Cirqus Voltaire

1997 pinball machine

Cirqus Voltaire is a 1997 pinball game, designed by John Popadiuk and released by Williams Electronics Games (under the Bally label). The theme involves the player performing many different marvels in order to join the circus. Some of the game's distinctive features include a neon light running along the right hand ramp, a pop bumper that rises up from the middle of the playfield at certain times, and a magnet at the top of the left ramp that can catch balls and divert them into the locks. The most notable feature is the Ringmaster, a head that rises at certain times and taunts the player.

It was the first Williams/Bally pinball machine missing a real replay knocker, a device driven by a coil to produce a loud bang when hammering against the wood of the cabinet or backbox. Instead this sound effect was pre recorded and played via the regular speakers. It was also the second machine (after Capcom's Flipper Football, released in 1996) to move the dot matrix display (DMD) from the backbox right into the cabinet, in order not to distract the player from gameplay when watching the DMD (an idea that was taken to the maximum with the Pinball 2000 architecture two years later).

This game features nine "marvels" the player must complete before they are invited to "Join the Cirqus." The marvels are arranged in a 3x3 square grid, with each row/column corresponding to one letter in the word C I R Q U S. After filling the grid, the player must shoot the left or right orbit to start the "Join the Cirqus" wizard mode. Juggler Shoot the left orbit three times to enable locks, then shoot it three more times to lock balls and start Juggler Multiball. Side Show Shoot the left orbit when the Side Show is lit to spot this marvel and receive a random award. Ringmaster Frenzie Defeat the Ringmaster twice to start Frenzie Multiball. Menagerie Hit a group of targets on the left side a set number of times, either directly or by knocking a large plastic captive ball into them. Defeated All Ringmasters Defeat the Ringmaster four times to start Special Multiball. Highwire Multiball Hit the "Light Lock" targets on either side of the left ramp, then shoot the ramp itself three times to lock balls and start Highwire Multiball. Spin The spinner target in the small loop that curves around the Ringmaster can be shot to light letters in S P I N; the marvel is awarded once all four letters are lit. Boom! Hit the rollover targets on the field to light letters in V O L T. Once all four letters are collected, a third pop bumper rises from the field for a short time; the marvel is awarded after the time runs out. Hits on this bumper count toward lighting an extra ball. Acrobats Shoot the right ramp/orbit four times.

After collecting all nine marvels, the player can start Join the Cirqus by shooting either orbit. Play then proceeds through four phases, with all other features disabled. After each of the first three phases is completed, the flippers and targets briefly go dead and all the balls drain as part of the lead in to the next phase. Spell C I R Q U S: A three ball multiball. Hit all six major shots (both orbits, left ramp, Menagerie, Ringmaster loop, W O W targets) in any order. Unmask Voltaire: A three ball multiball. Hit the Ringmaster and then the left ramp, alternating between them four times, and hit the Ringmaster a fifth time. Meet the Cirqus: Make six lit shots to the orbits and Ringmaster loop. This phase starts with one ball and adds one for each successful shot, to a maximum of three. Party Multiball: A four ball multiball with all major shots lit for jackpots. If all balls drain during any of the first three phases, that phase will restart on the player's next ball. The fourth phase ends after all balls but one have drained.

Cirqus Voltaire was formerly available as a licensed table of The Pinball Arcade for any platform until June 30, 2018 due to WMS license expiration. The license was then passed to Zen Studios, who then brought back an official digital version of the table as an add on for Pinball FX 3 and an unlockable table in the Williams Pinball mobile app for iOS and Android as part of the fifth wave of Zen Studios' curation of Williams tables. Unlicensed recreations of the game are available for Visual Pinball that runs on Windows.