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Ladies and gentlemen. Boys and girls and wild ones of all ages. Step right up, I welcome you to come on in, inside The Electric Circus. Though Golden Goblins' interpretation of a three-ringed wonder might not be quite the same as that of W.A.S.P.'s, the message is the game. The circus is a place of marvel, a tent where you can see all the wonders of the world, all in one place in front of your steamin' eyes.

Which is probably why recently everybody has started doing games based around the home of clowns and large amounts of sawdust. Circus Circus, then Circus Games, and now Circus Attractions, which, even though the idea is a bit dull, is a very entertaining game.

The most impressive thing about the game are the graphics. They are, quite simply, stunning. Some of them are huge, like the juggler for instance. For the rest of the game, scrolling (where there is any) is pixel-smooth, all sprites are amazingly well designed, drawn and animated. All I can say is... Wow!

But does the rest of the game match up? Well, to a certain extent, yes. I think the only reason that it could be short-lived is the fact that it only has six events, albeit that they do take a bit of mastering. When trampolining, you have to judge the right points to bend your legs and thrust upwards when trying to gain height, as well as carrying off somersaults to keep the crowd interested. Tightrope walking is simply a matter of knowing when to lean left, when to lean right, and when to do the right thing at the right time. Juggling is almost as difficult as the real thing. Move the joystick left at the appropriate time when a ball lands in your man's left hand. Push right to make him throw a club into the air with his right hand. Pull down to make him kick a balance ball into the air with his left boot. Push up to make him jump over the turtles (?) that race along the floor.

Knife throwing is also a matter of timing. Learning when to take a knife, and when to let go of it, is the key to success. Jumping clowns calls for you to plan their trajectory to ensure that they make it to the other side of the ring and land on the board safely.

Not the best game in the world, but quite a long way from actually being bad. An excellent second release from Golden Goblins, and I definitely look forward to seeing more. Now, who wanted the popcorn, who wanted the candy floss and who wanted the chocolate-coated raisins?