Exidy Circus vs Midway Clowns

[VidyaGamez]

I'm not a fan of bronze age games for the most part , but I recently played Exidy Circus at the Museum of Pinball in Banning, CA, and it had me hooked. Was doing research about it on Klov, and I saw people talking about Midway Clowns. They look identical, but which is better, which would you rather own?

 

[cwilkson]

I have an Exidy Circus and absolutely love it! But it has some indefensible bounces at the left side (kinda like the Pong corner shot) and it's infuriating when it happens.

I don't think I've ever played Clowns...but I keep hoping to find one to check those edge shots. If every bounce is playable I could do a grudging swap.

Circus bezel art is a clear winner though! Depressed penguins and clowns? Classic!!!

 

[Phetishboy]

I'm not a fan of bronze age games for the most part , but I recently played Exidy Circus at the Museum of Pinball in Banning, CA, and it had me hooked. Was doing research about it on Klov, and I saw people talking about Midway Clowns. They look identical, but which is better, which would you rather own?

By 'look identical' I assume you mean gameplay, as the cabinets don't really look anything alike. I like Circus because it's an Exidy game and because of the way the bezel is three dimensional and each balloon lights up. Unfortunately I haven't even been able to play mine yet as after finally getting my board set back from repair, I seem to now have a power supply issue. I picked mine up almost 2 years ago nonworking but I'm determined to get it working and keep it.

 

[VidyaGamez]

I have an Exidy Circus and absolutely love it! But it has some indefensible bounces at the left side (kinda like the Pong corner shot) and it's infuriating when it happens.

I don't think I've ever played Clowns...but I keep hoping to find one to check those edge shots. If every bounce is playable I could do a grudging swap.

Circus bezel art is a clear winner though! Depressed penguins and clowns? Classic!!!

YES I noticed those unwinnable bounces when playing too, drove me nuts, it's enough to keep me wanting to try again, but not enough to rage quit and stop playing forever. Kind of like when your ball drains down the middle in pinball. I love the 3D bezel on Clowns, but I saw some people saying Circus was more fun: something about the 2 player being alternating between jumps, but I'm not sure.

By 'look identical' I assume you mean gameplay, as the cabinets don't really look anything alike. I like Circus because it's an Exidy game and because of the way the bezel is three dimensional and each balloon lights up. Unfortunately I haven't even been able to play mine yet as after finally getting my board set back from repair, I seem to now have a power supply issue. I picked mine up almost 2 years ago nonworking but I'm determined to get it working and keep it.

Yes, I did mean look identical in terms of the game, not the art. I didn't know the balloons light up. The one I was playing must have dead bulbs. That's way cool. I also like Exidy as a brand more than Midway (I've already got my Wild Kingdom to cover my Midway base in my collection). More eye-catching and unique of a company name IMO. Unfortunate about your power supply. You should get it working! It deserves to be in your gameroom.

Wondering now how hard these are to track down because they're not sold very often here it seems like. The last one was in 2014 from the looks of it. I'll have to be vigilant...

 

[AttackPtak]

My wife collects anything clown related....and I thought it would be cool to suprise her last year with an original Midway Clowns bezel. I came across a couple of them on Ebay and purchased the best of the two. Now it seems only fitting to track down an actual complete arcade cabinet. Maybe some day, I'll come across either game and bite the bullet. Ofcourse, I have our entire family arcade 99% built out and really don't have anymore room. Guess it would have to go in her clown (room) museum....lol

 

[joe2012]

Clowns

I bought this Clowns game a while back. I enjoyed playing it and the game play seemed the same as the Exidy Circus that I played as a kid but the music was not the same. The Circus had a nice catchy toon from what I remembered.

 

[SanTe]

I don't think I've ever played Clowns...but I keep hoping to find one to check those edge shots. If every bounce is playable I could do a grudging swap.

Funspot/ACAM has a Clowns. Or at least they did the one time I visited, but that was eleven(!) years ago now. Fun game. Circus Atari on the VCS/2600 was clearly a ripoff of either Clowns or Circus, probably Circus since it came out in 1977 like the VCS did, and Clowns followed in 1978.

 

[sg6970]

I have both games... I like the sound effects on Circus better, but I like the gameplay feel, cabinet art presentation and hardware setup better with Clowns. The edge for me goes for Midway Clowns.

 

[Roadrunner000]

I have a spare empty circus cab if you interested...just cab with sideart..

 

[VidyaGamez]

I have a spare empty circus cab if you interested...just cab with sideart..

I would be but shipping would probably be too much, and I'm a bit strapped for cash right now, especially with Christmas coming up. Thanks for the offer though.

 

[Roadrunner000]

Well its on backburner so no rush..check with Bob Cunningham or the likes..he does cross country shipping sometimes...you never know and he is very reasonable.

 

[SpeedwayArcade]

Roadrunner000, I messaged you.

 

[HudsonArcade]

I have a spare empty circus cab if you interested...just cab with sideart..

Hmm... my circus cab is pretty crappy...

 

[gloriousorange]

The bronze era is rife with game companies stealing eachother's ideas, slapping a new name on the game and pumping out more-or-less the exact same title. Sometimes it was legit so games could be put out in different regions, most of the time it was not.

Btw, there's third arcade similar to these two: Taito's Acrobat TV!

Never seen one for sale but I'd buy it in a heartbeat if I do. I believe it was a Japanese only release and the exact same game as Clowns.

 

[VectorCollector]

Another vote for Exidy.

 

[Brick Top]

I have a Circus, great game. I would take either one, but sounds and cabinet on the Circus are better.

Another difference pointed out to me while the GF and I were at Grinkers. She is familiar and enjoys Circus, so I showed her Midway Clowns. We played a game and she pointed out that Clowns has "sassy comments" on the screen when you die. Circus does not have this.

 

[Phetishboy]

I have a Circus, great game. I would take either one, but sounds and cabinet on the Circus are better.

Another difference pointed out to me while the GF and I were at Grinkers. She is familiar and enjoys Circus, so I showed her Midway Clowns. We played a game and she pointed out that Clowns has "sassy comments" on the screen when you die. Circus does not have this.

Holy fuck I change my vote to clowns.

 

[jetusenet]

Had both and my vote is for Clowns.....

Can't say exactly why but played Clowns first.... sold it and years later purchased Circus...played it and was kinda disappointed.... maybe is was due to the unwinnable bounce...just was not as good IMHO....

 

[Roadrunner000]

Since this thread was updated...I thought I'd throw in that I have both Circus and Clowns uprights..I would love to find the cocktail clowns version...I always liked that style of cocktail..it was different and cool looking plus I loved the game...I also still have a partial circus upright cab project if anyone is interested..it is missing monitor and boards but I think everything else is there including control panel, wiring. coin door bezel etc..

 

[pat9000]

Clowns for sure. I even like the cab better than Circus.

Clowns CT is awesome. I'd have kept mine, but somebody offered a working Star Wars in trade, so...
That was 25 years ago and I don't believe I've seen another one in person, just URs.