Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? She’s currently starring in her own video game off of the back of her 2019 animated Netflix, Carmen Sandiego. Developed by Gameloft Brisbane, Carmen Sandiego, for the first time ever, is in control as she teams up with the detective agency ACME. Using her vigilante mind, along with her friend ‘the man in the chair’ Player. The pair’s task is to track down VILE operatives across the globe. Using her gadgets, pickpocket, wiretap, and take down the criminals. Does Carmen Sandiego make it big, and catch the crooks? Or does she go back to her old ways, and doublecross the good guys?

For the uninitiated, Carmen Sandiego is a bit of everything. She’s a criminal mastermind, an ‘international lady thief’. Known for her red fedora and trench coat, the vigilante has lived a pretty amazing life since she came onto the scene. Her first on-screen appearance was in ‘Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego’ for the Commodore 64 by Broderbund in 1985. Sandiego was an instant hit. In 1987, the game was Broderbund’s third-best-selling game. Since then, Sandiego has had a lot of adventures, as she’s a woman of many talents. Now, the scarlet thief is in a video game once again, her last adventure in 2015. But things are different, as Sandiego will have to team up with ACME and help them in capturing VILE operatives.

Carmen Sandiego plays like previous titles, bar the obvious that it’s a 3D game, and you play as Sandiego herself. You’ve got to race against the clock, travel to real-world locations, and track down suspects. For the first two missions (a.k.a. capers) of each arc, you’ve got 7 days to solve the case. That means both clues about the suspect, and where they’re heading. Then the last caper of the act has you tracking down a known VILE operative. But because you don’t have to take time to question locals on what their favourite hobby is, you’ve got 5 days instead.

While playing, there are different ways to get the clues you’ll need to solve the case. You’ll encounter moments where you’ll have to use a grappling hook to catch up to a VILE goon. Or cracking open a safe to find out its contents. Both are pretty easy, as the grappling hook is a quick time event (QTE), and the safe is turning the dial. You might encounter an opportunity to sneak up on a criminal to pickpocket them. The hilarious thing about this event is the way Sandiego cartoonishly sneaks, as if she’s learnt it from The Looney Tunes. It feels ridiculous in that… if you’re trying to hide what you’re doing, you’re doing an awful job, Sandiego. But, the whole game doesn’t take itself too seriously; it’s comical.

There are a few more mini-games, from hacking puzzles and wiretapping criminals to uncrossing wires of a circuit board. Even some classic QTEs, where Sandiego has to dodge laser fields, like in every spy flick. They’ve utilised the mini-games well and make sense given what you’re interacting with. Yet, it does feel like there are too many. There are some more that are missing, as some of the puzzles or mini-games don’t show up often to be memorable, unfortunately. It does break up the monotony of going somewhere, talking to locals, finding what you’re looking for and leaving. While it can be overwhelming to try and remember every technique. Luckily, as if Gameloft predicted this, there’s a button that will remind you how to play, which is appreciated.

As stated, sometimes Sandiego will talk to the locals. When you land in a country, you’ll have to find an important item. While this in itself isn’t a mini-game, you’ll still be able to find out clues about the suspect by talking to the locals. Once you’ve found the item, this is where a mini-game can show up. Not only that, but interaction with signs will give you facts about the area you’re in. These help you with pop quizzes that pop up on occasion. This is a lovely ode to Carmen Sandiego games of the past, as the series has always been an educational game – they even distributed The World Almanac with the first game.

However, the annoying thing about this is, that sometimes you might not have that information on hand, because you haven’t yet visited the area where you can find the information. Of course, you could Google it, but sometimes it’s worded in a way that a simple search isn’t enough. Frustratingly, a lot of the time, Carmen would visit the location of the answer afterwards. Thus, you lose out on important information. It’d be nice if there was a way to ‘video game logic’ your way out of it, where you can back out. Regardless, if you don’t have the information, you might lose out on experience points, hours, or a clue. Sometimes, it’s not a big deal, but if you’re pressed for time or information, it’ll be aggravating.

Not only do the clues help to decipher the appearance of the suspect, they can help you figure out their next location. Throughout the location you’re stationed at, you’ll receive leads on where the VILE operative is going next. ACME provides three pre-determined locations, it’s up to you and the clues on where to go next. Sometimes it can be obvious. One clue might mention that the culprit is studying a specific language, or that they have a specific currency. And out of the three locations, only one speaks the language, or has that currency… it’s not hard to figure out the next location. But, on the opposite end, you can get screwed over in a run. In one location Carmen visited, the only clues given out were about the suspect and not the location. Thus, it was a guessing game as to where the criminal was next.

The last major gameplay element of Carmen Sandiego is issuing a warrant to the suspected criminal. Once you’ve touched down in the final destination, you’re instructed that the VILE operative is hiding in the city. Using the CrimeNet Database, you’ll have the option to issue a warrant. If you don’t issue a warrant, ACME cannot arrest the operative. If you issue the wrong one, they get away, and you’ll have to restart the main mission again. Which is a shame, but the main capers are pretty hard to stuff up. It’s the ACME files, where you play a classic game of Carmen Sandiego, that’s where it can be easier to make a fool of yourself.

During the capers, you’ll gain experience points that will level up Sandiego (building notoriety). But, to continue with the campaign, you’ll need to hit a specific notoriety level. This is where the ACME files are important. These files are a collection of old cold cases that’s a homage to the original game. Each caper within the files progressively gets more and more difficult. However, the trade-off for this difficulty increase is a notoriety boost. While playing the ACME files, using a 2D art style is charming, due to the homage, and is downright gorgeous. What could be annoying is that each caper also requires Sandiego to be at a certain level.

While the game on PC and consoles retails for a price, you can play it on Netflix Games for free. The only real cost is a Netflix subscription. Because the game’s basis is the 2019 animated series of the same name distributed by Netflix. As a result of this, and as mentioned earlier, it is obvious that Carmen Sandiego was originally a mobile game. A lot of the elements you can interact with are for touch screens. Sometimes searching the suspects is annoying as scrolling is inconsistent. Scroll too fast, and it ricochets back to the start. Scroll too slowly, and it doesn’t move at all. Admittedly, they still do a fair good job of making it work with a keyboard. It’s just a shame to spend a decent amount of money on a game where it’s legally free and better optimised for mobile.

On the topic of controls, Carmen Sandiego has little accessibility. There are some, as there are many ways you can control Sandiego, whether it’s a keyboard and mouse, just the mouse (both clicking or dragging) or a controller. The buttons and fonts are large, and the game is automatically subtitled. But that’s about it when it comes to accessibility. There aren’t any closed captions (describing sound), or a colourblind mode (especially considering how much red the game is drenched in). It’s one of the more disappointing areas of this game, as in particular, this is a franchise aimed at children. While it’s great that there’s an option for simplified mini-games, there should’ve been greater care in creating more accessible components.

The visuals of Carmen Sandiego are serviceable; due to the basis of this game being the Netflix series, the art style will be somewhat similar. The original TV show’s style is 2D flat art, whereas, the game instead turns the character models 3D. They’re okay, but admittedly, a bit awkward, and they don’t have much substance to them. Be prepared to run into the same couple of VILE criminals and locals more than once. Sandiego, however, seems to have had most of the attention, as her model looks great, including the two different outfits she can wear if you get the DLC. But the lack of character depth does make sense, as this is a mobile port. You won’t find any raytracing or reflections here. But, the world around Sandiego is actually quite detailed; stacks and stacks of books fill the library, mountains and rock formations on the Nile look lovely. There are moments.

When it comes to audio, there isn’t too much to talk about. But you can get tired of hearing the same background music, the same barks from VILE goons, and Sandiego saying “Too easy”. One thing that is weird is that when you start the game, there’s a cut scene with voice actors and the characters are talking. Afterwards, it’s as if they could only afford the voice actors for an hour or two, as there are no voice-overs during the cutscenes. Again, there are barks from characters, like the goons saying “Sandiego”, or Player saying “Ready Red?”. But when cut scenes play, such as, when Sandiego captures a VILE operative, there are subtitles… but no dialogue. It sure is a choice.