Jim Henson's Muppet Adventure: Chaos at the Carnival is a Minigame Game developed by MicroMosaics and published by Hi Tech Expressions, based on the The Muppets. It was initially released for the Apple II computer, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS in 1989, but received a port to the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990.
The plot is that Miss Piggy was pignapped by the corrupt carnival owner Dr. Grump and held captive, and it's up to Kermit and the rest of the Muppets to rescue her by overcoming Dr. Grump's fiendish carnival games. You play as each of the Muppets — Kermit, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, and Animal — in four unique carnival attractions that can be completed in any order, which reward you with a key upon success. Collecting all four minigames unlocks the final minigame, as the player takes control of Kermit in a last showdown with Dr. Grump and his fearsome Grumpasaurus monster to save Miss Piggy.
Muppet Adventure: Chaos at the Carnival contains examples of the following tropes:
- 1-Up: Certain stages in the NES version contain items that the Muppets can collect to gain extra rides. The River Ride has buoys that Kermit can collect, the Space Ride allows Gonzo to rescue Camilla from space capsules, and the Cave of the Grumpasaurus has Miss Piggy's various belongings for Kermit to grab.
- Adapted Out: The Home Computer versions also feature Scooter and Rowlf as playable characters, but they are nowhere to be found in the NES version.
- Amusement Park of Doom: The Muppets have to get through four — or five, depending on the version — dangerous carnival attractions to save Miss Piggy.
- Attack Its Weak Point:
- The evil space station in the NES Space Ride needs to be shot in a pair of white orbs that appear in the center of its body — not too dissimilarly from the space stations in Bosconian — in order to be damaged.
- In the final battle with Dr. Grump, Kermit needs to aim his hearts so that they fly up and land on top of Dr. Grump's head. Hitting him from below will cause the heart to harmlessly bounce off.
- Auto-Scrolling Level: In the NES version, the River Ride and Space ride stages both have the screen moving forward automatically at all times. Kermit moves forward at the same speed as the screen in the River Ride, while Gonzo can move around the automatically-moving screen freely in the Space Ride.
- Big Bad: The Evil Doctor Grump, who runs a wicked carnival and kidnapped Miss Piggy.
- Cartoon Bomb: The main obstacle of the Car Course are red spherical cherry bombs with a visible fuse on top. These bombs are the only thing in the stage that can actually damage Animal, and should be avoided at all costs.
- Damsel in Distress: Miss Piggy was captured by Dr. Grump and the player has to rescue her.
- Disney Villain Death: In the NES version, the Grumpasaurus is defeated by falling from the high ledge you encounter it on after being tickled enough times by Kermit's feather.
- Excuse Plot: Miss Piggy has been kidnapped and held captive by an evil carnival owner and his pet monster. Are you a bad enough Muppet to save Miss Piggy?
- Game-Breaking Bug: The PC versions are extremely buggy, particularly the MS-DOS version which soft-locks at the drop of a hat. Of note is in the Bumper Car minigame where if the player is unlucky enough to have an obstacle spawn directly on top of them, the game will freeze.
- Game-Over Man: When the player runs out of rides in the NES version, they receive a message from Dr. Grump:Dr. Grump: Ha ha ha. I win! To rescue Miss Piggy, you must play again.
- Guide Dang It!: The PC versions of the game do not tell the player that their versions of the Space Ride minigame operates under an unseen time limit. When this time limit expires, the player immediately receives a Non-Standard Game Over wherein the spaceship takes off of the top of the screen and their Muppet crashes, ending the game.
- Improbable Weapon User: In the final stage of the NES version, Kermit goes to confront Dr. Grump while armed with a feather that he uses to tickle his enemies. Said feather also gains the ability to fire out hearts during the final boss fight.
- Level Ate: The walls of the Amazing Maze are made from giant ice cream floats that Fozzie must navigate around. Later stages introduce a giant candy cane to act as an enemy.
- Hearts Are Health: All of the characters have a "Power Meter" consisting of five hearts that they lose when they get hit, with the player losing one of their "rides" when they run out.
- Macguffin: The NES version has you going through the various attractions to collect a key at the end of each one. Once you have all four of them, the final level becomes available."When you have all four keys, look for the evil doctor and his nasty Grumpasaurus monster."
- Maze Game: The Amazing Maze, as advertised. Fozzie must navigate a series of maze-like stages built from giant ice-cream floats to collect the bow ties and wrapped presents to move to the next one, all the while avoiding the barkers trying to catch him.
- Mini Game Game: Both the NES and Home Computer versions of the game are these, with — besides the Space Ride and the last level with Dr. Grump, and even those are wildly different between them — different rides depending on the version you're playing:
- The NES version has the River Ride, Car Course, Space Ride and Amazing Maze.
- The Home Computer version has the Tunnel Of Love, Bumper Cars, Fun House, Space Ride and Duck Hunt.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Doctor Grump is a doctor of something, but we don't know. And how exactly did he get his hands on the Grumpasaurus he sics on you in the final stage?
- Oil Slick: Small puddles of oil can be found on the road during the Car Course. Animal's bumper car will briefly spin out of control if he runs over them.
- Reformulated Game: The NES version of the game bears little in common with the PC versions outside of having the same plot, and most of the minigames function much differently than their PC counterparts.
- Ring-Out Boss: In the NES version, Kermit has to defeat the Grumpasaurus by using his feather to push it backwards until it falls off the series of platforms the fight takes place on.
- Roaring Rapids: The River Ride game. Kermit travels down a river in a kayak, and has to dodge obstacles such as rocks, floating logs and whirlpools to reach the end.
- Stationary Boss: The evil space station at the end of the Space Ride remains positioned in the center of the screen once the screen stops scrolling, and never moves from this position, instead attacking Gonzo by firing bullets and sending enemy ships after him.
- This Just In!: The intro blurb takes the form of a news article that explains the situation:NEWS FLASHMISS PIGGY PIGNAPPED!Notorious carnival owner Dr. Grump is prime suspect.Superstar pig may be captive on carnival grounds.Kermit and the Muppets to attempt daring rescue.
- Video-Game Lives: "Rides" in this case. The player has a set number of chances to clear the minigame, with Dr. Grump winning if you fail. You don't get them at all in the Home Computer versions, with you having to start the game over entirely if you lose once.
- A Winner Is You: Upon completing the game, you get a screen wherein Miss Piggy tells you: "Oh, thank you, oh, thank you! But it sure took you long enough!" An in-character response from Miss Piggy for sure, but not especially satisfying.
