The world's boldest thief is at it again, this time depriving Americans of their great national treasures. Carmen Sandiego is on the loose once more, and Acme Detectives is calling upon players, ages 8 to 14, to use a powerful multimedia database to help stall her latest statewide crime spree in Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego?. As with most of the Carmen Sandiego offerings, this game has a simple play structure. One of Carmen's minions steals a national monument--the head of the Oregon Trail, for example, or Delaware's corporate registry--and you, as a detective, must track down the miscreant. This process involves interviewing witnesses until you have worked out the suspect's physical description and decoded the necessary clues required to chase him to his next location. Then, warrant in hand, you make the arrest ... and move on to your next case. In time and with enough successful arrests, you might get a chance to bag Carmen herself!
If this sounds somewhat repetitive, it is. What makes the whole process entertaining, however, is the inclusion of location clues, which focus on American history and geography. If the thief has fled to Florida, a witness in Nevada might say that he has sent his golf clubs ahead to Fort Lauderdale. These witness clues are often witty and playful, and in many cases, they can be misleading if taken at face value. Has a criminal gone to Columbus, Ohio, or is the interviewee actually referring to the famous explorer for whom the city is named? Too many wrong guesses will result in a wild goose chase, which will eventually drain your fuel budget and leave you unable to complete your mission.
Other features of this game make it useful as a study tool. The profiles of the various states are interesting and colorful, and players will be delighted to see Carmen's underlings wandering through familiar terrain in their home cities, such as the Pike Place Market in Seattle or the Las Vegas Strip. This deluxe version of the game--which features in-depth essays from Grolier's Children's Press, a multimedia library with keyword search, and more than 200 animated, talking characters--offers an archive of U. S. information with a great deal of depth. It is also well organized, intuitively designed, and linked to Internet resources containing even more facts. Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego? may require players to know a great deal about America, but it also makes it easy to research the facts they need to bring Carmen to justice. --Alyx Dellamonica
