Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time |
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The cover for the game from 1997 to 1999 as Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?
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| Developer(s) | Broderbund |
| Publisher(s) | Broderbund Software The Learning Company (after Broderbund's purchase) |
| Series | Carmen Sandiego |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Mac OS |
| Release date(s) | 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Educational, adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time is an exciting computer game released in 1997. It was first known as Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? This game is an educational adventure where you solve puzzles. It was made by a company called Broderbund for computers running Microsoft Windows and Macintosh systems.
This game is a new version of an older game from 1989, also called Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? It's the second game in the Carmen Sandiego series that involves time travel. The game was also inspired by a PBS game show with the same name.
In the game, the famous thief Carmen Sandiego uses a special time machine called the Chronoskimmer. She sends her helpers to important moments in history. Their goal is to change history by stealing famous items or stopping big events from happening. Your job is to chase Carmen and her team through time. You must find the stolen items and fix history. You will visit famous events like the signing of the Declaration of Independence. You will also meet historical figures such as Queen Hatshepsut and William the Conqueror. The game has 19 cases. In the last case, you finally get to chase and catch Carmen herself!
Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time was very popular when it came out. People loved its story, music, and the way it taught history. It even won an award for Computer Edutainment Game of the Year in 1998.
Contents
How to Play: Becoming a Time Agent
When you start the game, you can sign in as a new agent. You can also continue a game you saved earlier. The game is a "point-and-click" adventure. This means you click on things on the screen to interact with them. You need to find "hot spots" to discover items that help you.
In each case, you investigate clues to help a historical person. You recover a stolen treasure and catch a thief. Special characters called "Good Guides" help you. You also get an ACME Agent Handbook with hints. Each case has four steps: find out what was stolen, solve the problem, collect Carmen's notes, and arrest the thief.
Your Missions Through Time
The game has 19 cases. They start in Ancient Egypt and move closer to modern times. You must finish all cases to win. Before each case, your Chief tells you about the problem in that time period.
You will have one of five "Good Guides" helping you. These guides know a lot about history and the culture of each time period. They give you historical facts and introduce important people. They also help you talk to the historical figures. You can ask people questions to get more information. Their answers will guide you to solve the task for that time period.
Rising Through the Ranks
You start as a "Time Pilot." As you solve cases, the Chief promotes you. You can become a Time Scout, Time Trooper, Time Detective, and Time Inspector. By the end of the game, you become a "Time Sleuth." This is when you get your chance to capture Carmen Sandiego!
Catching the Crooks
To solve cases, you need to collect items. You can drag objects into your inventory box to keep them for later. Characters might give you items, or you might need to find them yourself.
You also need to find pieces of "Carmen Notes." These notes tell you where each thief is hiding. Each note is torn into three pieces, making them harder to find. Once you find all the pieces, special "Time Cuffs" activate. You can then decode Carmen's message to find the thief's location. Using the Time Cuffs on the right object reveals the thief. Your Good Guide then arrests them. After catching each of Carmen's helpers, you finally get to chase Carmen herself.
The Chronopedia: Your History Guide
You can use the Chronopedia in the game. This is a historical guide with information about each time period. It tells you about important people, places, maps, and events. Each Good Guide carries a part of the Chronopedia. They give you the right chapter when you arrive in a new time period. All the information in the Chronopedia was checked by experts from the Encyclopædia Britannica. You can use this information to understand Carmen's notes.
The Final Chase
The way you play changes after Case 18. You get the Chronoskimmer, Carmen's time machine. Now, instead of staying in one time period, you follow clues to figure out where to go next. You can travel to any time period you want. Carmen can only go to places she has already visited. All five ACME Good Guides help you during this final case.
The Story: Stopping Carmen's Plan
The game starts in the present day. Carmen Sandiego breaks into the ACME Timenet headquarters in San Francisco. She steals the ACME Chronoskimmer, a time travel device. Carmen then sends her V.I.L.E. villains (her bad guys) through time. They steal historical treasures and try to change history. She also gives them notes telling them where to hide.
After the theft, the Chief explains that you must get the Chronoskimmer back. You also need to fix history. The Chief sends you on missions to stop Carmen and her crooks. After you solve the ninth case, all the crooks are in prison. But Carmen uses the Chronoskimmer to break them out! She then commits more thefts. After the prison is made stronger, the Chief sends you to recapture the crooks. Your goal is to catch Carmen once and for all.
After you recapture the crooks and fix history, Carmen lets you get the Chronoskimmer back. She then travels through time until she returns to the present. She tries to steal her personal file from ACME HQ. After a chase by all five Good Guides, Carmen Sandiego is finally caught and put in prison.
Once you succeed, the Chief tells you a secret. Carmen Sandiego used to be an ACME agent! But she found catching crooks too easy. So, she became a villain to challenge her former teammates. She wanted to erase a special file about her change. This connects to her bigger plan to erase the memory of history's greatest people and achievements. This plan was called "Project: History Sweep." It's suggested that Carmen only told her helpers to steal items as a trick. This was to make sure ACME headquarters was empty while agents were busy fixing her messes.
Who's Who: Characters and Voices
The only real-life actor in the game is Lynne Thigpen. She plays The Chief. All other characters are voiced by actors. Brenda Burke, who voiced Carmen Sandiego in the TV show, also voices her in this game.
Many voice actors play more than one character. For example, Charles Martinet voices both William Shakespeare and Ludwig van Beethoven. Jarion Monroe voices both historical and made-up characters. These include Ivor the Blacksmith, Kublai Khan, and Yuri Gagarin.
The game helps you tell the difference between real historical figures and made-up characters. If you move your mouse over a character, text appears. Most characters with both a first and last name are real historical people. Characters with only a first name or a title are usually made up. However, some real historical figures, like Queen Elizabeth I and Montezuma, are only called by their first names in the game.
Images for kids
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Large granite sphinx showing Hatshepsut, an ancient Egyptian pharaoh. She is shown with a fake beard, a symbol of her power.
