Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

One gift. Forty dollars. Thirty-three games. A year and a half. One Keith. Two more games. Thirty-five total games. And now, finally, at long last, I bid adieu to the Genesis Project. Oh, happy day!

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? is a game I've played before, on a PC, back at some point in the '90s. It's also a show I watched a decent amount when I was a kid. The premise is pretty simple, for anyone who isn't familiar. Carmen Sandiego is a world-traveling criminal mastermind who steals precious artifacts and national treasures from cities all over the world. Your job in these games is to track her and her henchmen down by figuring out where to travel next and what your suspect looks like. The basic pattern is that you start out in one city, and ask people questions. Some will give you information on what your suspect looks like ("she was trying to conceal a tattoo on her shoulder") or where your suspect was heading next ("he exchanged all of his money for francs"). I've always been a bit of a map nerd - geography, history, countries and capitals, etc. - and so I've always had a soft spot for these games. They're baldly educational in nature, and entirely boring if you don't like piecing clues together. That's okay though, since the menu-based gameplay made for one of the least broken Sega Genesis games I've ever played.

One interesting aspect of this game was that, since it was made in 1992, it contained all kinds of dated references. I mentioned francs above, and often the biggest clues for where to head next were based on 2015-extinct currencies. Another big one was flags. "He headed somewhere with a green and white flag," someone would say, but when I looked at my available options for where to head next, none of them had a green and white flag. Yeah, I used my cell phone to look up some cities and regions and flags and such, and I can't imagine what it was like for a kid playing this game in 1992. "Let's go to the library, Mom. I need to look up where Patagonia is in the World Book Encyclopedia!"

Anyway, this was a fitting way for me to end the Genesis Project. I can't rule out that I'll ever buy another Sega Genesis game - I do have a working Sega Genesis now, after all, and who knows what old obscurity may tickle my fancy one night? - but for now that thing is heading back to the closet in order to free up the A/V slots on my guest room TV. I've got a long overdue date with some PS2 titles...

Ecco: The Tides of Time

Ecco the Dolphin

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Arrow Flash

Golden Axe

Alien Storm

Virtua Fighter 2

Fatal Labyrinth

Ecco Jr.

Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master

Streets of Rage 3

Gain Ground

Streets of Rage 2

Golden Axe II

Kid Chameleon

DecapAttack

Comix Zone

Vectorman 2

Vectorman

ESWAT: City Under Siege

Streets of Rage

Chakan: The Forever Man

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle

Eternal Champions

Risky Woods

The Ooze

Jewel Master

Shadow Dancer

Columns III

Columns

Crack Down

Golden Axe III

Altered Beast

Bonanza Brothers

Sword of Sodan