"A space shoot 'em up but in a carnival."

Space shoot 'em ups where so abundant in the 1980's that often they got rejected for their cliche and common designs. Developers had to change a thing here or there to get it published, and some just made an original design right from the start. This is what happened to carnival, as it is just another shoot 'em up similar to the likes of Space Invaders, but with some changes here and there to make it stand out.

You control a gun shooting upwards at three scrolling lines of bunnies, tickets and other carnival items. The goal is not to shoot those however, it is to destroy a wheel at the very top protected by a small wall underneath it (and the three scrolling lines as well). The wheel has a very small opening which you could fire through, so taking out all the items first will help get your concentration going and give you more freedom to act.

Another thing you need to take mind of is the bird item. Gradually as you progress through the difficulty levels, the bird item will fall down on you and you have to shoot it before it reaches the ground. As more levels are passed, more birds will fall down, and the items scroll in a much faster way than before, so you have to quickly shoot away at the items. Just like any other space shooter.

Aside from all those things standing in your way, you have the greatest enemy of all present - time. A little line at the bottom starts fading slowly and if it disappears (time runs out) then you will lose the game. Many things contribute to this line. Birds reaching the ground will take off a chunck of it, and a line that appears briefly can pause its fading if shot, so you have to make your time if you want to have a chance of survival.

Once you come down to it, this is another of the same ol' space shoot 'em up games that we know and love. You move the gun right and left and shoot scrolling lines of items while fighting against time. The graphics and sound are average but managable, and the fun and good difficulty can be both found if you look hard enough. Try it out if you want a space shooter but not in space.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/17/06