Bringing an all new meaning to the phrase “kill ’em with kindness,” apparently you can play as Barney the Dinosaur in the retro video game Xenophage: Alien Bloodsport. Which also means you can play against the loveable children’s television figure. His powers appear to be limited to throwing large hearts, which may or may not be filled with blood. He’s called Blarney to try and skirt copyright infringement claims, which is also the name the show Dinosaurs used to parody Barney. Whatever you call him, the purple and green dinosaur sporting a huge grin is unmistakable. Even when he does a little dance as his victims bleed out.
The video above shows off the game with a Barney (ummm Blarney) fight as he dies in round one and then dominates rounds two and three of the head to head Mortal Kombat-like fight. His attacks are mild, but his death is quite graphic, as the dinosaur face plants to the ground and bleeds out. Even though the game came out in 1995 and looks quite dated, you can still play it on Steam if you have any lingering animosity towards the beloved dinosaur.
We came across this wild retro game clip thanks to Boing Boing. And it’s not the only time Barney has come up recently. It seems nostalgia is at an all-time high. There’s the documentary I Love You, You Hate Me. Nope star Daniel Kaluuya is even making a live-action Barney movie. The show Barney & Friends aired from 1992 to 2009, which means there’s a huge population out there who grew up on it. They either remember it fondly or hate the fact that they still have the theme song stuck in their head decades later.
The Loading Geek YouTube channel that shared the murderous Barney gameplay posts lots of other video game playthroughs. But none contain as much 90s nostalgia as this secret Barney throwdown.
Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.