Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (MD, 1992)
Graphics-5.5 Sound-5.5 Control-7.5 Challenge-4 Story-5.5
Level Design-5 Frustration-5 Fun-5 Originality-6
Overall Score-5
+
Some creative mechanics (input collected clues about suspects in a warrant list and then have the game pick from a list - need to pick the right one to be able to arrest the suspect once you find them, find where the suspect is based on flag colors/trivia/language/currency of the country back when the game was made - edutainment aspect)
A databank with dossiers (info and photos) of all 10 possible suspects lets you compare collected info with their stats
Some decent sampled sfx
Short cartoon cutscenes play if you're on the right track (kinda similar to Ms. Pac-Man - just 1-2 small sprites against a black background, some of the cutscenes are fairly charming)
Somewhat improved visuals compared to the original
Can speed up movement animations and cutscenes (dialogue is fast as well)
30 different countries to visit
Get promoted after each set of finished missions (5 forst 2nd rank, 7 for 3rd, etc; 5 ranks in total) - slight increase in difficulty each time? (I skipped ahead and only noticed there being a bit less time per case)
+/-
Mostly linear structure (you can choose where to travel or search at any point but not which case to take on and only a few locations are available at any time plus there's only one correct location to go to)
There's a time limit on each case and time passes quite quickly - just visiting three locations in a country takes a day (using the PC to compute who the suspect is takes 3 hours as well - regardless of if you input 1 piece of info or all of it, you can revisit a location without spending more time though)
Password save (short, can get one at any point)
In the SMS version there would be in-game encounters when on the right track and you had to dodge ranged attacks (while manually exploring a city with an in-game avatar; first a short one with a gang member and then the main suspect for a bit longer) - doesn't happen here (I don't know if it controls well on SMS but it seems more immersive and engaging, however if you got hit you'd lose some time)
I assume NPCs know who the suspect is by looking at the dossier and recognizing them but it's never explained by the game
Carmen is the leader of a gang of criminals you're trying to catch
The game moves on to the next case if you run out of time working on the current one
Can't input the "other" category in the PC - if a suspect likes seafood for example
Most NPCs seem to be white regardless of which country you visit
-
Basic mechanics and audiovisuals - feels like an '80s text/graphic adventure hybrid (cities are represented by three facilities such as a museum/library/airport that you can pick between in a menu and then get a short clue - no interactive dialogue and NPCs are always willing to help, no inventory-based puzzles and no manual walking around in any locations - on SMS (1988) you actually had an avatar that could walk around in a side view environment (they could've expanded on this with different travel methods in some countries and/or area specific events and/or customs/laws to navigate), the arrest segment could've been made strategic so that you had to think about how to trap the suspect before they escaped to another country)
No character development
Sleeping sometimes takes 10 hours - why?
No in-game encyclopedia to check trivia/language/currency/flag info for countries - see the manual
Some trial & error (sometimes the same piece of info is repeated twice in the same country or across several countries and when you're in the same city as the suspect and about to arrest them it seems like a matter of luck if you pick the right location or not (towards the end this can mean running out of time since there are three locations and checking them takes 3 hours each)) - since you can save anywhere neither of these are a big deal though
Starts out super basic and there are too many cases per rank plus not enough of a difficulty increase over the course of the game (no conflicting or false info and the game basically picks the suspect for you based on just two pieces of info, can only pick from 2-4 locations at a time to go to on the world map)
The arrest segment isn't interactive here (SMS ver.)
No starting rank option here (can pick on SMS)
No bonus points for finishing a case quickly
No visual representation of the day/night cycle unlike in the SMS version
The game is mostly silent after the title screen (few sfx, some jingles here and there) - the music also doesn't use the hardware to its fullest
The digitized photos look alright but clash with the rest of the visuals
No journal feature (generally not needed though)
Kinda lame ending (very short and there's no unique sprite for Carmen herself when you arrest her)
Level Design-5 Frustration-5 Fun-5 Originality-6
Overall Score-5
+
Some creative mechanics (input collected clues about suspects in a warrant list and then have the game pick from a list - need to pick the right one to be able to arrest the suspect once you find them, find where the suspect is based on flag colors/trivia/language/currency of the country back when the game was made - edutainment aspect)
A databank with dossiers (info and photos) of all 10 possible suspects lets you compare collected info with their stats
Some decent sampled sfx
Short cartoon cutscenes play if you're on the right track (kinda similar to Ms. Pac-Man - just 1-2 small sprites against a black background, some of the cutscenes are fairly charming)
Somewhat improved visuals compared to the original
Can speed up movement animations and cutscenes (dialogue is fast as well)
30 different countries to visit
Get promoted after each set of finished missions (5 forst 2nd rank, 7 for 3rd, etc; 5 ranks in total) - slight increase in difficulty each time? (I skipped ahead and only noticed there being a bit less time per case)
+/-
Mostly linear structure (you can choose where to travel or search at any point but not which case to take on and only a few locations are available at any time plus there's only one correct location to go to)
There's a time limit on each case and time passes quite quickly - just visiting three locations in a country takes a day (using the PC to compute who the suspect is takes 3 hours as well - regardless of if you input 1 piece of info or all of it, you can revisit a location without spending more time though)
Password save (short, can get one at any point)
In the SMS version there would be in-game encounters when on the right track and you had to dodge ranged attacks (while manually exploring a city with an in-game avatar; first a short one with a gang member and then the main suspect for a bit longer) - doesn't happen here (I don't know if it controls well on SMS but it seems more immersive and engaging, however if you got hit you'd lose some time)
I assume NPCs know who the suspect is by looking at the dossier and recognizing them but it's never explained by the game
Carmen is the leader of a gang of criminals you're trying to catch
The game moves on to the next case if you run out of time working on the current one
Can't input the "other" category in the PC - if a suspect likes seafood for example
Most NPCs seem to be white regardless of which country you visit
-
Basic mechanics and audiovisuals - feels like an '80s text/graphic adventure hybrid (cities are represented by three facilities such as a museum/library/airport that you can pick between in a menu and then get a short clue - no interactive dialogue and NPCs are always willing to help, no inventory-based puzzles and no manual walking around in any locations - on SMS (1988) you actually had an avatar that could walk around in a side view environment (they could've expanded on this with different travel methods in some countries and/or area specific events and/or customs/laws to navigate), the arrest segment could've been made strategic so that you had to think about how to trap the suspect before they escaped to another country)
No character development
Sleeping sometimes takes 10 hours - why?
No in-game encyclopedia to check trivia/language/currency/flag info for countries - see the manual
Some trial & error (sometimes the same piece of info is repeated twice in the same country or across several countries and when you're in the same city as the suspect and about to arrest them it seems like a matter of luck if you pick the right location or not (towards the end this can mean running out of time since there are three locations and checking them takes 3 hours each)) - since you can save anywhere neither of these are a big deal though
Starts out super basic and there are too many cases per rank plus not enough of a difficulty increase over the course of the game (no conflicting or false info and the game basically picks the suspect for you based on just two pieces of info, can only pick from 2-4 locations at a time to go to on the world map)
The arrest segment isn't interactive here (SMS ver.)
No starting rank option here (can pick on SMS)
No bonus points for finishing a case quickly
No visual representation of the day/night cycle unlike in the SMS version
The game is mostly silent after the title screen (few sfx, some jingles here and there) - the music also doesn't use the hardware to its fullest
The digitized photos look alright but clash with the rest of the visuals
No journal feature (generally not needed though)
Kinda lame ending (very short and there's no unique sprite for Carmen herself when you arrest her)