Circus is a block breakerarcade game released by Exidy in 1977, and distributed by Taito in Japan.[2] The game is a re-themed variant of Atari's Breakout, where the player controls a seesaw and clown in order to pop all the balloons in the level. The game has been copied and released under different names by numerous other companies in both the United States and Japan.
Three rows of triangular balloons move along the top part of the screen, each overlaid with blue, green, and yellow (colors used in the original version), counting from the top row. A clown appears from the edge of the screen where there is a jumping board, and the player must move the springboard located at the bottom of the screen so that the clown can bounce back off the seesaw once he jumps off from his starting position. However, it is impossible to make contact with the clown with the seesaw in certain locations. The four jumping boards located on the sides of the screen serve to decrease the area where it is impossible to make contact.
If the player successfully gets the clown onto the seesaw, the clown on the other side shoots off into the air towards the three rows of balloons on the top of the screen. The clown may not have enough speed to reach the balloons if the first clown does not land squarely on the seesaw. Clowns bounce off of balloons, walls, and jumping boards, but will pass directly through multiple balloons if they are moving quickly enough. They will only bounce off the jumping boards when they are heading downwards and will pass straight through the boards while moving upwards.
Hitting any of the balloons with the clown causes them to burst, and the player receives 20 points for bursting the yellow balloon, 50 points for the green balloon, and 100 points for the blue balloon.[4] Bursting the entire row of balloons causes a sound effect and awards the player 10 times the original points as a bonus (i.e. 200 points for the yellow balloon). A new row of balloons instantly replaces the old one when the entire row is destroyed.
Destroying all of the blue balloons causes another sound effect and allows the player to play one more time (one clown) after they have depleted their stock. The words "BONUS PLAY" appear to indicate this bonus, but destroying all of the blue balloons a second time will not allow the player to gain another clown (the bonus can be activated while the player is using the extra clown). This may differ in certain levels like 7 and 8, where all three rows of balloons must be destroyed in order to activate the bonus.
A clown will die if the player fails to receive them with the seesaw at the bottom of the screen, and two measures of the funeral march in Frédéric Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 are played as a sound effect. The player can continue if they still have stock remaining, or if they have been rewarded the bonus play. When the player has depleted all of their stock, the screen switches over to the demo screen, where the number of balloons is the same as that of the player's before they lost their final clown. If the player has reached over a certain number of points, they can play one more time like the balloon bonus (the availability of this bonus may differ, as indicated in the list of rules shown after the player enters the credits). The player cannot gain another clown in the same way during this play bonus.
ReceptionEdit
The arcade game was a commercial success for Taito in Japan, where Circus was among the top ten highest-earning arcade games of 1977 and the year's fourth highest-earning arcade video game, below Taito's own Speed Race DX, Atari's Breakout (distributed by Namco) and Universal's Scratch.[5]
Balloon Circus (Data East). The screen is changed to a vertical rectangle. A cabinet version titled Mini Balloon was also released by Data East.
Nyankoro (IPM). The balloons are changed to kittens, and the mother cat appears to prevent the player from progressing after a certain amount of time passes.
Home clonesEdit
Circus Atari for the Atari VCS (1980)Circus Linux, a modern rendition of the game
Atari released Circus Atari for the Atari VCS on January 10, 1980.[9]
Seesaw Jump 2005 was released for the i-mode network by Sega.
Circus Linux, an open source reimplementation developed by New Breed Software, available for various platforms
Similar gamesEdit
Trapeze (Exidy). The character gathers stars by swinging off the trapeze. The same game was also released by Taito with the title Trampoline.
Gypsy Juggler (Meadows Games). This game uses otedama as a motif, and was also released by Taito.
Rip Cord (Exidy). This game uses sky diving as a motif, and has sound effects for the start of the game and game over scene (The U.S. Air Force (song) for the opening and Ring a Ring o' Roses for game overs.) It was released in Japan by Data East as Nice On.
Field Goal (Taito). This game uses American football as a motif. Though the game uses a normal paddle instead of a seesaw, the game is similar to Circus in that the objective is to eliminate 3 rows of football players wearing uniforms of different colors. Eliminated rows are refilled along with a similar sound effect to the original game.
Plump Pop (Taito). This game was released as a remake of Circus in 1987. It was later ported to PlayStation 2. The seesaw was changed to a trampoline and features cuter characters, new items, levels, and bosses.
Appearances in other mediaEdit
In the animated movie version of Ace o Nerae!, the main character, Hiromi Oka, plays arcade games at game centers and cafes in several scenes, and the sound effect for when an entire row of balloons is destroyed is used as part of the background music.
Japanese electropop band Yellow Magic Orchestra included a track titled "COMPUTER GAME 'Theme From the Circus'" in their first album, where they include some of the sound effects from the game. The sounds were created in semblance of the arcade music using a synthesizer rather than recording directly into the track. Video footage of the game appeared in the music video for Tong Poo.
One of Akira Toriyama's early works, Wonder Island 2, includes a scene where Circus is parodied. This scene is also included in Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater Vol.1.
^Small, David (1983). The Creative Atari. Creative Computing Press. ISBN9780916688349.
External linksEdit
Circus at Arcade-history
Circus at the Killer List of Video Games
October 21, 2023
circus, video, game, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, circus, video, game, news, newspapers, books, s. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Circus video game news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message Circus is a block breaker arcade game released by Exidy in 1977 and distributed by Taito in Japan 2 The game is a re themed variant of Atari s Breakout where the player controls a seesaw and clown in order to pop all the balloons in the level The game has been copied and released under different names by numerous other companies in both the United States and Japan CircusArcade flyerDeveloper s ExidyPublisher s NA EU Exidy 3 JP Taito 2 Designer s Edward ValeauHowell Ivy 4 Platform s ArcadeReleaseWW December 1977 1 2 3 Genre s Block breakerMode s 1 2 players alternating Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Reception 3 Reviews 4 Legacy 4 1 Arcade clones 4 2 Home clones 4 3 Similar games 4 4 Appearances in other media 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksGameplay EditThree rows of triangular balloons move along the top part of the screen each overlaid with blue green and yellow colors used in the original version counting from the top row A clown appears from the edge of the screen where there is a jumping board and the player must move the springboard located at the bottom of the screen so that the clown can bounce back off the seesaw once he jumps off from his starting position However it is impossible to make contact with the clown with the seesaw in certain locations The four jumping boards located on the sides of the screen serve to decrease the area where it is impossible to make contact If the player successfully gets the clown onto the seesaw the clown on the other side shoots off into the air towards the three rows of balloons on the top of the screen The clown may not have enough speed to reach the balloons if the first clown does not land squarely on the seesaw Clowns bounce off of balloons walls and jumping boards but will pass directly through multiple balloons if they are moving quickly enough They will only bounce off the jumping boards when they are heading downwards and will pass straight through the boards while moving upwards Hitting any of the balloons with the clown causes them to burst and the player receives 20 points for bursting the yellow balloon 50 points for the green balloon and 100 points for the blue balloon 4 Bursting the entire row of balloons causes a sound effect and awards the player 10 times the original points as a bonus i e 200 points for the yellow balloon A new row of balloons instantly replaces the old one when the entire row is destroyed Destroying all of the blue balloons causes another sound effect and allows the player to play one more time one clown after they have depleted their stock The words BONUS PLAY appear to indicate this bonus but destroying all of the blue balloons a second time will not allow the player to gain another clown the bonus can be activated while the player is using the extra clown This may differ in certain levels like 7 and 8 where all three rows of balloons must be destroyed in order to activate the bonus A clown will die if the player fails to receive them with the seesaw at the bottom of the screen and two measures of the funeral march in Frederic Chopin s Piano Sonata No 2 are played as a sound effect The player can continue if they still have stock remaining or if they have been rewarded the bonus play When the player has depleted all of their stock the screen switches over to the demo screen where the number of balloons is the same as that of the player s before they lost their final clown If the player has reached over a certain number of points they can play one more time like the balloon bonus the availability of this bonus may differ as indicated in the list of rules shown after the player enters the credits The player cannot gain another clown in the same way during this play bonus Reception EditThe arcade game was a commercial success for Taito in Japan where Circus was among the top ten highest earning arcade games of 1977 and the year s fourth highest earning arcade video game below Taito s own Speed Race DX Atari s Breakout distributed by Namco and Universal s Scratch 5 Computer and Video Games magazine reviewed the Atari VCS version in 1989 giving it an 82 score 6 Reviews EditGames 7 Legacy EditArcade clones Edit Clowns licensed release by Midway Acrobat licensed release by Taito It was the seventh highest earning arcade video game of 1978 in Japan 8 Circus Circus Universal Seesaw Jump Sega Devil Circus Hoei Pierrot Uko Piccolo IPM Fusen wari game lit Balloon popping game Data East Bonpa Nihon Bussan Balloon Circus Data East The screen is changed to a vertical rectangle A cabinet version titled Mini Balloon was also released by Data East Nyankoro IPM The balloons are changed to kittens and the mother cat appears to prevent the player from progressing after a certain amount of time passes Home clones Edit nbsp Circus Atari for the Atari VCS 1980 nbsp Circus Linux a modern rendition of the gameAtari released Circus Atari for the Atari VCS on January 10 1980 9 Datasoft s 1982 Clowns and Balloons for the Atari 8 bit family replaces the seesaw with a trampoline 10 Seesaw Jump 2005 was released for the i mode network by Sega Circus Linux an open source reimplementation developed by New Breed Software available for various platformsSimilar games Edit Trapeze Exidy The character gathers stars by swinging off the trapeze The same game was also released by Taito with the title Trampoline Gypsy Juggler Meadows Games This game uses otedama as a motif and was also released by Taito Rip Cord Exidy This game uses sky diving as a motif and has sound effects for the start of the game and game over scene The U S Air Force song for the opening and Ring a Ring o Roses for game overs It was released in Japan by Data East as Nice On Field Goal Taito This game uses American football as a motif Though the game uses a normal paddle instead of a seesaw the game is similar to Circus in that the objective is to eliminate 3 rows of football players wearing uniforms of different colors Eliminated rows are refilled along with a similar sound effect to the original game Plump Pop Taito This game was released as a remake of Circus in 1987 It was later ported to PlayStation 2 The seesaw was changed to a trampoline and features cuter characters new items levels and bosses Appearances in other media Edit In the animated movie version of Ace o Nerae the main character Hiromi Oka plays arcade games at game centers and cafes in several scenes and the sound effect for when an entire row of balloons is destroyed is used as part of the background music Japanese electropop band Yellow Magic Orchestra included a track titled COMPUTER GAME Theme From the Circus in their first album where they include some of the sound effects from the game The sounds were created in semblance of the arcade music using a synthesizer rather than recording directly into the track Video footage of the game appeared in the music video for Tong Poo One of Akira Toriyama s early works Wonder Island 2 includes a scene where Circus is parodied This scene is also included in Akira Toriyama s Manga Theater Vol 1 See also Edit nbsp Video games portal nbsp 1970s portalList of Atari 2600 gamesReferences Edit Coin Machine PDF Cash Box December 31 1977 p 150 a b c サーカスタイトー販売 Circus Taito Sales Media Arts Database in Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs Retrieved 24 May 2021 a b Video Game Flyers Circus Exidy Inc Germany The Arcade Flyer Archive Retrieved 24 May 2021 a b circus video game at arcade history arcade history com 2008 04 04 Retrieved 2008 05 25 結果ベスト3 Best 3 Results PDF Game Machine in Japanese No 90 Amusement Press Inc 15 February 1978 pp 2 3 Complete Games Guide PDF Computer and Video Games Complete Guide to Consoles 46 77 16 October 1989 https archive org details games 34 1982 december page n45 mode 2up 人気マシン ベスト3 Popular Machines Best 3 PDF Game Machine in Japanese No 113 Amusement Press Inc February 1979 pp 2 3 Circus Atari Registration Number PA0000174636 United States Copyright Office Retrieved 1 June 2021 Small David 1983 The Creative Atari Creative Computing Press ISBN 9780916688349 External links EditCircus at Arcade history Circus at the Killer List of Video Games Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Circus video game amp oldid 1158426679, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
