When Bratz dolls first released in 2001, it was hard to tell what kind of impact they’d have on the doll industry. At the time, it was largely dominated by Barbie, leading to a poor initial launch for “the girls with a passion for fashion.” However, sales picked up and Bratz became a cultural staple for many kids, creating tons of different doll collections as well as movies and video games. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Bratz franchise, and the core four girls (Cloe, Jade, Sasha, and Yasmin) are being re-released for the “20 Yearz” line that will debut in-stores and online.
The new dolls won’t be available until later in 2021, but the designs have already been revealed and show the girls looking as stylish as ever. To pass the time until the new Bratz dolls release, it might be a good time to revisit some of the Bratz video games. Bratz: Rock Angelz debuted in 2005, but it still stands up as a fun game from an older console generation.
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The Bratz: Rock Angelz game takes inspiration from the movie of the same name and focuses on fashion as the Bratz girls start their own fashion magazine. Each Bratz: Rock Angelz doll was released with each girl having her own instrument and a mini-CD that featured the main Rock Angelz song, “So Good,” alongside a song from the Bratz: Rock Angelz movie that related to the character.
Both the Bratz: Rock Angelz movie and video game feature fun, catchy original songs, which is part of the appeal of the game. Any time players enter a store, they can go to the radio and choose which Rock Angelz song they’d like to hear. The soundtrack features entries from Aly and AJ in addition to the full Bratz: Rock Angelz original soundtrack. It’s hard to not sing along to the songs, even stopping gameplay to hear the full song before continuing gameplay.
With a tagline like “the girls with a passion for fashion,” it’s hard to imagine that the Bratz: Rock Angelz game wouldn’t feature trendy outfit choices. Players can purchase tons of different clothing items and accessories from the different areas they explore and then dress up the four girls as they please. Bratz: Rock Angelz features fashion from the doll line of the same name, but as well as a ton of others like “Ooh La La,” “Treasures!,” and “Birthday Bash,” to name a few.
One catch, and a bit of a funny detail, about fashion in-game, is that NPCs will react to how players have styled the girl they’re playing as. Whether it’s Sasha, Cloe, Yasmin, or Jade, people they pass by will give a remark about their outfit, hair, and makeup (all of which are customizable by the player.) If something doesn’t match, though, NPCs will give a derogatory comment and say how out of style the girl looks, so it’s important players piece together outfits that actually make sense.
As with most video games, the voice cast can make or break a player’s experience during the game. Bratz: Rock Angelz may not win for best one-liners or having a superb script, but most of the voice acting is done well by some surprising actors and actresses. Sasha, given the nickname Bunny Boo from the other Bratz, is voiced by former Disney actress Tia Mowry. The “Tweevils,” so nicknamed because they’re twins and evil, Kirstee and Kaycee are voiced by The Big Bang Theory’s Kaley Cuoco and Mean Girls’ Lacey Chabert, respectively.
Additionally, there's a bit of a cameo from well-known voice actress Jennifer Hale in Bratz: Rock Angelz. She voices both Phoebe and the French female shop assistant when players visit Paris. Phoebe is actually the twin of Roxxi, the lead singer of the Bratz: Rock Angelz group.
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The cast of Bratz: Rock Angelz is diverse, but that’s also because the dolls were designed with diversity in mind. Sasha, Jade, and Yasmin are all BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or People of Color) and they remained the core group throughout all of Bratz marketing. As more characters were added to the roster, more diversity was added to the franchise.
Though it took until June 2020, celebrated as Pride Month in many areas, for Bratz to finally have a confirmed LGBT couple, the Bratz Instagram consistently posts about them. Roxxi, a key part of Bratz: Rock Angelz, is confirmed to be a lesbian, while her partner Nevra is bisexual. Bratz have a passion for fashion, but they seem to have a passion for diversity as well.
Perhaps the most important reason of all to play any game is the fact that it’s fun. Bratz: Rock Angelz gives players creative liberty to style the girls’ hair, hand-draw their makeup, and assemble cute outfits for each girl. Even if NPCs make snooty comments about the looks players make, there’s no denying how fun it is to listen to catchy music and makeover each Bratz girl.
Besides the details, the gameplay is easy to grasp and execute. There are mini-games that let players participate in modeling competitions, or they can roller skate around to help a friend retrieve some papers thrown by the wind. There’s even a mission that has players lead bunnies back to the park after straying too far into the city. It’s wholesome and doesn’t require a lot of brain power—something not all games allow players to do.
Besides playing the game while waiting for the re-release of the original Bratz dolls, fans of the Rock Angelz line are in luck, as the Bratz: Rock Angelz dolls will also be getting a re-release in 2021. Until the dolls release, the game will be there as a positive, nostalgic experience for any age.
Bratz: Rock Angelz is available now for Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PC, and PS2.