Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1996 video game)

This article is about the 1996 video game. For the 1985 video game, see Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1985 video game).
Where in the World Is
Carmen Sandiego?
CD cover art
Developer(s)Brøderbund Software
Publisher(s)
SeriesCarmen Sandiego
Platform(s)Windows, MacOS
Release1996
Genre(s)Educational/strategy/side-scrolling
Mode(s)Single-player

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (sometimes referred to as Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? v3.0) is a 1996 video game part of the Carmen Sandiego franchise. It was the third version of the game, after the 1985 original title of the same name and a 1992 Deluxe version of said game. The game's release coincided on the heels of the end of the PBS game show, and features QuickTime videos of Lynne Thigpen reprising her role as "The Chief". This was the last version of the game to follow the "classic" formula of the series (until the Facebook version), but much of the game, especially the "warrant" portion, was heavily redesigned. The Deluxe Edition released in 1998 (also sometimes subtitled as "version 3.5") added speech welcoming the player to each country and an "ACME Global Language Link-Up" satellite which quizzed the user on the local language.[1] Players also received a spy watch and "an introduction to 12 foreign languages".[2]

This "upgrade of the classic [1985] detective program", in which players "take on the role of gumshoe and explore the globe tracking down crafty criminals" remains the same as the original version. Upgraded features include: "guided tours of various locales and beautifully painted 360-degree panoramas".[3] The game uses "geopolitical maps from National Geographic for more than 50 countries".[4] The searchable database within the game contains: "video clips; essays on each area's economics, politics and culture; maps; and photographs.[5]

According to the "BOX: TOP SOFTWARE CALENDAR YEAR", Where In The World is Carmen Sandiego was the second best-selling title of 1996 after Disney's Toy Story Animated Storybook.[6]

  1. ^ Kids Domain Reviews - Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe Edition
  2. ^ Media, Working Mother (December 1999). Working Mother. p. 66. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  3. ^ Media, Working Mother (December 1996). Working Mother. p. 50. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  4. ^ Billboard. 9 Mar 1996. p. 60. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  5. ^ Popular Science. July 1996. p. 17. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  6. ^ "COMPUTER Q&A". Orlando Sentinel. March 15, 1997. Retrieved November 14, 2012.[dead link]