes control of a cat who plays a game similar to Breakout by using a water bubble or bouncing an apple to knock leaves off a tree. Another challenge that Genevieve must complete involves hurling berries at a nest of birds while avoiding an in-the-way moving obstruction. In a different part of the room, a jigsaw puzzle needs to be solved to unlock a door. Many animated cut scenes take place in the gaps between gameplay sections. After the prologue, the player will enter a hub that, when explored, will reveal four distinct worlds, each containing one of the eleven princesses. They are eventually brought back to the central hub by being given the appropriate gem to equip themselves with. In addition to the primary objective of exploring, the hub levels feature additional minigames. She needs to use a slingshot to get flowers on waterlilies, guide a water bubble to collect music notes, design a dance choreography and a water fountain show, follow dance instructions similar to those found in the Dance Dance Revolution games, and create a rainbow by guiding a cloud to collect colors while avoiding dark clouds. She also needs to design a dance choreography and a water fountain show. There is a puzzle game involving falling blocks in which players must collect the colors of the rainbow by matching gems of the same color in groups of three, either horizontally or vertically, while dark clouds appear and remove blocks. It is common for many of the minigames to be played multiple times for each of the different princesses.