CarnEvil

CarnEvil is a light gun shooter arcade video game, released by Midway in 1998. Players assume the role of a unnamed tour guest in their efforts to combat different creatures of the undead theme park created by Professor Ludwig von Tökkentäkker, a ringmaster.

Gameplay
CarnEvil consists of four levels, each ending with a boss fight. The first three levels (Haunted House, Rickety Town, Freak Show) can be played in any order, but the fourth (Big Top) cannot be accessed until all three are cleared. The players shoot enemies on the screen while progressing through amusement-park-themed horror environments. The gameplay is considerably violent and features bloody scenes throughout. The controller is a pump-action shotgun attached to the cabinet by a cable; to reload, players must either pump the fore-end or fire off-screen.

Occasionally, a girl named Betty will appear as an innocent civilian. Shooting her earns a life penalty, but does not garner any long-term consequences or changes to the game.

Health and weapon power-ups can be found throughout the game. Weapon power-ups available include a machine gun, shotgun, flamethrower, acid bath gun, and an increase in the standard gun's magazine capacity. They can be obtained by shooting floating icons, such as a shotgun shell or a barrel of acid; the weapons cannot be reloaded, but the magazine increase remains in effect until the player's life meter is empty. Grabbing these power-ups also provides bonus points to the player.

Plot
The game is set in the fictional town of Greely Valley, Iowa. An urban legend claims that if a golden token is inserted into the jester skull's mouth on top of the gravestone of a ringmaster named Professor Ludwig von Tökkentäkker, his undead carnival will rise from the earth.

The game begins with a group of teenagers taking a hayride tour through the Greely Valley cemetery, courtesy of the local "ghost expert" Spooky Sam. The unnamed protagonist leaves the tour and approaches Tökkentäkker's tombstone to find a golden coin sitting in its slot. The protagonist inserts the coin into the jester's mouth, resulting in the haunted amusement park rising from the ground. Trapped within, he takes a shotgun from the shooting gallery and uses it to fight off hordes of zombies and other undead monsters in order to escape. After fighting through the Haunted House, Rickety Town, and the Freak Show, he enters the Big Top and fights his way in order to face Tökkentäkker directly aboard his airship.

Soon after killing Tökkentäkker, the protagonist falls from the airship as it explodes. In the morning, he and the only other survivor, Betty, wake up in front of the tombstone, where the token falls back into its slot. The protagonist re-inserts it into the mouth of the jester, causing it to laugh wickedly as Betty screams in horror.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Zombies! Zombies anywhere within the Haunted House attraction!
 * 2) *And in the Big Top (the main attraction), Clowns!
 * 3) Cool and polished 3D graphics over pre-rendered backgrounds.
 * 4) Gruesome creatures to kill.
 * 5) Cool and fast-paced gameplay.
 * 6) Awesome soundtrack by Ken Hale (who also did California Speed).
 * 7) 4 fearsome bosses (especially with Professor Ludwig von Tökkentäkker, the game's final boss) given weak points you encounter.
 * 8) Creepy settings and hilarious black comedy.
 * 9) Great story.

Bad Qualities
• The scraping hands in the Haunted House hitting the player when they are clearly further away.
 * 1) The 2-player mode does not feature a unique second player character and remains the same as one player.
 * 2) The Big Top cannot be accessed from the start until you beaten the first three attractions (Haunted House, Rickety Town, and Freak Show).
 * 3) The game can be very cheap and unfair because there are many sections where it is is nearly impossible to avoid damage due to cheap enemy placement and the low framerate. Many examples include:

•Smilin’ Bobs appearing suddenly and attacking from offscreen in bumper cars in Rickety Town.

•A Nik-Nak immediately hitting the player after the player is launched into the “Spider-Monkey” dome before fighting Eyeclops.

• A Maggot Mike literally (and suddenly) jumping at the player out of nowhere on the conveyor belt in the Chamber of Horrors (the level again being the Freak Show).

• The final boss fight with Tökkentäkker is also frustrating because his blunderbuss can score hits on you when he is barely on screen yet. No wonder his name is “token-taker”…

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