Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?
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Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? is the title of three edutainment video games in the Carmen Sandiego series that teach history. The game was later adapted into a short-lived PBS Kids game show aired between 1996 to 1998.
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[edit] Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? (1989)
| Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? | |
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| Developer(s) | Brøderbund Software |
| Publisher(s) | Brøderbund Software |
| Designer(s) | Gene Portwood, Lauren Elliot |
| Platform(s) | PC (Amiga, Apple II Commodore 64, DOS), Sega Master System, NES, SNES, Sega Genesis |
| Release date(s) | 1989 |
| Genre(s) | Educational/science fiction/strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) |
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The original 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. The goal of this game is to track Carmen's villains through history and arrest them and ultimately arrest Carmen herself. Similar to World, the player has 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. In 1991, Konami released a port of the game for the Nintendo Entertainment System which included a small, paperback encyclopedia as a free pack-in. Hi Tech Expressions later created a port for the Super NES. Electronic Arts also created a port for the Sega Genesis.
[edit] Times
Time #1 is from 400 to 1300.
Time #2 is 1300 to 1700.
Time #3 is 1700 to 1900.
Time #4 is past 1900.
[edit] Places
China, times 1, 2, 3, 4
England, times 1, 2, 3, 4
France, times 1, 2, 3, 4
Holland, time 2
India, times 2, 3, 4
Italy, time 1, 2, 4
Japan, time 2, 3, 4
Mexico, time 1, 2, 3, 4
Peru, time 1, 2, 3, 4
Russia, time 1, 2, 3, 4
Spain, time 1, 2, 3, 4
USA, time 1, 2, 3, 4
[edit] Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time (1997)
| 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(s) | 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Educational/adventure/science fiction/historical |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: E (Everyone) |
A reboot version, heavily influenced by the short-lived PBS Kids game show, was released by Brøderbund in 1997. In 1999, the game was later 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 henchmen by jumping through "time tunnels" after she had stolen the Chronoskimmer, a time travel device owned by the ACME Detective Agency. "Time tunnels" are tears in the time-space continuum that are left whenever the Chronoskimmer jumps through time. Carmen also instructs each of her henchmen that once they steal that historical object, they must use the note Carmen left them to go to the specific hiding spot, tear up the note, and wait for Carmen to pick them up. 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 ACME. 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
- Polly Tix, who deals with politics.
This version of the game features Lynne Thigpen as "The Chief" and five villains from the game show. The goal is to solve 18 historical mysteries from ancient Egypt to the first human in space and to catch all nine of Carmen's villains and ultimately capture Carmen herself. In each case, the player has to fix a problem with history created by Carmen's villains and arrest them. The game is included two CD-ROMs: the first one having the first eight cases and the second one having the remaining eleven. At the start of the second disc, Carmen busts all of her eight criminal sidekicks out of jail so they can return to stealing, but "laser bars" are added after this to prevent another jailbreak from happening. The second disc also includes an audio recording of the main theme song from the game show. Unlike the other two nineties editions of the Carmen Sandiego games, this version is more like a point-and-click adventure game. It involves moving from area to area, interacting with characters, and putting more emphasis on the use of inventory over questioning witnesses, clue-seeking, and traveling.
[edit] Missions
- 1490 BCE - Ancient Egypt: Queen Hatshepsut's husband, Thutmose II, has recently died. However, Hatshepsut cannot bury Thutmose because the Book of the Dead, necessary to guide him safely to the next world, has been stolen. The player and Ann must help the head priest to mummify Thutmose's body. After Thutmose's body is mummified, the player and Ann find Sir Vile hiding behind a piece of the wall depicting Amun Re and arrest him.
- 50 BCE - Ancient Rome: Julius Caesar informs the player and Ivan that a thief has stolen the entire city block that houses the Roman Forum, and damaged the city's complex sewer system while attempting to escape. The player and Ivan must help a Roman plumber to pump clean water to the public bath and fountain, while channeling the dirty, waste-filled water away from the latrine by correctly arranging pipes. After fixing it, the player and Ivan find Dr. Belljar hiding behind a horned column and arrest him.
- 1002 - Vinland: Leif Eriksson informs the player and Rock that a thief has stolen his knorr ship, and without it, he and his Viking crew members will be stranded in Vinland forever. Leif asks the player and Rock to summon all of his crew members to the shore for a thing, so they can decide whether they should recover their ship or settle Vinland. The player and Rock must help all of Leif's crew members to do tasks before they can come down to the shore to recover the ship. Once the ship is recovered, the player and Rock find Baron Grinnit hiding on the Knorr Ship's steerboard to starboard and arrest him.
- 1015 - Heian era Japan: The first chapter of Murasaki Shikibu's novel, "The Tale of Genji", has been stolen. Also, Murasaki can no longer see her inspiration of the moon in her mirror. The player must gain access to the nearby season-themed rooms by dressing Renee in the proper seasonal kimonos. One inside the rooms, the player and Renee must adjust mirrors so that the moonlight reflects all the way back to Murasaki's room. After Murasaki can write again, the player and Renee find Medeva hiding in a drawer with the Year of the Rat on it and arrest her. One historical error was made in this level. "The Tale of Genji" was written between 1000 and 1007, 10 to 15 years before this mission is set.
- 1086 - Feudal England: King William the Conqueror's Domesday Book, a book of records, has been stolen. The Saxons, believing it to be a sign of weakness, have begun to attack the castle. The player and Polly must go through a secret passageway and retrieve bread, swords, and arrows for William's soldiers. Afterwards, the player and Polly find General Mayhem hiding in the tapestry and arrest him after he was attacked by William's bear.
- 1271 - Mongol China: Marco Polo, his father, and uncle have fallen victim to a thief on the Silk Road. The thief took the oils they were going to trade with, and without them, they are heading back to Italy. The player and Rock must wind through China, buy and sell on the Silk Road, and cross the desert to find the caravan and the thief. After finding the caravan, the player and Rock find Jacqueline Hyde hiding in a coal mine near a Siberian tiger and arrest her.
- 1324 - Mali Empire: A thief has taken Mansa Musa's supply of salt, and Musa can't cross the Sahara Desert on his Hajj to Mecca without it. Salt is necessary for survival in the desert; it replaces the salt lost by sweat. In Timbuktu, the player and Ann must trade gold slabs for a block of salt for Musa. Once that was done, the player and Ann find Buggs Zapper hiding under the lead camel and arrest him.
- 1454 - Germany: A thief has stolen Johann Gutenberg's bible, which is the first printed book in Europe. The player and Ivan must help Gutenberg make a new batch of ink and later compose a notice sign to warn the townspeople of the thief. After composing it, the player and Ivan find Jane Reaction hiding in a lead cup and arrest her.
- 1460 - Inca Empire: A turn of events has occurred when Carmen returned to ACME Headquarters and uses the Chronoskimmer to release all of her eight captured minions from their jail cells causing the player to go after them again. This time, the cells are reinforced with trans-temporal "laser bars" to prevent another jailbreak. Patchacuti Yupanqui informs the player and Ann that all of the quipus, a way of storing records in the kingdom, have been stolen. The player and Ann must help the head quipucamayoc record the number of supplies in the storerooms. After recording them, the player and Ann find Jane Reaction hiding in a sack of silver placed on a llama and arrest her for the second time.
- 1493 - Spain and the New World: Queen Isabella worries that Christoper Columbus, who set out eight months ago in search of a westward sea route to China, has been swallowed by the sea, and informs the player and Rock to search for Columbus. The player and Rock must navigate the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to North America. After locating Columbus, he informs the player and Rock that a thief has stolen the chart he made on his way to North America. Without the chart, his crew refuses to return back to Europe. After giving Columbus another chart, the player, Rock, and Columbus must navigate back to Europe. Upon their return to Europe, the player and Rock find Dr. Belljar hiding behind a map of the world and arrest him for the second time.
- 1505 - Renaissance Italy: Leonardo da Vinci informs the player and Renee that his notebooks have been stolen, and as a result of his failure to stop the thief, Mona Lisa is angered and refuses to smile. The player and Renee must fix a broken jesting machine to get Mona to smile again. Once the machine is fixed and Mona smiles again, the player and Renee find Sir Vile hiding in a floor tile marked "tool" and arrest him for second time. An error made in the graphics for this level is that Mona is being painted backwards: she faces slightly to the right instead of slightly to the left.
- 1519 - Aztec Empire: Montezuma's royal headdress has been stolen. If he doesn't wear it and perform a ritual at the Fire Ceremony that evening, the sun will burn out. The player and Ann must construct a new headdress for Montezuma. Before the ceremony starts, the player and Ann find Buggs Zapper hiding underneath the table that an eagle is perched on and arrest him for the second time.
- 1599 - Elizabethan England: Queen Elizabeth I commands the player and Renee to go speed things up at the Globe Theater, where re-construction is moving far too slowly for Her Majesty. William Shakespeare informs the player and Renee that a thief has taken his original scripts. Therefore, he must rewrite the plays and help the actors re-learn their lines. The player and Renee must help Richard Burbage repair holes in the Globe's walls. After fixing it, the player and Renee find Medeva hiding in a cannon backstage and arrest her for the second time.
- 1776 - Colonial America: Thomas Jefferson's final draft of the Declaration of Independence has been stolen. The player and Polly must retrieve a parchment from a young minuteman in Boston, so Jefferson can redraft the declaration. After redrafting it, the player and Polly find General Mayhem hiding in Jefferson's dumbwaiter and arrest him for second time.
- 1805 - Louisiana Territory: Lewis and Clark's journals have been stolen. They cannot continue the expedition without them because they contain vital information about the unexplored land they have encountered. The player and Rock must trade with Indians and find a safe passage to the Pacific Ocean. Upon their arrival to the Pacific Ocean, the player and Rock find Baron Grinnit hiding in a dugout canoe and arrest him for the second time.
- 1808 - Vienna, Austria: A thief has snatched Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth and Sixth symphonies just before their debut at the Vienna Symphony Hall that evening. The player and Renee must rehearse the openings with the orchestra while Beethoven quickly rewrites his symphonies. After the debut, the player and Renee found Jacqueline Hyde hiding in a sousaphone (which wasn't invented until 1850) and arrest her for the second time.
- 1871 - Menlo Park, New Jersey: Thomas Edison's first working light bulb has been stolen by a thief, and Edison has no more cotton for the filament. The player and Ivan must use a phonograph to trick a grouchy cotton factory guard into giving Edison a spool of cotton thread. Although the player and Ivan found Dee Cryption hiding in a battery, she ends up escaping into the backroom and places herself in a forcefield generator. The player and Ivan must replace the lightbulb and connect the wires which turned the invention on Dee enabling them to arrest her.
- 1961 - Soviet Union: Carmen was seen tampering with Vostok 1, therefore delaying the launch. The player and Ivan must run a computer simulation in the correct order to restart the countdown and help Yuri Gagarin become the first human in outer space. After retrieving the Chronoskimmer from Yuri's space capsule, the player now possesses the ability to travel directly through time and capture Carmen herself.
- All times and places originally visited: The player and all the five Good Guides must travel to all 18 time periods and ask some of the historical characters originally met if Carmen has been there. If Carmen has made an appearance, the character will give the player a clue as to when and where Carmen went next. The process is then repeated. The game ends when Carmen, the player, and the Good Guides returned back to ACME Headquarters in the present-day, where Carmen is captured and put behind laser-bars. The Chief then informs the player that Carmen was previously an ACME detective, but she found out that catching thieves was too easy for her, got bored, and turned evil. Her ultimate plan was to steal her permanent record and erase her ACME history, but the player stopped her. Later, Carmen is shown behind laser-bars and accuses the player of preventing her from erasing her ACME history and ACME won't hold on to her for long.
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