Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time

This article is about the 1997 game originally titled Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?. For other uses, see Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? (disambiguation).

Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time
The cover for the game from 1997 to 1999 as Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?
Developer(s)Broderbund
Publisher(s)Broderbund Software
The Learning Company (after Broderbund's purchase)
SeriesCarmen Sandiego
Platform(s)Windows, Mac OS[2]
Release
  • US: August 13, 1997
[1]
Genre(s)Educational, adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time (previously Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? and sometimes given the subtitle v3.0) is a 1997 edutainment point-and-click adventure game developed by Broderbund for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh devices. The game is a remake of the 1989 time-travel title Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?, making it the second Time video game in the Carmen Sandiego franchise. The game was strongly influenced by the short-lived PBS game show, Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?. The game was previewed at the 1997 Toy Fair in New York City.[3] A demo version was included on the CD for Carmen Sandiego Word Detective and was available on the Carmen Sandiego website.[4] After Broderbund was sold to The Learning Company, the game was re-released with the new title - Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time - but with minimal redesign.[5]

The game's narrative involves master thief Carmen Sandiego, who has used a time machine called the Chronoskimmer to plant her associates at key historical events to stop them from occurring. The object of the game is to track down Carmen Sandiego and her henchmen by jumping through time tunnels that link historical periods together, retrieve the stolen item, and correct the course of history. During each case, the player visits a well-known historical event, such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence or Lewis and Clark's expedition to the Pacific Northwest,[6] and meets historical figures like Queen Hatshepsut, William the Conqueror, and Yuri Gagarin.[6][7][8] At the end of case 18, the player locates the Chronoskimmer, thereby acquiring the tools to chase and capture Carmen for the final case.[9]

Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time received critical acclaim upon its release, earning praise for its story, soundtrack, puzzle-solving and historical content. It was awarded "Computer Edutainment Game of the Year" at the 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.[10]

  1. ^ "Carmen Sandiego Great Chase Through Time". Miscellaneous Elementary Software. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  2. ^ "Carmen Sandiego visits the past via CD-ROM". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. April 1, 1997. p. 20. Retrieved October 27, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Carmen Sandiego Connection, Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?". January 28, 1999. Archived from the original on January 28, 1999. Retrieved September 12, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ ago, Kate Willaert • 7 hours (August 28, 2019). "Infographic: Identifying Carmen Sandiego". A Critical Hit!. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b Colker, David (January 1, 1998). "2 'Carmen Sandiego' games are winners". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. p. 25. Retrieved October 28, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time CD educational software for kids. Carmen Sandiego's the Great Chase Through Time CD". Tiny Einsteins Educational Software. Archived from the original on April 18, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  7. ^ "Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego". Working Mother. MacDonalds Communications Corporation. December 1999. Archived from the original on August 1, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  8. ^ "Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?". Kiplinger's Personal Finance. Vol. 52, no. 12. December 1998. Archived from the original on August 1, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  9. ^ "Awards Category Details". www.interactive.org. Archived from the original on June 4, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2019.