Fiendish Freddy's Big Top O' Fun

A corrupt businessman by the name of I.M. Tightwad, whom the circus owes $10,000, arrives on the scene with the intent of demolishing the circus unless it can pay up. He plans to build a set of luxury hotels on the terrain. In a fit of desperation, the ringmaster organises a display of six events to raise money for the doomed circus: diving, juggling, trapeze, knife throwing, tightrope and the human cannonball. The performance in each event is judged by five clown judges, who offer money depending on the quality of the show. The businessman has no intention of letting the circus raise the cash though, and he sends his lackey, the evil Fiendish Freddy, to sabotage the acts. Each player is represented by a circus animal (tiger, lion, bear, etc.) The game was similar to many of the multi-event sports games of the time such as Epyx' California Games, Winter Games and Summer Games. However, Fiendish Freddy differed not only by its surroundings (circus events) offering a comedy element, it also offered a plot and a clear goal of winning $10,000. The six events were thus: The player is challenged to jump off four diving boards of increasing height into containers of water of decreasing size, beginning with a huge wooden container, and ending in a glass of water. (The third target, however, is a cement block, a possible homage to the Looney Tunes cartoon Big Top Bunny, amongst other things.) Money is earned by completing all four levels, as well as performing a set series of stunts. Freddy attempts to hinder the player by blowing the diver off course with an enormous hair dryer; he appears if the diver fails to complete the stunt in time. The player must make their way through four juggling sessions of increasing difficulty. Each level brings more balls to juggle, but not just balls - sometimes babies get lost in the mass and must be thrown back into their prams. Of course, Freddy throws a surprise or two into the mix, in the form of bombs, which can be thrown back at Fredd