Carnival [Cocktail model] (c) 1980 Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
A shooting gallery game. Fire a gun at owls, bunnies, ducks, pipes, bonus letters, and other positive or negative bonus items.

>>> TECHNICAL DETAILS
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There were 2 different cocktail cabinets available for this game. The 2 cocktails seem to represent 2 different generations of the Sega/Gremlin cocktail, the only differences between them are the control panel and coin mechs (Both cocktail cabinets were also used for other Sega games such as 'Frogger').
The cocktail versions used small 13in. monitors and were relatively unadorned. The older ones had a larger control panel and different coin mechs. The only decoration was a set of instruction cards underneath the top glass (the cards were the same for both versions). These machines used small 2-Way joysticks for movement (instead of push buttons).
Game ID : 501-516
Main CPU : Z80 (@ 1.93356 Mhz)
Sound CPU : I8039 (@ 238.636 Khz)
Sound Chips : AY8910 (@ 1.193181 Mhz)
Screen orientation : Vertical
Video resolution : 224 x 256 pixels
Screen refresh : 60.00 Hz
Palette colors : 64
Players : 1
Control : 2-way joystick
Buttons : 1

>>> TRIVIA
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Released in June 1980.
Also released as 'Carnival [Upright model]'.
Fred Pastore holds the official record for this game with 386,750 points on June 3, 2001.
A Carnival unit appears in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks'.

>>> GAME UPDATES
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The upright and cocktail versions of this game used 2 different sets of PCBs. They both use the same wiring harness, but the cocktail version flips the display for the second player. This is a bit of an anomaly, usually games simply have a switch on the mainboard to switch between upright and cocktail mode.
- SCORING -
Shooting the bonus box at the top left : the score inside the box (+ or -).
Shooting an object in the top row scores the points at the right of the screen level with the top row (50, 60, etc).
A hit in the 2nd row scores the points at the right of the screen level with the 2nd row (30, 40, etc).
A hit in the bottom row scores the points at the right of the screen level with the bottom row (10, 20, etc).
A hit on a polar bear in the intermission screen scores 50 points.

>>> TRICKS AND TIPS
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* Make any ducks on the lowest level your priority at the start of a screen, as they will soon swoop down to steal some of your ammunition.
* Keep an eye out for the passing boxed '5' and '10' symbols, as these award 5 or 10 extra bullets respectively when shot. You won't have enough ammo to complete a screen without at least hitting a few of these.
* You can stay to the left of the screen, which will enable you to pick off any good bonuses in the bonus box at an early stage. Don't get too trigger happy though, or you might be dropping your score or losing a lot of ammo too quickly if you hit a negative 'bonus'.
* The key to getting a lot of hits on the polar bear(s) in the bonus stage is to concentrate on only one bear and hit it as close to dead centre as possible. If you do this keep firing rapidly and you'll rack up a few points as it won't be able to escape from a constant barrage of bullets.
* Extra bullet '5' and '10's only appear on the top two rows and don't reappear at the top after going offscreen from the middle row so make sure you pick them off whenever possible.

>>> GAME PORTS TO OTHER SYSTEMS
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* Consoles :
Colecovision (1982)
Mattel Intellivision (1982)
Atari 2600 (1982)
* Computers :
Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1984, 'Carnival', Eclipse Software)

>>> OTHER GAME RESOURCES
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Game's rom.
Arcade Retro Lounge; http://tips.retrogames.com/