Atari 8-bit - Datasoft - 1982

Clowns and Balloons

Clowns and Balloons — screenshot 1

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Genre: Arcade - Breakout / Pong / Circus
Year: 1982
Language: Machine Language
Publisher: Datasoft
Controls: Joystick / Paddles
Developer: [n/a]
Players: 1 / 2 (alt.) / Demo
Country
Coder(s): Cohen, Frank
License: Commercial
Graphics: [n/a]
Medium
Sound: [n/a]
Rarity: 55
Cover: Ross, Scott
Serial: 1160
Dump: Download

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Missing original tape and disk images!

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Tape

INSTRUCTIONS (1)

INSTRUCTIONS (1)

manual

ADS (1)

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Tape

VOTES / STATISTICS

Rating7.5/10

Hits: 33,944
Downloads: 3,843
Votes: 32

ANY MISSING INFORMATION?

Scans, dumps, corrections…

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COMMENTS (6)

thisispete31 Oct 2026
Actually had never noticed this was by Frank Cohen until recently. One of my all-time favourite Atari 8-bit arcade-style games, though it could perhaps do with some more variety as the levels progress, as it never really seems to get any harder. As such, the bulk of the challenge factor comes from maintaining your focus and concentration. Simple but effective presentation, and a lovely distinctive example of the rich musical textures the four channels of POKEY could provide. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF_fh8QP15c
vulcanphil26 Mar 2025
A fun classic! Use a paddle controller if you can. Not to be taken too seriously (other than the mangled lost player LOL!)
Punkydudester9 Dec 2014
I love this game, definitely one of my favorites.
Greg B.1 Nov 2007
Wow, great to see you posting here, Frank. Nice to know that some of you guys are still around! You have no idea how many hundreds of hours my friends and I logged on this game back then. We were all addicted to "Clowns" and "Circus" in the arcades and your Atari 800 port totally nailed the essence of these games. It's also the best paddle-controlled game ever made for the system and still holds up today. I still talk to a lot of Atari 8-bit users and believe me, many people still play this game. So, after two decades I can finally tell you personally, this is an excellent game! Very well done. Best of luck to you, I'll check back in another 25 years...
Sascha Buchner1 Mar 2007
thank you Frank for your great work on the 8-Bit Ataris. Me and my brothers spend countless hours playing your games. I wish you the best for your future. Sascha
Frank Cohen1 Mar 2007
Wow! This was my first game. It brings back such great memories to see the screen shots, photos of the package, and even the cheesy ads from DataSoft. The game took me about 4 months to program. The last month was bug fixing and that was really painful. I had a hundred bugs to fix. One of the minor ones was I got the text wrong for the bonus round. When the game displays "Bonus Round" it would print "Butus Crewt" on the screen. I was working with Mark Rielly, Ron Rosen, William Robinson, and others at the time. They started asking me when Butus Crewt was going to be done! I was all of 21 at the time. Now I'm 45. -Frank Cohen