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CarnEvil

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File:Carnevil.gif
The CarnEvil logo.

CarnEvil is a rail shooter arcade game using a light gun. Released by Midway Games on October 31 (Halloween), 1998, CarnEvil is noted for its graphic content and strong lifelike violence. CarnEvil is a portmanteau of "Carnival of Evil" and was inspired by the 1962 movie Carnival of Souls. It is the most successful light gun style game produced by Midway Games.

Plot

The game is set in the town of Greeley Valley, Iowa. It starts off with the player taking the form of an unnamed character aboard a carnival ride known as Spooky Sam's Ghost Tour; in the game there is a legend that if you put a golden token into the grave of a man named Ludwig von Tökkentäkker, an undead amusement park will appear. This is exactly what the main character does when he finds out that the legend is true. The carnival that appears is made up of all sorts of monsters that, by the end of the game, are all defeated by the main character. The main character kills them with a gun from the Shooting Gallery Booth. The game continues for four levels until it ends. The bosses are all in the form of some carnival attractions as well as some European archetypes.

Gameplay

The players shoot targets on the screen while progressing through four amusement park-themed horror environments while avoiding civilians. Shooting civilians earns a life penalty, but does not garner any long-term consequences or changes to the game. Power-ups such as extra health, clip increases, and gun power-ups are among other possible rewards for shooting non-civilians. Said to be "the most twisted video game ever" by the LA Weekly, CarnEvil lives up to this title. In this game you battle undead elves, fast food workers, freaks, and many others. The weapon is a pump-shot gun which can be powered up to a machine gun, a double-blast shotgun, a flame-thrower, and even an acid gun. The game is red stickered for a good reason. This game contains blood and gore, intense violence, and disturbing images. For example, in the Rickety Town level, you can hit a target that will have one of the zombie fast food workers fall in a vat of boiling oil and fried undead. There is an endless zombie army, and some cartoon-like antics (the graphics are similar to those seem in ''The Sims''). While it has a creepy atmosphere, most enemies laugh when they are shot and killed.

Environments

In Corresponding order:

  • Rickety Town - A traditional carnival setting focusing on familiar sights such as roller coasters, a ferris wheel, bumper cars, and a food court. There is also a Christmas-themed "Slay Ride" and ice skating rink which encompasses the end of the stage and boss fight.
  • Haunted House - A Victorian-style mansion, posing as a fun house, filled with zombies, ghosts, spiders, bats, and other Halloween favorites.
  • Freak Show - Boardwalk-style exhibition of the bizarre and astounding featuring a host of deformed opponents. A dungeon and torture chamber, as well as a macabre assembly line of sorts, make this stage particularly disturbing.
  • Ludwig von Tökkentäkker's Big Top - Immense circus tent swarming with undead clowns, mimes, and circus animals. Ascending the big top allows you to reach Ludwig von Tökkentäkker's zeppelin where the final battle takes place.

Characters

The Good

  • The Main Character - He is a boy as depicted in the introduction cinematic. He appears to be a teenager who is in high school, he wears a red jacket with blue jeans and carrying a flashlight in his hand. He lies to his parents and brother that he is going to his friend's house; instead, he walked to Greeley Valley and bought a ticket for Spooky Sam's Ghost Tour near the local Greeley Valley Cemetery. The main character wants to know if the local legend is true. When he sees the professor's grave, he ditched the Spooky Sam's Ghost Tour, the main character takes a look at Professor Ludwig von Tökkentäkker's gravestone. Then he examines the dusty golden token from the gravestone and obviously puts the large token into the mouth of the Jester Skull. Then, CarnEvil emerges from the depths of Hell and he grabs a pump-shot gun from the shooting gallery near the entrance of CarnEvil. The boy discovers that the legend is true; he will have to survive until dawn or die in the evil carnival. He's played as Player 1.
  • The Young Girl - It appears that she is on Spooky Sam's Ghost Tour as well. When CarnEvil is summoned from the cemetery, she indistinctly appears out of nowhere during the game. She also follows the player in each level. She is based on the main character from the 1960's horror B-movie "Carnival of Souls." She's played as Player 2.
  • Clown Freak - A CarnEvil guide of the game to select any kind of path that the players would choose - not an enemy. He's the supporter of the game and he's voiced by Frank Welker.

The Evil

  • Tinsels - Twisted little elves in Rickety Town; attack by throwing presents and stabbing with sharpened candy canes. They resemble the Green Goblin.
  • Carnie - The CarnEvil mascot, a sort of evil, demented version of Barney the dinosaur but blue-green in color. They are seen on the "Dino-Rama" ride with the whirling dinosaur eggs.
  • Buzzy - Small flies grown fat on bad carnival food. They have razor sharp fangs.
  • Smilin' Bob (Mr. Smiley) - An overly cheerful gas station attendant whose grin never wavers even after half of his head is blown away; attacks by swinging a gas can or punching. He can be seen in the Bumper Car Garage. Ironically, he is a humble and helpful employee, but don't be fooled by his friendly and happy smile.
  • Skeleteens - The employees of the food court who toss food and drinks and jump over the counter to attack. They have very fast attacks.
  • Krampus the Anti-Claus - Monstrous Santa Claus with reindeer antlers, claws, and ice skates. Krampus comes from behind a giant Christmas tree when it turns around to reveal the other side. He glides around the skating rink and uses his claws and a sack full of toys and coals. He was the boss character in Rickety Town.
  • Rotten Robbie - Zombies that have overrun the Haunted House; can throw knives, body parts, or other horrible objects.
  • Gools and Rayths - Evil spirits who haunt the halls of the mansion. They are known to appear almost anywhere throughout the stage and vanish when blasted.
  • Arachne - Giant spiders who stalk the dark corridors of the Haunted House.
  • Legs - Smaller spiders who dwell in the basement of the Haunted House.
  • Batty - Large bats who like to take a bite out of visitors. Be careful of them, as they can fly very fast.
  • Grabby - Dangerous hands that pop out of the walls in the Haunted House. They only wish to claw at anyone foolish enough to enter the hallways.
  • Hambone - Jason-inspired maniac and sub-boss in the Haunted House stage. Hambone first appears at the mansion entrance. He wears a hockey mask and bib overalls while sporting a chaingun arm. After being defeated once, he later returns (as Hambone: The Revenge) and sporting a cannon that launches explosive skulls. The mask can be shot off.
  • Evil Marie - Parody of Marie Antoinette and boss of the Haunted House stage. Evil Marie emerges from her mausoleum. She appears as a ghoulish lady with vampire fangs in fine dress and powdered wig. She sports an axe and comically oversized breasts. She loses clothing as she takes damage until ending in a corset and stockings before being impaled on her gravestone.
  • Human Fly - He is what his name says, a fly with a human head. He enjoys buzzing around the Fly Trap.
  • Maggot Mike - Human-headed maggots who love to give visitors "kisses".
  • Flap Jack - The upper bodies of two acrobat twins sewn together at the waist, seen in the Freak Show. When you shoot the other half of the body, the opposite half will laugh; if you kill it and wound them, Flap Jack will laugh when dying.
  • NikNak - "Spider monkeys" created by cross-breeding those two creatures; very fast and agile. They are fought within a giant cage.
  • Tort and Rodz - The badly mutilated inmates of the Chamber of Horrors. They are so badly tortured that a few shots will make the body drop fast to the ground.
  • Eyeclops - Cockney speaking sub-boss of the Freak Show. You must defeat him before entering the Chamber of Horrors. Eyeclops appears as a two-headed ogre donning light armor, sword, and shield. He sports one eye on each head, three on his chest, and several others on his arms and legs. These are obviously his main weak point. Use the rapid-fire tactic to take out every eye on his body so that he falls quickly.
  • Junior - Gigantic infant sewn together from parts unknown and brought to life by lightning like Frankenstein and the boss of the Freak Show stage. He is fought inside a gigantic playpen where he attempts to crush the players. He uses a vomiting attack which is nearly impossible to avoid. Ultimately he is forced back into his crib where he is electrocuted. Arcade workers also have the option to replace Junior with Deaddy, a gigantic teddy bear who uses the same fighting tactics.
  • Mortito - Small imp-like bat headed creatures who speak Spanish. They are usually seen in flight or launched out of a cannon.
  • Big Johnny - Ironically, small clowns who wield knives and wear classic red, white and blue attire. Their favorite line is, "That's show business!"
  • Marcello - A famous French-looking mime who just seems to get in the way.
  • Little Mugsy - Giant men in clown suits who make strange squeaking noises when hit. They attack the players with giant mallets or brass knuckles.
  • Yippy - Undead poodles in clown attire. They resemble Cujo and preform amazing feats!
  • Dr. Giggles - A crazed surgeon who likes to "clown around" with his patients.
  • Umlaut - The Jester Skull who appears on Tokkentakker's grave; Umlaut appears to you before you enter each area and makes his final appearance as a sub-boss in the Big Top.
  • Professor Ludwig von Tökkentäkker - The master of the CarnEvil and all of its horrors. Appearing as an eccentric gentleman in a brilliantly colored ringmaster's costume with five bell-shaped coat buttons and wearing a CarnEvil token as an eye patch, he commands from his zeppelin over CarnEvil, staffed by a skeleton crew. He sports a musket as well as a vanishing act, leading the player on a chase throughout his ship. He also directs a fireworks display before being knocked into his own ship's engines. Tökkentäkker closely resembles the Insane Clown Posse Ringmaster.

History of CarnEvil and Tökkentäkker

Tökkentäkker's gravestone is found near the entrance of the Greeley Valley Cemetery. It has Umlaut's statue on top of the grave with his mouth open. There is also a dusty golden token at the base of the tomb that says CarnEvil: Admit One. The History of Professor Ludwig Von Tökkentäkker was that he was a fond German scientist, and he owned a large Carnival with four different lands: Rickety Town, Haunted House, Freak Show, and the Big Top Circus Tent. When his Carnival caught fire and burned down, Tökkentäkker and his employees perished. The site occupied by the burnt-down Carnival became a cemetery. The Professor and his clowns, freaks, workers, and circus animals were all taken by the powers of evil, corruption, and undeath. Eventually he named his formerly unnamed carnival "The Carnival of Evil", or (as it is commonly known) CarnEvil. Tökkentäkker enjoys seeing his guests at his park being killed by his minions; if they do not obey, then he will kill them himself. Legend says that if you put the token in the mouth of the Jester Skull, Umlaut, CarnEvil will return again!

Poems

The following poem appears at the start of the game:

When the moon is full and trees are bare-
Walk through the Cemetery if you dare.
Where skeletons rot and corpses fester-
Locate the tomb with the skull of a Jester.
Feed him the token all shiny and new-
It is then that CarnEvil will return for YOU!

Umlaut's poem before Rickety Town:

What goes up must come down.
Now you're headed for Rickety Town.
Ride all the rides, have some fun,
Then eat your heart out on a sesame seed bun!

Before the Haunted House:

Welcome to the Haunted House.
Meet a ghoul who lost her head.
If you'd like to stay and join us,
You're always welcome--alive or dead!

Before the Freak show:

It's the Freak Show, the Freak Show,
See the strange and bizarre.
We'd love for you to join us.
We think you could be the star!

Before the Big Top:

You've made it to our main attraction,
The three-ring circus in the Big Top tent.
We hope our clowns will entertain you
Before making you the main event!

CarnEvil Official Soundtrack

List of tracks in order.

1. CarnEvil Introduction

2. CarnEvil Superbeast

3. Select Your Doom

4. Christmas Wonderland

5. Big Bunyan Ride!

6.The Garage (Bumper Cars)

7. Krampus

8. Haunted House

9. The Freak Show

10. The Chamber of Horrors

11. Junior

12. The Big Top

13. Final Ring

14. The Baron's Airship

Credits

Based on a concept by : Jack E. Haeger

Executive producers : Neil Nicastro, Kenneth J. Fedesna

Production manager : Paul Dussault

Programming : Samuel Christian Zehr, Jason Blochowiak

Art : Scott Pikulski, Samuel Lewis Crider, Martin Murphy, Rowan Atalla, Martin Martinez, Jack E. Haeger

Lead game code programmer : Samuel Christian Zehr

Background movies (Direction and animation) : Samuel Lewis Crider, Rownan Atalla

3-D character design : Scott Pikulski

3-D character animation & Motion capture : Martin Murphy

Original score and Sound effects : Kevin Quinn, Jason Blochowiak

Opening and closing cinematics by Blur : Stephanie Taylor (CG producer), Aaron Powell (CG supervisor / animator), Kirby Miller, Eric Prinkel (animators), Mr. Tim Miller (creative director)

Texture paintings : Martin Martinez

Cabinet graphics : Daniel Vincent Bigelow

Gun and cabinet design : Chris Bobrowski, Tom Kopera, Dave Link

Voice talent : Phoebe Fuller-Spichiger, Marc Falkenberg, Scott Pikulski, Stephanie Eckles, Martin Martinez, Rob Berry, Mary Lin Luscolino, Jack E. Haeger, Bethann Smukowski

Motion capture talent : Jack E. Haeger, Martin Murphy, Carlos Pesina

Hardware support : Sheridan Oursler, Rosalind Dugas, Leroy Brown, Pat Cox

Creative media : Christa Woss, Dave Paulus, Jennifer Chervenick, Patrick Fitzgerald, Beth Smukowski, Matt Derner, Tim Moran, Dave Grossman, Andy Lycke, Jim Tiannis, Chris Skrundz

Game testers : Brian Lebaron, Paulo Garcia, Mike Vinokour, Eddie Ferrier, Alex Gilliam

Midway sales : Mark Struhs, Rachel Davies, Jenifer Gloria, Ron Baum, Lenore Sayers, Mark Chan, Joe Bundra, Vince Moreno, Michael Sengelmann, Marty Glazman

Trivia

  • In 2001, Midway was going to release CarnEvil to the PS2 and PC. Due to unknown problems, it was canceled. However, Midway still makes brand new mint condition CarnEvil Arcade cabinet systems in very low quantities back in 2003.
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