Cirqus Voltaire
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| Manufacturer | Midway Games |
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| Release date | October 1997 |
| System | Midway WPC-95 |
| Design | John Popadiuk, Cameron Silver |
| Programming | Cameron Silver |
| Artwork | Linda Deal (aka Doane) |
| Mechanics | Jack Skalon, Louis Toy |
| Music | Rob Berry |
| Sound | Rob Berry |
| Production run | 2,704 |
Cirqus Voltaire is a 1997 pinball game, designed by John Popadiuk and released by Midway Games (under the Bally label). The theme involves the player performing many different marvels in order to join the circus. Some of the captivating features include a neon light running along the right-hand ramp, a pop bumper that rises up from the middle of the playfield at certain times, and a mini-playfield at the top of the center ramp with a magnet to catch the ball for locking. The most notable feature is the Ringmaster, a head that rises at certain times and makes cracks against the player.
It was the first Williams/Bally pinball machine missing a real replay-knocker, a device driven by a coil to produce a loud bang when hammering against the wood of the cabinet or backbox. Instead this sound effect was pre-recorded and played via the regular speakers. It was also the second machine (after Capcom's Flipper Football, released in 1996) to move the dot-matrix display (DMD) from the backbox right into the cabinet, so the player isn't distracted from gameplay when watching the DMD (an idea that was taken to the maximum with the Pinball 2000 architecture two years later).
This games features nine "marvels" the player must complete before they are invited to "Join the Circus." Each string of marvels leads to one letter, so that when all marvels are complete, the word C-I-R-Q-U-S is spelled, and the player must shoot either the left or right orbit to try and join the cirqus.
The Ringmaster normally resides below the playfield, but after lighting the three WOW targets, he rises up and makes cracks at the player. There is a magnet underneath the top, and he will trap the player's ball. After challenging the player, the ball is randomly thrown somewhere onto the playfield. The game includes a brief ball saver mode, just in case he throws it into the drain.
There are five diamonds around the Ringmaster's neck. After hitting the Ringmaster five times, he rises up to reveal a hole underneath. Shooting the ball into the hole defeats the Ringmaster. Depending on the game's settings, this may start a multiball mode.
The first time the player confronts the Ringmaster, he always says "I am the Ringmaster. Defeat me for the Ringmaster marvel."
After that, he has other things to say:
At other times, when the Ringmaster is not visible, but the ball passes over him and hits a WOW target, the magnet will switch on and change the path of the ball, and trigger a response.
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