A closer look
Barbie for the original Nintendo Entertainment System features a soundtrack composed by Mark Van Hecke, who inexplicably reused the intensely creepy music he had previously written for A Nightmare on Elm Street. Because game development in the early nineties was an unorganized wild west, the composer simply recycled the haunting, atmospheric synth tracks from a literal horror game and slapped them onto Barbie's dream mall adventure. As a result, millions of little girls were completely unaware that they were aggressively shopping for stylish virtual outfits while listening to the exact same audio cues designed to accompany a burned child murderer. It remains one of the most bizarre tonal clashes in gaming history, turning a bright pink dreamhouse simulator into an accidental psychological thriller
