Around the year 2000, there was an animated series about a private investigator / detective being sucked into a parallel dimension. Of what I remember, he went there through a portal and the world he landed on was mostly desert.
IIRC, he was wearing black trousers and shirt and a red jacket and had black hair. He had a friend with him, I think somebody that was ported with him.
In one episode, they had to go through a giant maze with different perils and at some time, there where guardians on flying discs and with energy weapons. His objective was to find a way back to earth and free the world from those guardians. I think to remember that his name was John or Jack, but am very unsure of it.
The show was displayed on KinderKanal (KiKa) sometime around 17:00. I've checked here and here if I was able to find it but can't find anything.