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"A simple game from a simple time...ported from a simple arcade."

Kickman could easily be considered a rip-off of some console based puzzle games...except for the fact that it practically pre-dates all of them. It could also be considered a rip-off of games like Space Invaders and some of those Nintendo Game and Watch series games, which were of the time period.

The concept of the game was basically a clown riding a unicycle and catching colored balloons on his head...and the occasional balloon hungry Pac-Man & Ghost Monster. As the balloons fell from the sky, Kickman had to either balance them on top of his pointy hat, the stack of balloons that were atop his pointy hat or kick at them with his feet so that he could, once again, attempt to balance them atop his pointy hat. (Pick a card. Any card. Never mind that they're all Aces.) If any one of those falling items should reach the ground, poor Kickman will spaz out and kill himself in a horrible way...Well, actually, he'll just give up, fall down, lose a chance marker (Or, are those cross hairs in the background suppose to be audience members?) and start all over again. It's not exactly a Tetris/Dr. Mario/Klax/Bubble Bobble (puzzler) kind of game. But, it sure does fit like chewed up bubble gum to the category.

The color of the balloon/Pac-Man/Ghost Monster represents the speed at which they will fall/move. Yellow ones are the slowest. Followed by Red, Green and Blue. Except in the first level, (practice level) balloons and Ghost Monsters will just pile up on top of Kickman's head until they are four high, then the additional ones will just burst. Pac-Man, on the other hand, will pretty much eat everything in his path, save another Pac-Man or Kickman, which makes them a double-edged sword. While they will reduce the number of stuff piled up on top of your head, a four-some will do nothing more for you than reduction of your headroom...and even slow you down, slightly!

Of course, this guy isn't called Kickman for nothing. If a falling object should get past the top of his hat, he'll be able to kick that item back up towards the sky like a Pong paddle does to a Pong ball. It even bounces like a Pong ball. (Gotta love that old world, game logic.) But, that means that while this object is moving around at odd angles, a second object is about to start plummeting. Luckily, the game will only throw two objects into motion. (Though, that limits the challenge potential almost to the point of boring.)

Story: N/A

Story? What story? Clown collects falling balloons from the sky. News at eleven.

The real story is how this basic arcade game was both made by Bally AND got two home ports.

Graphics: 4 out of 10

Considering how basic the game is, the programmer (Probably not plural.) added in a lot of non-interactive background. Kickman is clearly cycling on a city street between multi-story (somewhat 3-D) houses in the fore ground and some major high rises in the background. Besides location and visual spice, they serve zero purpose. Kickman is obviously Human and is wearing a yellow costume. He has half-a-dozen or so frames of animation ranging from working the unicycle to kicking out to falling down. The balloons are semi-round with a tailing string at the bottom. And the Pac-Man characters are as identifiable as ever. But, what you see up front is what you get. Nothing extra going on here.

Sound: 2 out of 10

There are two little carnival-based tunes and a couple sound effects. Run, don't walk, for the mute button.

Game play: 8 out of 10

Controls are very responsive, outside of the planned delays. You press left, Kickman cycles left, *without hesitation. (*Unless Kickman is stretching his legs or a Pac-Man is eating what is atop it's head.) Press right, Kickman goes right. Use the kick button. Kickman...well, kicks...in both directions. Exactly the same control layout/response of Space Invaders. And, just as boring.

Challenge: 1 out of 10

Once you get the basics down, there isn't a whole lot more to learn. Outside of Pac-Man, there's no variation.

Replay value: 3 out of 10

This game gets real old, real fast. Even though there are multiple levels, there just isn't a whole lot of variety. Even the game gives up past a point, as it just throws the same, final level at you until you surrender at playing the game.

Buy/Rent?

If you honestly paid money for this game, you got ripped off. Download for a Windows-based emulator for free. The download will probably only take a few seconds...and you will probably play it for at least four times as long.

Final words:

Chances are, you won't easily run across this game in any form, anywhere. It does not stand up to the test of time. It is not very interesting for very long to just about anyone. And, the only reason it came about in the first place was that, during the early eighties, basic arcade game ideas were abundant. (Like a game called Carnival (Where the whole idea was to shoot a virtual gun at virtual targets.) comes to mind.)

Overall score: 2 out of 10



Reviewer's Score: 2/10 | Originally Posted: 12/07/02, Updated 12/07/02