Cirqus Voltaire
First Released October, 1997
Zen Build Released December 10, 2019
Main Platform: Pinball FX
Switch Platform: Pinball FX 3
Designed by John Popadiuk
Conversion by Peter “Deep” Grafl
Set: Williams Pinball Collection 2 ($23.99)
Links: Internet Pinball Database Listing – Strategy Guide – Pinball FX Wiki
Cirqus Voltaire is a tale of two pins. More than any other table in the Pinball FX lineup, this one feels like the normal display modes and the vertical display modes are fundamentally different. In my house, we exclusively play in vertical mode. In fact, the only time I’ve played otherwise is in order to gather media for this review. It’s just a matter of preference since vertical “feels” real, and yes, it can change the table’s quality. Here, it feels dramatically different. Game-changing different. Mind you, this is already a table that uses different camera angles than any others usually found in Pinball FX or Pinball M. This was done to take advantage of Cirqus Voltaire’s unique scoreboard that’s under the glass at the rear of the playfield. So it’s already got the look of an entirely different pinball game by an entirely different studio. In the standard horizontal TV view, Cirqus is unplayable, becoming a houseball machine. It was kind of insane how many different ways the table mechanics threw the ball straight between the flippers. The vertical mode does it too, but not so much that it feels broken. Maybe. We debated whether this should be OUT OF ORDER or not and couldn’t come to a unanimous agreement, which is the standard we require. In fairness, it didn’t come close to the votes needed. But that we had enough reasons to debate it in the first place sure ain’t a good thing.
We were pretty unanimous in agreeing that Pinball FX’s build of Cirqus Voltaire is one of the worst translations Zen has ever done. It’s a terrible version, frankly. This is a table we gave a clean scorecard to in the Pinball FX 3 build (and I awarded a score of GREAT) and it just picked up three BAD ratings from my team, including one from me. That’s a drop of two ratings. I just couldn’t keep the ball alive, regardless of whether I was making my shots. Something in the mechanics would ice it. Not that this build shoots well. Rebounding is unpredictable since you never know what kind of reaction the ball will have with a solid surface. Plus, this has the floatiest physics in Pinball FX. Actually, I’d swear that Cirqus has its own gravity. It also doesn’t help that the problems with Pinball FX’s physics engine are compounded on a table this tightly packed. Things like how the ball doesn’t bounce or ricochet in a way that resembles real life hurts this one more thanks to a flipper gap you can drive a steamship through. The ball gets hung-up on the mechanic to the left of the Ringmaster and just falls lifelessly down the drain. If you play well enough, it’s likely to happen once a game. It’s certainly the floatiest table in Pinball FX. I’d say it looks kind of like playing pinball underwater, only if the gravity were lighter than water. Dad wasn’t bothered. He thinks Cirqus Voltaire was always a house ball conjurer and quite overrated. His position is that it’s a fine table, but kind of generic and certainly nothing special, especially without the charm of playing on a real pinball table with neon lighting and the DMD under the glass. Maybe he was right all along.
Cathy: BAD (2 out of 5) GREAT on Pinball FX3 (4 out of 5)
Angela: BAD (GOOD on Pinball FX3)
Oscar: GOOD (3 out of 5)
Jordi: BAD
Dash: GOOD
Sasha: GOOD
Dave: GOOD (Pinball FX 3)
Elias: BAD (Pinball FX 3)
Pinball FX Scoring Average: 2.5* – OKAY AT BEST
Pinball FX3 Scoring Average: 3.0 – GOOD
*The Pinball FX and Pinball FX3 versions of Cirqus Voltaire play RADICALLY differently.
Some review copies were provided in this review, others were paid for.
THREE TYPICAL AVERAGE KIDS..
INSIDE A HAUNTED MANSION..
JUST BY CHANCE..
FREED A GHOST..
WHO MADE THEM BEETLEBORGS!
BIG BAD BEETLEBORGS!
BIG BAD BEETLEBORGS!
HEY LOOK NOW!
THEY’RE SUPERHEROES..
ARMED WITH SUPERPOWERS..
TAKEN FROM A COMIC STRIP..
AND NOW THEY’RE BEETLEBORGS!
BIG BAD BEETLEBORGS!
BIG BAD BEETLEBORGS!
Well, that’s what the ringmaster looks like.
(Dracula and Frankenstein shots taken from Monster Bash)
The Pinball Chick 
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