5/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of CarnEvil.

System: Arcade Started: April 13, 2023 Ended: April 13, 2023 Free Play Arcade Session - April 13, 2023: 2/12 I remembered playing CarnEvil at a local Laser Tag place called LazerQuest for a friend’s weekend birthday party. I’ve never seen this horror light gun game before at the time and I played a lot of House of the Dead at a local GameWorks. But the intro and its Attract Mode footage actually interested me. Finally gave it a shot and I was so hooked on that game. Obviously, I could not finish that game since I spent almost all my weekend money, but it left a huge impression and thinking that I could not find this game anywhere else. Not even at a local GameWorks or Dave & Busters that they might have this. This was in the back of my mind that I had to beat that game whenever I came across it. Until now as an adult, I saw this game as Free to Play at Galloping Ghost and I can now put this Arcade game to a close. CarnEvil is one of a kind Light Gun Arcade shooter with spooky zaniness. How zaniness? It's almost similar to The Goosebumps books and that other obscure game Illbleed. You know this game is made by Midway due to adding M-rated shock value by adding gore as you shoot monsters in a gory fashion with your trusty boomstick as well as picking up bonus weapons such as the machine gun and even an Acid gun. I even forgot that this game was made by Midway. Each level you play you just survive until you fight the end level boss while being guided by a floating Jester Head. You carry a shotgun, and you can reload your gun either by pump-action or just point and fire away from the screen like in House of the Dead. There are a total of 3 levels in the game and complete them all and you go to The Big Top as the Final Level and fight the Headmaster of this Carnival Hellscape. This game truly has style to it even though the gameplay is short but that's how it's supposed to be for every light gun game so that everybody else can try this game. Can’t say anything bad about this game. Even though people would steer clear of it due to the weirdness and gory effects from the game. This arcade game is also controversial and there are Censored versions of this game such as changing the Baby Boss fight to a giant Teddy Bear. Luckily, I played the uncensored version. Other than that, everything in this game would trigger people today like the boss battle of Lady Marie, shooting at the Freaks at the Freak Show, the Mines and they do not attack you at all and they are blocking your path, so you have to shoot at them to progress. Most people would say that the pre-rendered 3D Graphics has aged pretty horribly but the style and the weirdness in this game actually softened the blow due to its novelty. So I would say they got away with that. And lastly, people nitpick and hate that one level where it's Christmas themed. It's obviously a homage to that popular movie, A Nightmare Before Christmas and I don’t see anything wrong with that. I’m ok with that Holiday level. If I had to say any flaws for this game, it would be the screen collaboration of the shotgun. During times of my session, I have trouble trying to kill a few monsters when they are close to the edge of the screen as I aim the gun at them, but the screen triggers the reloading mechanic so it's something you have to be aware of. If you are a fan of horror zaniness like other works outside of video games such as The Evil Dead movies, Dead Alive (or Braindead), or that Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy cartoon. Then, this is the game for you to play.1998 was a Golden Year in Video Gaming and it's cool to note that this game was released on Halloween that year. Find this at an Arcade or you can play this game on an Emulator, so it solves the problem of trying to find this game at your local Arcade.