Circus Atari

Designed for use with Atari's paddle controllers, Circus Atari is a Breakout-style featuring two stick figure clowns popping three rows of square balloons that move horizontally across the top of the screen. Players maneuver a teeter-totter along the bottom of the playfield, bouncing the clowns into the air in an alternating fashion. The further away a clown lands from the fulcrum of the teeter-totter, the higher the clown will go. Popping the top row of balloons nets the player an extra life. Circus Atari is not as intense or as concentration-heavy as Breakout, but it has more personality and even a bit of macabre humor. Miss a clown and it crashes headfirst to the ground, arms and legs still flailing away. Other aspects of the game include decent sound effects, smooth controls and a high fun factor.