PCOverview
Circus Interstellar is an electrifying combination of inspirations from the arcade classic: Berzerk, and the 80's cult classic film: Killer Klowns from outer space. (Circus Interstellar is in no way connected to the Killer Klowns movie)
Blended together with elements from Dead space, Hotline Miami and Smash TV, Circus Interstellar keeps players on their toes as they blast sadistic jesters, fend off man-eating mutant popcorn, dodge dangerously fast pies, and out run the ravenous Jugularnauts! All the while, avoiding the galaxies worst corporate disaster: electric walls...
Circus Interstellar was developed and published by Ettinsoft.
Circus Interstellar offers 7 different difficulties, 4 player coop/cutup, 3 game modes, 6 bosses, 71 different rooms, 59 levels, and other options to enhance the experience such as: Hardcore mode, numerous cheats/modifiers, Freeplay mode, and E-Z-Walls (for those who find electric walls too hard).
A digital comic; Circus Interstellar: Awakening, is also available to read in the options menu!
Gameplay
Circus Interstellar is a retro arcade shooter, where the player must escape sadistic alien bozos through an electrified mining vessel.
Escape Mode
Players are trapped within a freshly infested deep space mining vessel and must fight their back to the space cruiser sitting in the docking bay. Problem is, they'll need to cross the entirety of the twisted carnival the ship has become to get there.
All the while, being hunted the in each of 5 corridor by giant flaming clown heads called Jugularnauts, as well as a seemingly endless number of hostile alien clowns.
Escape mode is 50 levels long, with 5 bosses. To proceed through levels, the player has to either kill all the clowns in the room, or run away from the room through an open door when the Jugularnaut spawns.
Each level has a chance of spawning Hypos and Weapons that will help the player progress through the room, as well as a chance of spawning Cotton Candy Cocoons and Cotton Candy Goop that heal and recharge/deplete energy.
The player starts with 3 lives, and is able to obtain more through earning score, as well as finding 1up Helmets, which is shared. If all players drop to 0 lives, they will game over and player characters will express their disdain with being recently deceased, prompting the player to input their initials into the high-scoreboard.
Some score can be shared, such as: shooting the Jugularnaut 5 times and clowns killing themselves or each other. 1 up helmets points are shared with all players as well.
Survival/Cutup Mode
If the player count is set to 1, this mode is set to hardcore survival. Meaning the player has 1 life and must survive an infinite gauntlet whilst locked in a room with randomly spawning clowns and a deadly Jugularnaut who randomly crosses the room.
If the player count 2 or more, players will be able to choose either survival mode or cutup mode.
In cutup mode, player's must compete for a target score. Anything and everything is a target, and player kills reap the highest reward. Respawn is turned on in this mode. Upon death, players will instantly spawn back into the room, marked by a colored ring.
Other Info
All of the clowns are combustible and will cause damage when they run into players. This works in the player's advantage as well however, in the fact that most of the common clowns, save for the Robuster, die in a single shot.
However, clowns have a chance of spawning as special clowns, and some require an additional shots to take down. Also, these jokers don't pay attention to what they're about to run into, causing them to kill each other and run blindly into electric walls.
This works well in the player's favor, obviously.
The Jugularnauts are the leaders of these alien clowns. These giant flaming clown heads will hunt the player down relentlessly throughout the base.
When encountered in corridors, they will simply chase down and eat the nearest player! They take a total of 5 shots to scare away.
When encountered in a sealed room (boss rooms), they use patterns and spawn in randomly chosen clowns to aid in combat, the player must deplete their health bar to terminate them. Jugularnaut also pukes up fresh Cotton Candy Goop that drain stamina when players run through them.
Story
Set in the distant future, Circus Interstellar follows the surviving security team members of a "planet popping" spaceship, the U.S.S. Interstellar, which was attacked by a circus tent shaped UFO while collecting resources for earth. Their only chance at survival, is to cut through an endless army of hellish harlequins in an attempt to find their way to the docking bay and escape on their space cruiser. Can they escape? Or will they join the freakshow?
Most of the story is told through optional hidden PDAs, which the player can access using the action button when standing over them. Some of these PDAs hide some secrets as well...
Story is also told through small details hidden on the level and the intro and final cutscenes.
Scenes and levels
Scene 1: Late To The Party
Level 1: Slasher Flick
Level 2: Freewheelin'
Level 3: Flower Power
Level 4: Feeling Corny?
Level 5: Pin-Head
Level 6: Strong-Armed
Level 7: Armed N' Bloated
Level 8: Bounce House
Boss 1: Meet The Jugularnaut
Scene 2: Heart Attack
Level 1: Hit N' Pun
Level 2: Beauty N' The Beast
Level 3: Death Overhead
Level 4: 3's a Party
Level 5: Do You Even Lift?
Level 6: Hemophobia
Level 7: Juicy Popcorn
Level 8: Fat Chance
Boss 2: Party Tyme
Scene 3: Pies N' Turbines
Level 1: Low Blood Pressure
Level 2: Buttered Up
Level 3: The Warmup
Level 4: Beef Testosteron
Level 5: Clowns At Midnight
Level 6: Jumpin' Jehoshaphat!
Level 7: Springs N' Wheels
Level 8: Pumping Bloody Iron
Level 9: Power Walking
Boss 3: Curveball'd
Scene 4: Laughable Science
Level 1: Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive N' Dodge
Level 2: Close N' Personal
Level 3: Pop N' Drop
Level 4: Menstruation
Level 5: Irrational Pies
Level 6: Bait N' Trap
Level 7: Laughing To Death
Level 8: Bustin' Guts
Boss 4: The Madcap King
Final Scene: Killer Clowns
Level 1: Lost In Space
Level 2: Guts N' Confetti
Level 3: Futile Efforts
Level 4: In Space Nobody Eats Ice Cream
Level 5: The End Is Nigh
Level 6: Ugly, Mean, N' Polka Dotted
Level 7: You're All Outta Gum
Level 8: The Last Laugh
Final Boss: The Punchline
