Fiendish Freddy's Big Top 'o Fun

multi-event circus game for Commodore 64, 1990

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The Big Top O' Fun circus is in deep trouble: due tonight is the payment
of a $10.000 loan to the Big Greedy Bank. The evening's performance must
bring in that money or the circus will be seized. The bank does not play
fair, though: they send the evil clown Fiendish Freddy to sabotage the acts.

The performance consists of six different events. There is a practice mode for
single events, and up to five players can compete in the full game, but must
reach the $10.000 on their own, not together. The money is awarded by a jury
after each act.

The acts are:

High Diving: Horace the High Diver must jump from a platform and land on a
target down below. While falling, Horace must be kept spinning by moving the
joystick while at the same time staying over the target. Once he is spinning
fast enough, he must perform a pose indicated on the screen by pulling the
joystick in a certain direction, after which a new pose is required,
continuing until Horace hits the target (or the ground). If completed
successfully, the next dive begins from a higher platform, giving Horace more
time to perform the poses, while the target gets consecutively smaller. Money
is awarded for performing poses if the target is hit. Freddy comes into play
if Horace doesn't make a pose in time: he blows Horace off course with a
giant fan.

Juggling: Jeffy Joe drives across the arena on a unicycle and must catch and
juggle items thrown to him by his seal assistant. The act ends successfully
after a time limit is up and fails if Joe drops five items. Joe must be
maneuvered so that the items land in his outstretched hands. Pushing fire
throws the item in his left hand and moves the items in the right hand to the
left. In higher levels, a baby comes into play which Joe must throw in such a
way that it lands in a carriage. Freddy tries to sabotage the act by
distracting the seal and then throwing dangerous items like bombs and
missiles. If either is dropped, the act is over. Bombs however can be thrown
back to Freddy.

Trapeze: Finola must cross the big top by swinging on bars. She gains momentum
through joystick moves and must then jump to the next bar by hitting fire at
the correct moment. After a while, Finola must also maneuver through
obstacles like paper targets and flaming hoops, which sometimes bob up and
down. If Finola takes too long hanging on a bar without going forward, Freddy
will arrive flying via helicopter blades and cut the ropes.

Knife Throw: Knancy Knife has been blindfolded and strapped to a rotating
wheel along with a number of balloons. There is a time limit and a limited
number of knives to throw. The goal is of course to pop all the balloons
without hurting Knancy. If she is hit, she screams out and several knives are
removed from the stock. Freddy tries to sabotage the act by occasionally
throwing smoke bombs for confusion.

Tightrope: Tony Tiptoe tries to cross the tent on a tightrope. He is moved
forward by pushing up on the joystick. He will soon begin to lose his balance
and must be put back straight by corrective joystick movements to the left or
right. If his balance gets really off, his balance pole turns red and he
screams out "Whoa". If he remains in this position for more than a
second, he falls off and it's over. Freddy has several tricks up his
sleeve in this act: if Tony takes too long too cross, he pulls out a cannon
and blasts him out of the way. In later levels, he flies around the tent and
tries to push Tony off or throws saw blades at him. These can be deflected
with the pole by pressing fire.

Cannonball: Fernando, the Human Cannonball climbs into a cannon to be shot
across the big top and hopefully land on his target. His assistant Lisa loads
the cannon with a random amount of gun powder, which determines the thrust.
Afterwards, the target must be placed somewhere along the tent, moving it
closer or farther away depending on the amount of gun powder loaded. Once
that is done, Lisa lights the fuse and the cannon starts rotating. It must be
stopped at the right angle by pushing fire, which launches Fernando,
hopefully towards the target and not the ground. Freddy comes into play when
placing the target. Taking too long allows Freddy to put a giant cork into
the cannon, with explosive results.

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Some useful keyboard shortcuts
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       [PAUSE] - stop/continue game
          [F9] - quick load game state
         [F12] - quick save game state (still stored after leaving the site)
         [F11] - toggle fullscreen mode
  [ScrollLock] - quick switch control ports
    [PageDown] - make a screenshot (320x200)