Nightmare Circus

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Nightmare Circus
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega (US), Tec Toy (Brazil)
Developer: Funcom
Sound driver: GEMS
Peripherals supported: Six Button Control Pad
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code US ▼ (Sega Channel) 1996-12 BR 1996-06 R$79.9979.99 051070

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Nightmare Circus is a Sega Mega Drive action beat-'em-up game developed by Funcom and published by Tec Toy.

Originally scheduled for a Autumn, later December 1995 North American release, issues during development and the dwindling lifespan of the Sega Genesis caused publisher Sega to back out, and while nearing completion had its production formally cancelled. While unfinished from a design standpoint, the game was stable enough on a technical level to be completable; eventually, it was picked up for the Brazilian market by Tec Toy and saw an official boxed release there in June 1996. Six months later, Nightmare Circus did eventually see a North American release, broadcast via Sega Channel as one of the system's more notable downloadable exclusives.

Boasting a complete lack of any player direction or indication on how to proceed, a highly complex but largely unexplained control scheme, and a notable amount of unfinished content, Nightmare Circus has become known for its unfortunate modern reputation as one of the worst video games ever released. However, it also boasts a significant amount of well-considered features and a level of very visible passion that, while presented with striking inconsistency, notions its faults to instead the result of a development cycle cut short - and the subsequent commercial release of a game that was almost-but not quite finished.

Blurb

“	The maniac Jester resurrected the Circo del Diablo Amusement Park from the flames of hell. Now, terrifying demons roam the park spreading fear and destruction where there was once children and lots of fun. Only Raven, a native indian with mystical and telepathic powers, can defeat Jester and his followers in this amusement park. Well, amusing is not the most appropriate word to describe this place... Defeat your enemies with over 100 moves: punches, kicks, combos and lots of magic. 4 different ways to play: join the adventure alone, or with a partner; control Jester and his evil legion or choose one of 18 fighters and enter a bloody tournament.	„
— BR box

Story

“	When the Circo del Diablo first began setting up its tents on the edge of the city, people began to gather to purchase tickets for its opening night. While the circus tents were raised, Leto Diablo, the circus owner, stopped from tent to tent, ordering the artists around and treating them like slaves. Every performer, clown, and trapeze artist feared and despised Diablo for his cruelty. Because he was losing money with every performance, Leto Diablo began to hate his circus. But Diablo had a plan. He opened an insurance policy with a very high value for his circus, and at the start of the show on opening night, he would take advantage of the darkness and douse the tents with gasoline. It was in this way, with a simple strike of a match, he would transform the entire circus into a carnival of flames and screams of terror. One of the fire's survivors saw Diablo light the match, and testified at his trial. Diablo was found guilty of the murders. When sentenced to the electric chair, he cursed the people of the city. "You can't kill me!", he boasted. "The spirits of all your beloved ones are mine. I'll torture their souls for eternity!" Shortly after Diablo's death, strange things began to happen. People began to see strange lights at the circus grounds. An old man swore he saw the circus tent raise from the hereafter and return to the same place where it had been burned. Others heard laughter blowing like the wind in the desert... Currently, years after the tragedy, the story is considered only a legend. But the shaman warrior Raven lost his family in the fire and knows it really happened. Raven rushes into the desert, where the Circo del Diablo once existed. Under the heat of the sun, only ashes serve as a reminder of the horrible massacre. But this night, as soon as it grew dark, the sky remained covered by black clouds. Suddenly, the Nightmare Circus arose, floating in space where there had been previously nothing. Raven must defeat this haunted prison of spirits to avenge the death of his family.	„
— BR manual

Gameplay

Once the game begins, the player is free to choose which of the four stages they will attempt first.

As a native shaman warrior, Raven boasts an extensive repertoire of both physical and psionic-based attacks. Using psionic abilities drains Raven's dedicated I-PSI meter, which can be refilled by grabbing the souls which escape defeated enemies. If Raven takes enough damage, the game will permanently end without the option to continue. Fortunately, Nightmare Circus autosaves player progress, including which stages have been cleared, which bosses have been defeated, and which special abilities have been acquired.

Raven's health (C-PSI) is represented by the interior of the crouching red silhouette in the center of the HUD, and his psionic power (I-PSI) by the blue, oval-shaped background. The sphere being held by the red figure lights up when Spirit Warrior mode is active. Acquired special abilities appear to the left of the center HUD, and extra I-PSI reserves appear to the right. The empty spaces on the far sides of the HUD are reserved for on-screen enemies, with each represented by a blue sphere which dims as that enemy loses health.

Free to explore the different stages of the carnival at will, the game presents nothing in the way of direction during gameplay and players are left to themselves to creatively interpret the game’s visual cues to proceed. While some stages are fairly straightforward, others can only be completed by more obtuse methods, with the game as a whole having very little player feedback to indicate progression.

Game modes

• 1 Player: Raven fights through Nightmare Circus alone.
• 2 Player Cooperative: Raven and his twin brother White Eagle fight through Nightmare Circus together, and are able to perform exclusive combination attacks. This mode doubles enemy health and spawns an additional pair of minibosses. If either player dies, the game returns to single-player mode and the living player is allowed to continue.
• 2 Player: The first player controls Raven, while the other controls on-screen enemies (with the ability to select from and spawn additional enemies.) The first player tries to play the game as normal, while the second player tries to kill the other.  MODE +,  MODE +, and  MODE + select between enemy types, while  MODE + and  MODE + select between different enemies in that type.
• 1 on 1 Combat: A one-stage deathmatch between either two human players, or one player and an AI-controlled Jester. Once a stage is cleared in any other game mode, it becomes selectable for 1 on 1 Combat. Additionally, defeating a boss and acquiring its special ability unlocks that ability's use in 1 on 1 Combat, with fighters allowed to choose from a single I-PSI ability each match.

Stages

Players begin outside many of the carnival's various attractions, and can enter the Amusements, Roller Coaster, and Rides stages in any order desired. The Amusements stage is accessed through the building labeled "Amusements", the Roller Coaster stage is accessed through the rollercoaster at the carnival's far-left, and the Rides stage is accessed through the ferris wheel at the carnival's far-right. The Circus stage is accessible through the big top tent at the rear of the carnival, and initially presents players with a locked door guarded by two Warrior Puppets. Only by clearing the previous three stages can the door be opened, beginning Nightmare Circus' final stage.

Amusements

	House of Fun
	A funhouse-like maze with connecting rooms designed in a three-dimensional space. Raven can turn himself to a new cardinal direction by running to the edge of the screen, climb ladders to ascend to a new room, or enter trapdoors to descend a level. Different rooms feature distinct gimmicks, like one which swings back and forth while Raven is inside, and additional passageways can be revealed by attacking parts of the maze's walls.
	Hall of Mirrors
	A long hallway lined with mirrors where Raven encounters a large number of Looking Glass Men, duplicate images of Raven who step out of the mirror to fight him.
	Kaleidoscope
	A psychedelic rotating cylinder which holds a series of rotating pillars that appear to be pushing the room around. Raven proceeds by destroying these pillars, and must fight through the oncoming waves of Looking Glass Men. Additionally, Raven must contend with Doppelganger, a powerful Looking Glass Man with the ability to spawn more of his kind.

Roller Coaster

	Roller Coaster
	A large roller coaster stage in which players can either run around the tracks on foot, or hop in one of the passing rollercoaster trains. Large levers placed along the tracks can be kicked to change the direction of incoming trains. Thankfully, the trains cannot damage players while rolling by. Riding a specific train will carry players to the Work Yard.
	Work Yard
	A maintenance area for the roller coaster trains. Raven spawns in front of a buffer stop which he can push forward to shield him from the flurry of sawblades thrown from an offscreen Wooden Man. After following the tracks to a decrepit workshed, Raven encounters the area's boss, Chainsaw.

Rides

<div class="bobtransform" style="transform:scale(1,); transform-origin:0% 0%; !important;"> <div style="width:160px; height:px;"> 160px	Twin Wheels
	A pair of ferris wheels placed beside each other, facing the camera and traveling in opposite directions. Their gondolas can be jumped on and ridden, and there's deadly fire at the bottom of each wheel, ensuring players cannot stand still for too long. While keeping Raven from getting too close to the bottom of the wheels, Raven also contends with ghostly Roadies which can knock Raven off the gondolas. After a certain amount of enemies have been killed, the fire at the bottom of the wheels extinguishes and Raven can safely drop to the bottom, ending the stage.
<div class="bobtransform" style="transform:scale(1,); transform-origin:0% 0%; !important;"> <div style="width:160px; height:px;"> 160px	Wall of Death
	A dilapidated spinning rotor ride constructed of chainlinks fence and rotting wood which pushes Raven to its walls when it spins. This stage is infested with skinless dogs known as Crawlers which can attack Raven while the ride is spinning. Hitting the switch on one of the ride's metallic clown doors stops the spinning and allows Raven to enter.
	Dodgems Rink
	A decrepit bumper car rink with a dark, sickly mood. The stage itself is fairly open and straightforward, pitting oncoming waves of Roadies against Raven in a test of endurance. Surviving this spawns the boss, a magician named Helter Skelter.

Circus

	The Ticket Office
	Raven starts off on the ground in front of a long metal ladder, which reveals the stage to be a massive wooden billboard featuring decrepit clown artwork, with multiple scaffolds across its face. The billboard is made of numerous player-sized wooden panels which can be destroyed by Raven. Destroying enough of these panels spawns the boss, Ying Yang Brother.
	Maggot-Men Act
	Raven begins the stage strapped to a circular wooden wheel in some dark wooden laboratory for a knife-tossing minigame, where the objective is to spin the wheel so that the knives avoid his body. After avoiding enough knives, Raven falls off the wheel and begins the stage proper. The stage itself is a massive wood-glass laboratory where the floors, walls, and ceilings are constructed entirely out of wooden blocks housing a maze of interconnected glass vials. In this maze are wriggling grubs crawling between different vials, and the vials aren't always connected consistently, resulting in grubs popping up in strange places. The background layer is a second vial maze connected to the first, and Raven must keep track of the grubs in the background too. There isn't any safe place to stand still, and every movement must be timed so that Raven doesn't pass by a grub. Once Rave climbs to the top of the maze, he encounters Hydra, a contortionist wearing green spandex with yellow highlights.
	Body Snatching Act
	A trapeze set on the main floor of the big top, in front of an actual audience. There are clay-like enemies called Morphs which must be defeated to proceed, and they come in different varieties: some do trapeze, some walk tightropes, and others juggle. Raven can properly trapeze with much of the stage's environment. Defeating enough morphs spawns the boss, Body Snatcher.
	Final Act
	The final stage is a fight with Diablo, a three horned demon which appears on the game's box art. Fought in a red-tinted version of the circus' big top, Diablo's gimmick is the ability to morph into previous bosses while fighting. He starts in his devil form, then switches to the boss forms as the fight progresses. Defeating Diablo causes hell to open and pull him back in, and the game is completed.

Enemies

	Roadie
	Wooden Man
	Jack in the Floor
	Toy Cannon
	Tumbling Jack
	Zeppelin
	Looking Glass Man
	Crawler
	Nasty Crawler
	Warrior Puppet
	Maggot Man
	Bar Morph
	Pole Morph
	Ring Morph
	Rope Morph
	See-Saw Morph
	Trampoline Morph

Bosses

	Chainsaw
	Doppelganger
	Helter Skelter
	Ying Yang Brother
	Hydra
	Body Snatcher
	The Jester

Tweaker

Main article: Nightmare Circus/Tweaker.

Locked behind the password screen is the Tweaker, an extensive debug menu that allows minute alterations to things like hitboxes, variables, and even the game’s gravity - the range of Raven’s attacks can be extended, for example, or the capacity of his PSI meter increased. Entering a second password additionally expands this menu with a level select. Accessing the Tweaker again during gameplay will display an additional list of variables specific to the stage being played, so enemies and obstacles can have their variables adjusted at any time the player chooses.

Referred to by the game’s manual and advertising as U PROGRAM technology, and in-game as the Tweaker, the menu is extensively developed and properly labelled, and unlike the majority of debug modes was actually intended for use by players. The manual even details the menu’s control scheme and additionally offers possible ideas for players to alter gameplay, stating “the possibilities are nearly endless.”

History

Main article: Nightmare Circus/History.

Production credits

• Producer: Max Taylor
• Designer: Ricardo Pinto
• Lead Programmer: Johan Andersson
• Lead Artist: Lars P. Anfinssen
• Asst. Producers: Dante Andersson, Trond W. Larsen
• Programmers: Martin Gram, Carsten Sørensen, Morten B. Ofstad
• Engine Programmers: Morten B. Ofstad, Carl Skârstedt
• Graphics Concepts: James Worall
• Artists: Torkell Bernsen, Colin McMahon, Tom Gjerde, Mikael Noguchi, Ernie Deakyne
• Music: Kurt Harland, Jim Hedges, Andy Armer
• Sound Effects: Kurt Harland, Brian Coburn, Kim Jensen
• Level Editor: Gard E. Rødahl
• Game Tweakers: Joel Breton, Ernie Deakyne, Ron Allen, Joe Cecchin, Marcus Montgomery
• Lead Tester: Joel Breton
• Asst. Lead Testers: Ernie Deakyne, Joe Cecchin, Tim Hess, Marcus Montgomery, Billy Martorana, Ron Allen
• Testers: Jack Amato, Alfred Dutton, Kim Rogers, Rick Greer, Jason Deguzman, John Amirkhan, Ed Ramirez, Tony Ciardella, Donovan Soto, Sherry Blevins, Kemrexx George, Chris Sur, Scott Crisostomo, Daniel Tyrell, Kenny Robinson, Bine Arceo, David Wood, Chris Lucich, Mark Griffin, Jeff Loney, Lance Nelson, Don Carmichael, Dermott Lyons, Mark Subotnick, Dave Paniagua, Joe Cain, Mark Paniagua, Joe Damon, Rob Prideaux, Maya De Campos, Sean Doidge, Jeremy Campbell, Jeremy Caine, Tai Huynh, Alex Barrerio, Jeff Silveira, Rolef Conlan, Matt Clerici, Anthony Desantis, Chris Johnson, Michael Ironside, Dave Asgharzadeh, Michael Douglas, Nathan Tan, Jeremy Wheat, The Big Top Mice, Zenon Thornton, Robbie Pasquini, Deserae Shanklin, Chris Baetz, Chris Cates, Charles Delay, Conner Morlang, Geoff Jones, Martin Broenkow, Roger Sommerville, George Sandoval, Ovanji Powell, Kenneth Chan, Tomothy McKnew, Christina Hurley, Six Button Bill, Toad Slepian, Sally Perlman, Joann Eastman, Pat Walsh, Phil Gamble, Geoffrey Meyers, Demian Kato, Andrew J Nolley, Darren Nagtalon, Abe Navarro
• Tools Programmers: Blue House Prod., Morten B Ofstad, Andre Johansen, Svein Aandahl, Eivind Eklund, Jesper Hansen
• Product Managers: John Garner, Bill Onderdonk
• Comic Liaison: Jennifer Hunn
• Production Asst.: Tormod Mansaker, Christian Almskog
• Special Thanks: Erik Gloersen, Jack Kristoffersen, Tommy Svensson, Joachim Barrum, Mark Miller, Terry Tang, Suzie Greene, Joyce Takakura, Larry Loth, Camp Winnarainbow

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Nightmare Circus/Magazine articles.

Artwork

• 

  US prototype box art

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 50 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 79

	65
Based on 2 reviews

Nightmare Circus

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 06da3217 MD5 697fe71f7c6601b80ff486297124d301 SHA-1 3c80ff5ba54abe4702a3bb7d812571d3dc50c00f	2MB	1996-02	Cartridge (BR)
✔	CRC32 ee96f1b8 MD5 9d8869bf8dec6223440aaed3af202fa7 SHA-1 c48a0f275a46a4a814a4aa0926c084d27812f5ec	4MB	1995-07	Odd EPROMs				Page
?	CRC32 31de5a94 MD5 6e325bc3fe03b2bbcd39e667cf0b567a SHA-1 61b7d25e15011d379d07a8dad4f8c5bb5f75e29f	2MB	1996-02					Page

External links

• Official website (1997) (Wayback Machine)
• Nightmare Circus fansite at The Prison in Galápagos (Japanese)