Sky Dancers hit the GBA

Crave Entertainment, based in Los Angeles, announced that it has signed an agreement with toy manufacturer Play Along, maker of the Care Bears and Cabbage Patch Kids toys, to develop and publish games based on the Sky Dancers brand. The first game announced will be Sky Dancers (working title) for the Game Boy Advance, which is scheduled for a September release.

Sky Dancers were a huge hit with young females in the mid '90s. The toys came with a pull-string launcher that propelled the fairylike dolls into the air before they eased back to the ground.

"Girls are playing video games more than ever before, so it makes sense to extend the Sky Dancers brand to gaming consoles," says John Gentile, president of Abrams Gentile Entertainment.

The dolls were literally launched onto the scene in 1994, and Crave hopes to tap into most of the toy's notoriety. The Sky Dancers were a big hit with girls, with more than 20 million sold.

The toys were recalled by then-manufacturer Galoob Toys, a division of Hasbro, after the ballerina- and princess-themed dolls turned on their owners. Galoob received 170 counts of Sky Dancer-related mishaps and 150 reports of injuries, which included scratched corneas, a broken rib, and facial lacerations.

Play Along relaunched the Sky Dancers line earlier this year.