Catch and burst balloons etc. Started life as "Kick" and was changed to KickMan after upright serial number #1600.
In this Breakout derived game, a clown on unicycle must catch balloons, Pac-Men, and ghosts on his head, while carnival music plays. Should he miss and is close enough, he can kick the afforementioned objects back up to try again, hence the name.
Using the Bally/Midway MCR hardware, KickMan (or just Kick as the premiere release of the game is known) is a colourful, graphically pleasing game. Much as was done in Gorf, Midway borrowed characters from their Namco licence, and added Pac-Man and his Ghost-Monster adversaries to the game complete with appropriate sound effects.
The Screen is set up like a city street or alley, with Kick Man the Clown able to move his unicycle to the left and right in his attempt to catch balloons and other objects which are suspended in the air above.
In the first stage, Kick Man must pop slow-moving balloons upon his head. This is merely a warmup. In later stages, the balloons increase in speed especially the blue ones), and Kick Man must actually catch and collect them upon his head. Note that the stack of baloons effectively limits playfield options, as subsequent balloons can be deflected in an unfavourable manner by hitting the balloon stack. When eight balloons are on Kick Man's head he pulls out a pin and pops them.
Pac-Men present an interesting alternative: If you catch one it will eat your current balloon stack, regardless of size. It will also grant an immediate bonus; maintaining one or more Pac-Men on Kick Man's head grants a bonus upon completion of a round.
In the occasional bonus round, Kick Man may catch thrown balloons while avoiding the thrown bombs that are sent to de-cycle him. Fortunately, this round is just for points, and losing it does not cost the player a life.
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