Carmen Sandiego Geography Learning System 
Good
14
This box set contains two CD-ROMS, Where in the World and Where in the U.S.A. is Carmen Sandiego. It also contains one 30 minute DVD of the Stolen Smile segment of the Carmen Sandiego television series. I had no problems loading both CD-ROMS on my PC. I am running Windows XP.
Where in the World is a "treasure hunt" style game that requires you to travel the globe looking for the necessary clues to solve 8 interconnecting missions. Along the way you learn many interesting things about the countries you visit and will even learn some common language phrases. The truly studious can learn about the countries in more depth within the game's database. The game is very fun and can be enjoyed by the young and old alike. The box says that it is designed for ages 8-12 but realize that solving the missions requires the player to listen intentally, methodically search the countries, and solve logic puzzles. My 7 year old loves visiting different countries and learning about them but does not have the reasoning skills to complete the game. For him to enjoy it, I must gently guide him through the game. My 11 and 14 year old neighbors, found the game challenging but solveable. Once you solve a mission you can not go back and brouse the countries you visited.
In Where in the U.S.A. you travel the United States capturing Carmen's V.I.L.E. agents. Each mission is short and requires you to know certain facts about the states (guessing is part of the learning) and interpret the analogies the locals give to describe the crook. The game requires a good bit of reasoning but the average 9 or 10 year old could probably play it solo. My 7 year old enjoys visiting and learning about the states but can't solve the missions without my assistance. There are many ways to learn without solving a mission. You can read about the states in the game's database, answer trivia questions or be given a guided tour. I didn't find this game to be as much fun as In the World but the ability to visit and learn about a state at your own pace makes it a great choice.
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Bad
18
The "system requirements" stated are not accurate. The "Where in the USA" game is not Mac compatible. This is clearly labelled on the bottom of the box--although the front says Mac compatible.
So a Mac user ends up getting a 12-year-old, 25-minute cartoon on the DVD, and only a one-disk game ("Where in the World..."). Given that disk is available for $9.99, this seems a poor value.
4
Like the previous reviewer, we have found this software package to be disappointing as well. The help file does not work in the Mac version, and so we all found that very frustrating just trying to move along figuring how things work. Then it froze up. Thinking it was because of being on a older iBook (in OSX mode), I ran it on a fairly new MacBookPro and it froze up on that too. Huge disappointment.
Broderbund (The Learning Company) offers only some web-based help (29 notes), most of which is for Windows, and none of the notes pertained to our problem. There is no phone or email help for this software. Even for the low price, it is a waste of money. My 8 yo is very disappointed.
-3
Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego is great. The other two discs kinda sucked.
