Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Developed by Advance Communication Company and published by Toho in North America in 1990, Circus Caper is a side-scrolling NES action game created from the heavily altered Japanese title Moeru! Oniisan. Its strange circus setting, varied weapons and optional minigames give it a distinctive identity, but poor hit detection, stiff controls and erratic level design make the adventure more frustrating than entertaining. Rating: 4/10.
The story follows Tim and his younger sister Judy, who want to visit the circus but can afford only one ticket. Tim allows Judy to enter alone, but she never returns after the performance. The sinister ringmaster Mr. Magic reveals that she has been kidnapped, sending Tim through six stages filled with clowns, animals, acrobats and other hostile performers.
The premise was created specifically for the Western release. In Japan, the game appeared in 1989 as Moeru! Oniisan, based on a comedy manga and anime series. The localization replaced the original characters and story with generic circus imagery, removed much of the dialogue and altered parts of the structure. Many enemies, bosses and stage layouts were retained, which helps explain why the finished game often feels disconnected and nonsensical.
Tim can walk, duck, jump, punch and kick. His basic attacks have extremely short reach, forcing him to move dangerously close to enemies. Punches frequently appear to pass through targets, while enemies can damage Tim despite seemingly missing his sprite. The kick is useful against smaller creatures, but it is equally awkward to position correctly.
Collectible weapons make combat slightly more manageable. Tim can throw hammers horizontally, roll soccer balls along the ground, use a spinning yo-yo and deploy bombs that damage everything on the screen. Each weapon behaves differently, encouraging limited experimentation against particular enemies and bosses. However, ammunition is restricted, and losing a useful weapon can leave Tim poorly equipped for the next difficult section.
The most unusual ability is a temporary brick that can be placed in mid-air. It creates a small platform, allowing Tim to cross large gaps or reach higher ledges. This is a clever idea, but the brick can be difficult to position accurately and disappears quickly. The unreliable controls make sections built around it considerably more awkward than intended.
Each stage contains enemies that respawn when Tim moves even slightly backward. Combined with severe knockback, this can trap him between multiple opponents or push him directly into pits and water. Platform edges are difficult to judge, jumps feel stiff and certain hazards activate before the player has enough time to react.
The difficulty is extremely uneven. The opening stage immediately introduces knife-throwing clowns, collapsing platforms and alligators whose mouths repeatedly open beneath Tim. Later areas include tightropes, caves, flying sequences and more conventional corridors, but several are easier than the first level. Bosses are usually simple once their patterns have been learned and often provide less resistance than the stages preceding them.
Some levels contain doors leading to circus-themed bonus games. These include jumping over flames with a bear, avoiding obstacles in a small vehicle and completing target challenges. The activities are basic and occasionally depend on luck, but they provide a welcome break from the repetitive combat and can award health, items or extra lives.
A particularly strange shortcut allows Tim to walk back through the entrance curtain at the beginning of several stages and advance directly to the boss. Whether this was intentional or an overlooked flaw is unclear, but it makes it possible to skip much of an already short game.
Graphically, Circus Caper is colorful but technically unimpressive. Clowns, animals and oversized bosses suit the setting, while some of the more bizarre enemies are genuinely memorable. Backgrounds are often plain, animation is limited and busy scenes suffer from flickering and clipping. The cheerful circus visuals can also become unintentionally unsettling when combined with flying clown heads and aggressive performing animals.
The music is appropriately upbeat, with a few catchy stage themes, although the short loops quickly become repetitive. Sound effects are sparse and provide weak feedback during combat, adding to the uncertainty caused by the poor collision detection.
Circus Caper has enough odd ideas to make it an interesting historical curiosity. The temporary platform, weapon selection, bonus games and extensive localization separate it from more generic NES platformers. Unfortunately, none of these elements is polished enough to overcome the clumsy movement, cheap damage and repetitive stages. Dedicated collectors may appreciate its bizarre atmosphere and Japanese origins, but most players will find one of the weaker action games in the NES library.
Developed by Advance Communication Company and published by Toho in North America in 1990, Circus Caper is a side-scrolling NES action game created from the heavily altered Japanese title Moeru! Oniisan. Its strange circus setting, varied weapons and optional minigames give it a distinctive identity, but poor hit detection, stiff controls and erratic level design make the adventure more frustrating than entertaining. Rating: 4/10.
The story follows Tim and his younger sister Judy, who want to visit the circus but can afford only one ticket. Tim allows Judy to enter alone, but she never returns after the performance. The sinister ringmaster Mr. Magic reveals that she has been kidnapped, sending Tim through six stages filled with clowns, animals, acrobats and other hostile performers.
The premise was created specifically for the Western release. In Japan, the game appeared in 1989 as Moeru! Oniisan, based on a comedy manga and anime series. The localization replaced the original characters and story with generic circus imagery, removed much of the dialogue and altered parts of the structure. Many enemies, bosses and stage layouts were retained, which helps explain why the finished game often feels disconnected and nonsensical.
Tim can walk, duck, jump, punch and kick. His basic attacks have extremely short reach, forcing him to move dangerously close to enemies. Punches frequently appear to pass through targets, while enemies can damage Tim despite seemingly missing his sprite. The kick is useful against smaller creatures, but it is equally awkward to position correctly.
Collectible weapons make combat slightly more manageable. Tim can throw hammers horizontally, roll soccer balls along the ground, use a spinning yo-yo and deploy bombs that damage everything on the screen. Each weapon behaves differently, encouraging limited experimentation against particular enemies and bosses. However, ammunition is restricted, and losing a useful weapon can leave Tim poorly equipped for the next difficult section.
The most unusual ability is a temporary brick that can be placed in mid-air. It creates a small platform, allowing Tim to cross large gaps or reach higher ledges. This is a clever idea, but the brick can be difficult to position accurately and disappears quickly. The unreliable controls make sections built around it considerably more awkward than intended.
Each stage contains enemies that respawn when Tim moves even slightly backward. Combined with severe knockback, this can trap him between multiple opponents or push him directly into pits and water. Platform edges are difficult to judge, jumps feel stiff and certain hazards activate before the player has enough time to react.
The difficulty is extremely uneven. The opening stage immediately introduces knife-throwing clowns, collapsing platforms and alligators whose mouths repeatedly open beneath Tim. Later areas include tightropes, caves, flying sequences and more conventional corridors, but several are easier than the first level. Bosses are usually simple once their patterns have been learned and often provide less resistance than the stages preceding them.
Some levels contain doors leading to circus-themed bonus games. These include jumping over flames with a bear, avoiding obstacles in a small vehicle and completing target challenges. The activities are basic and occasionally depend on luck, but they provide a welcome break from the repetitive combat and can award health, items or extra lives.
A particularly strange shortcut allows Tim to walk back through the entrance curtain at the beginning of several stages and advance directly to the boss. Whether this was intentional or an overlooked flaw is unclear, but it makes it possible to skip much of an already short game.
Graphically, Circus Caper is colorful but technically unimpressive. Clowns, animals and oversized bosses suit the setting, while some of the more bizarre enemies are genuinely memorable. Backgrounds are often plain, animation is limited and busy scenes suffer from flickering and clipping. The cheerful circus visuals can also become unintentionally unsettling when combined with flying clown heads and aggressive performing animals.
The music is appropriately upbeat, with a few catchy stage themes, although the short loops quickly become repetitive. Sound effects are sparse and provide weak feedback during combat, adding to the uncertainty caused by the poor collision detection.
Circus Caper has enough odd ideas to make it an interesting historical curiosity. The temporary platform, weapon selection, bonus games and extensive localization separate it from more generic NES platformers. Unfortunately, none of these elements is polished enough to overcome the clumsy movement, cheap damage and repetitive stages. Dedicated collectors may appreciate its bizarre atmosphere and Japanese origins, but most players will find one of the weaker action games in the NES library.
