Kick (video game)
Kick is an action video game where the player controls a clown on a unicycle catching falling balloons and "Pac-Man" characters on the clown's hat. It was released in arcades by Midway in 1981. The game was later renamed Kick Man (sometimes written as Kick-Man). Commodore published a Commodore 64 port in 1982 without the space in the title as Kickman. Gameplay. The player controls a clown on a unicycle who moves left and right along the bottom of the screen. Balloons dislodge from several rows at the top and fall. The goal is  to catch them on the clown's hat. As the stack of caught ballons grows taller, it becomes more difficult to catch them on the first try. If a balloon falls below the top of the stack, pressing the "kick" button when near the clown's feet launches it back into the air. The main character and ghosts from "Pac-Man" sometimes stand-in for balloons, having different effects. If an object hits the ground, then the player loses a life. "Kick" also has a bonus stage. Cancelled Atari 2600 port. In 1982, an Atari 2600 version of the game  was commissioned by Midway as part of a planned attempt at entering the home video game market. Ultimately deciding against it, Midway sold the port to CBS Electronics, where, despite being nearly complete, it was cancelled for unknown reasons. In 2019, a prototype cartridge was discovered and dumped online. Reception. "Electronic Games" wrote in 1983 that the game had been unsuccessful despite "top-notch background graphics and special sounds for effects. Can you imagine a game featuring Pac-Man that "didn't" make it? "Kick Man" is it." The Commodore 64 version was somewhat better received, gaining a Certificate of  Merit in the category of "1984 Best Arcade-to-Home Video Game/Computer Game Translation" at the 5th annual Arkie Awards. Legacy. Utopia Software published a clone called "Pinhead" for the Atari 8-bit family in 1982.