Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? is an educational video game where you must track down Carmen Sandiego's villains around the world, arrest them and later capture Carmen herself. Each case begins with an alert stating that a spectacular crime has been committed, after which the player travels to the scene and begins to gather information, traveling throughout the world in the hope of catching the thief before time runs out. There are 30 countries that can be visited in the game, each identified by one of its prominent cities.

The Master System version of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? keeps the gameplay mechanics of the computer original. The main difference is the interface: instead of navigating text menus, the player directly controls the detective through the side-scrolling cities. There are two landmarks to look out for: buildings (entering them allows to question people) and a phone booth to enter the suspect's characteristics (eye color is replaced with vehicle). If the player is on the correct track, the suspect may show up and take a shot - the player must jump over it in order to avoid losing time.