Circus Charlie [Model GX380]

42 Years old Arcade Video game Konami Industry Co., Ltd. [Japan]

Circus Charlie © 1984 Konami Industry Company, Limited.

Circus Charlie is a horizontally-scrolling run 'n' jump game in which Charlie the clown must be guided through six different circus events. Bonus points can be won by finishing a level as quickly as possible, with further points awarded for collecting any of the money bags that occasionally appear.

Additional bonus points are awarded for completing a level without losing a life, with yet more bonuses available when specific actions are completed on a given level (see 'TIPS AND TRICKS' for details).

There are 3 different versions of Circus Charlie; one with linear stage progression, one in which players can choose which of the game's six stages to play next and the one published by Centuri. In the selectable stage version, each stage can be played up to 5 times.

The six different events are:
1. Ride a lion, jump through fiery hoops and over blazing pots.
2. Jump over monkeys while walking a tightrope.
3. Bounce on trampolines, avoid fire breathers and sword jugglers.
4. Jump on giant, rolling beach balls.
5. Ride a pony while avoiding obstacles and jumping on mini trampolines.
6. Trapeze.

The game is over when all lives are lost.

Goodies for Circus Charlie [Model GX380]

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TECHNICAL

Game ID: GX380

Main CPU: Motorola M6809 (@ 2.048 Mhz)
Sound CPU: Zilog Z80 (@ 3.579545 Mhz)
Sound Chips: (2x) Texas Instruments SN76496 (@ 1.789772 Mhz), DAC, (3x) RC (@ 1.789772 Mhz)
Screen orientation: vertical
Screen resolution in pixels: 224 x 256

Players: up to 2 (alternate)
Control: 2-way joystick (horizontal)
Buttons: 1 (JUMP, not used in trampoline competition)

TRIVIA

Circus Charlie was released in April 1984 in Japan.

You may encounter a different stage layout in trampoline jump event: the dolphins will replace fire breathers and sword jugglers, the floor will be altered into a drastically huge pool and the surroundings next to it will be black with red lines.

Fiery hoops and pony ride stages play Frank D. Cofield's 'Trombonanza', trapeze stage features 'The Blue Danube' by J. Strauss II (jr).

All rom sets measure distance in a meter.

Alessandro Laini, Giuseppe Strangio, Lorenzo Grande, Maurilio Pintus, and Neil Chapman all hold the record for this game with 999990 points on December 4, 1984; April 12, 1985; March 25, 1985; November 6, 1984; and June 5, 2000, respectively.

Alfa Records released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Konami Game Music Vol.2 - ALC-22904) on September 25, 1986.

UPDATES

[circusc4] ROM initially has no level select. You'll be able to select a stage when you complete the trapeze round. Note the difficulty of the stage isn't shown in this rom.

ROM licensed to Centuri shows the Centuri logo next to 'Konami' text.

TIPS AND TRICKS

* Master the jump: Learning how Charlie can jump is the first step to mastering this game.

* Move forward and backward to adjust your position: If you just keep moving forward, there could be an obstacle at where you land after your jump. In such cases, move back a bit to adjust your position.

* Tons of secrets: There are a bunch of secrets bonuses hidden in this game.

1) Fire rings: Jump through a ring from your back first or jump 3 times at the starting point. Then a Charlie doll will appear from the front hanging. Catch it and get an extra player!

2) Fire rings: Jump over a pot from your back first and a coin may appear from the pot. Catch it to obtain bonus points. However, it happens only once per level. From which pot the coin may appear is determined randomly.

3) Fire rings: If you get to the goal after getting all dollar bags, a hawk brings a dollar bag and you obtain bonus points. This happens only if you have made no misses in that level.

4) Tightrope: If you jump over the brown and purple monkeys at once, you get a 1000-point bonus.

5) Tightrope: If you perform perpendicular jumps over all monkeys and complete the level, a hawk will bring a Charlie doll and you get an extra player.

6) Tightrope: Jump over the purple monkey from your back first and you get a 5000-point bonus.

7) Tightrope: Touch the hook beyond the goal and a dollar back appears. Reach the goal and you get a 5000-points bonus.

8) Trampoline: Get all dollar bags and reach the goal. A hawk will bring a dollar bag and you earn bonus points. This is risky conduct: time your jumps; the 4th bounce will send Charlie up to the plastic roof causing a hole in the tent, therefore a life is lost.

9) Acrobatic jump: Use the spring only once after jumping off the horse and get to the goal. A hawk will bring a Charlie doll and you get an extra player. Don't speed; you may not see a trampoline when you ride a pony too fast, but you'll let the timer run out when you're riding too slow.

10) Trapeze: Grab onto a trapeze by skipping one and get bonus points.

11) Trapeze: Bounce off a trampoline and then grab onto a trapeze to get bonus points.

* Enter service mode: hold both start buttons just after you power the game on. Press 1p start to proceed to next steps of game test. Note: the game has no separate dip switch reserved for test mode. Unplug the machine to exit test mode and insert the plug again into the output to run the game mode.

* Hurry up when bonus meter shows 500 or less: you'll lose a life when the timer reaches 0.

PORTS

CONSOLES

Nintendo Famicom (Mar.4, 1986) Circus Charlie [Model SFC-CC]
Sega SG-1000