Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?
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Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? is the title of two edutainment computer games in the Carmen Sandiego series that teach history. The concept was later adapted into a television show on PBS.
[edit] Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? (1989)
| Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? | |
|---|---|
 England in the year 1212 |
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| Developer(s) | Brøderbund Software |
| Publisher(s) | Brøderbund Software |
| Platform(s) | PC (Amiga, Apple II Commodore 64, DOS, Sega Master System, NES, SNES, Sega Genesis) |
| Release date | 1989 |
| Genre(s) | Educational/science fiction/strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: E (Everyone) |
This version is a multiplatform video game where players have to travel through time to collect the clue and the warrant necessary to capture Carmen Sandiego or one of her henchmen. Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego, a game show which was formerly broadcast on PBS, was loosely based on this game.
The goal of this game is track Carmen's villains through history and arrest them and ultimately arrest Carmen herself. Similar to the original Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, the player had to use the clues given to them on where the crook went to, and physical attributes or interests of the crook in order to secure an arrest warrant.
This was the first game in the series to establish that ACME Headquarters is located in San Francisco, California.
In 1991, Konami released a port of Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego, for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Hi Tech Expressions would later do a port for the Super NES. Electronic Arts would also do a port for the Sega Genesis.
[edit] External links
[edit] Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?/Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time (1997)
| Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?/Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time | |
|---|---|
 Ivan Idea aboard Vostok 1 with Yuri Gagarin |
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| Developer(s) | Brøderbund Software |
| Publisher(s) | Brøderbund Software (1997 - 1998) The Learning Company (1998 - present) |
| Platform(s) | PC (Windows, Macintosh) |
| Release date | 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Educational/adventure/science fiction/historical |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: E (Everyone) |
In 1997, a new version, heavily influenced by the game show, was released by Brøderbund as simply Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?. In 1999, the game was retitled Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time under The Learning Company.
The gamer plays as a "time sleuth" for the ACME Detective Agency. The objective of the game is to track down Carmen Sandiego and her henchman by jumping through "time tunnels". "Time tunnels" are tears in the time-space continuum that are left whenever the Chronoskimmer (a time travel device owned by the ACME agency) jumps through time. Being an educational title, the player ends up in many famous historical situations, meeting William the Conqueror and Johann Gutenberg, among others. On each mission the player is accompanied by a "good guide" from the agency. The five good guides are: Ann Tickwittee, who is especially skilled in ancient civilizations, Ivan Idea, the skilled inventor and scientist, Rock Solid, the muscle bound outdoors man, Renee Santz, a knowledgeable artist and musician, and Polly Tix, who deals with what else, Politics.
This version of the game features Lynne Thigpen and five villains of the PBS game show. The goal is to solve 18 mysteries and to catch all nine of Carmen's villains and ultimately arrest Carmen herself. In each case the player has to fix a problem with history created by Carmen's villains and arrest the thief.
The game is included on two CD-ROM's, the first one having the first eight cases and the second one having the remaining eleven. At the start of the second CD-ROM, Carmen busts all her thieves out of jail so they can return to stealing, but "laser bars" are added after this to prevent another jailbreak from happening. Curiously, one of the thieves, Dee Cryption, was not shown getting captured on the first disc, yet she still appears being busted out of jail with the other crooks at the start of the second disc.
Another change to the 1997 version used the more neutral BCE/CE date notation, reflecting an era of increased political correctness.
A character in the Roman era is known as Marius Maximus. Unlike the real Marius, he introduces himself as "Peruvian plumber of the Roman Republic", which is odd as Peru would not be discovered for centuries later.
Unlike the other two nineties editions of the Carmen Sandiego series, this version is more like a point-and-click adventure game. It involves moving from area to area, interacting with characters, and using inventory instead of questioning witnesses, clue-seeking, and traveling.
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