Arcade Video game published 46 years ago:

Carnival (c) 1980 Gremlin/Sega Ind., Incorporated.

CARNIVAL is a 1 or 2 player alternate action game that simulates a carnival shooting gallery. The playfield consists of three target rows, a rotating pipe wheel, a bonus message panel, and a 'special' target block.

The player uses a left right control to position a rifle at the bottom of the screen, and a shoot control to fire the rifle. Two rows of bullets at the bottom of the screen indicate the number of shots remaining to the player. Every time the player shoots, one of the bullets disappears from the screen. More bullets are given during the first round than the others, so, the inexperienced player will have a chance to enjoy the play.

The game ends when the player runs out of bullets. This can occur on any round. A round ends when the player clears the playfield of all targets. At this point, a special 'shoot the bear' sequence appears, and when this is finished the player proceeds to the next more difficult (and higher scoring) round. This is Gremlin's Multi-Phase design concept that keeps games challenging to players of all levels.

When a player completes a round (ending with 'shoot the bear' sequence), the screen flips to the other player. When the original player resumes play, he advances to the next level of difficulty, exactly as he would have if the screen had not flipped to the other player. This method allows the players to more directly compare their scores, since they are always within one round of each other. Note that the player who ends the game first does not necessarily lose--he might still have the higher score when the game ends.

Player layout in our catalog: 2P alt.

If you are exploring by feel rather than by title, jump from the tags above into the matching genre rooms, or return to the Arcade hall for the full wall.

Open Play on this page to start Carnival (upright, AY8912 music). Keyboard, USB/Bluetooth pads, and the on-screen touch gamepad all work inside the emulator bar. Save states and fullscreen live on that same bar so you can pause mid-session and resume later.

Carnival (upright, AY8912 music) is filed in our catalog as a 1980 release.

Player layout on this cabinet: 2P alt.

Genre tags on Classic Arcade Games: Shooter.

Credit line lists Sega as developer.