| Balloon Fight | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Nintendo R&D1[1] |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Yoshio Sakamoto[1] |
| Composer(s) | Hirokazu Tanaka[2] |
| Platform(s) | Arcade Game, MSX, NES, PC-88, Watara Supervision, e-Reader, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube (Animal Crossing game), Sharp X1, Virtual Console, Zaurus |
| Release date(s) | Arcade
Game Boy Advance
3DS Virtual Console
|
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, up to 2 players |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system | Nintendo PlayChoice-10 hardware |
| CPU | Z80, N2A03 |
| Sound | Nintendo, DAC |
| Display | Raster, 256 x 480 pixels, 320 colors |
Balloon Fight (バルーンファイト Barūn Faito) is a 1984 video game developed by Nintendo. The arcade version (Nintendo VS. system) was released in 1984 and the Nintendo Entertainment System version was released in 1986. The gameplay is similar to the arcade game Joust by Williams Electronics.
Contents |
The player controls the unnamed Balloon Fighter with two balloons attached to his back. Repeatedly pressing the A or B buttons causes the Balloon Fighter to flap his arms and rise into the air. If a balloon is popped, the player's flotation is decreased, making it harder to rise. A life is lost if both balloons are popped by enemy Balloon Fighters, if the player falls in the water, gets eaten by the large fish piranha near the surface of the water, or is hit by lightning.
There are two modes of play: the 1-player/2-player game where the goal is to clear the screen of enemies, and Balloon Trip where the goal is to avoid obstacles in a side-scrolling stage. Balloon Trip is not available in the arcade version.
Defeat all of the enemies on screen to clear the stage. This mode can be played alone, or co-operatively with a second player. Each player starts with three extra lives.
Enemy Balloon Fighters float around the screen and the player must hit their balloons to defeat them. The enemy can also fall into the water or be eaten by the fish while flying close to the water's surface. If an enemy is defeated or falls into the water, a bubble will rise up the screen which can be hit for extra points. As play progresses through the stages, the number of enemies and platforms increases.
Every three stages is a bonus stage, where the goal is to burst all of the balloons that float up the screen from the chimneys at the bottom.
A single-player game where the goal is to avoid the lightning sparks and collect the balloons, aiming to move up the ranks and compete for the high score. The player starts with one life.
The game was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Japan-only NEC PC-8801, the Sharp X1, the Game Boy Advance as Balloon Fight-e for the e-Reader and part of the Famicom Mini Series in Japan. It can also be played in Animal Crossing for the Nintendo GameCube. Nintendo released a port on the Nintendo 3DS as part of its Ambassador program.[3]
Nintendo released a Game & Watch version of the same name, based on the NES version's Balloon Trip mode. The protagonist is a Balloon Fighter, "Balloon Man" (according to the manual). Unlike Balloon Fighters, Balloon Man uses a rocket suit instead of flapping his hands to elevate while holding balloons.
A sequel to Balloon Fight called Balloon Kid was released on October 1990 in North America and on January 31, 1991 in Europe for the Game Boy,[4] which expands from the game's roots and revamped it into a full platforming adventure. This title was not released in Japan on the Game Boy, but colorized versions titled as Hello Kitty World (developed by Character Soft) for the Famicom and Balloon Fight GB for the Game Boy Color were only released in Japan.
Caltron Ind Inc. released a 6-in-1 multi-cart featuring a conspicuous game titled Adam and Eve with game play suspiciously similar to Balloon Fight, essentially a generic version of Balloon Fight.
Balloon Fighter and Flipper trophies are obtainable in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and the Flipper is also a usable item, replacing the Bumper from the previous game. The Balloon Fighter was considered for a playable role during the development of Super Smash Bros. Melee, but the Ice Climbers were chosen instead.[5] The original background music for the Balloon Trip in Balloon Fight can be heard in Melee's Icicle Mountain stage as alternate music.[6] The giant fish makes a cameo appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It appears on the Ice Climber-based stage, the Summit, in which it tries to attack the players from the sea.[7] In addition, a remixed version of the main theme, titled "Balloon Trip" is available for the Summit stage as well. Stickers of the Balloon Fighter and the Balloon Fight Enemy can be collected in Brawl.
In the WarioWare, Inc. series, some of 9-Volt's games are based on Balloon Fight. In WarioWare: Smooth Moves, there is also a minigame functioning as a three-dimensional version of Balloon Trip; player use the Wii Remote only for the microgame version, and also use the Nunchuk in the complete 3D Balloon Trip.
The original tech demo for Yoshi Touch & Go was called Yoshi's Balloon Trip. Balloon Fight is the theme for Touch Mode in Tetris DS, although the mode itself has almost nothing to do with the game other than the music and decorative graphics.[8]
On April 12, 2007, Club Nintendo released Tingle's Balloon Fight, an exclusive game featuring Tingle, the Nintendo character who originated from the Legend of Zelda series. The game included the original "Balloon Fight" mode, and also an additional mode titled "Balloon Trip", where Tingle attempts to cross the ocean in a balloon. A gallery that contained concept art was also included, where each piece could be unlocked by completing specific in-game tasks.[9]
On June 8, 2007, Balloon Fight was released in Europe on the Virtual Console available for 500 Wii Points. It was later released in North America on July 16, 2007, and Japan on November 12, 2007.
The Piranha Plant boss in Mario Party DS used the same gameplay principal as Balloon Fight except that Mario drops bomb seeds instead of popping enemies balloons and then kicking them.
In the Manga series Hellsing By Kouta Hirano, almost every chapter title is a video game reference. Chapter 44 (Vol 6 Ch 7 in the Graphic Novel) was titled "Balloon Fight".
In the RPG series Earthbound, the two games Mother and Earthbound have a place called Magicant that represents the mind of a person, the main character in each game may meet the flyingmen who look like the enemies in Balloon Fight, but they will fight alongside you instead of against you.
| Name | Released in Japan | Released in USA | Released in Europe | Genre | Released to |
| Vs. Balloon Fight | 1984 | 1984 | Action | Arcade | |
| Balloon Fight | January 22, 1985 | June 1986 | December 15, 1986 | Action | NES/Famicom |
| Balloon Fight | 1985 | Action | PC-88 | ||
| Balloon Fight (Playchoice-10) | 1985 | Action | Arcade | ||
| Balloon Fight | 1986 | 1986 | Action | G&W | |
| Balloon Kid | October, 1990 | January 31, 1991 | Action/platformer | GB | |
| Balloon Fight GB | July 31, 2000 | Action/platformer | GBC/NP | ||
| Balloon Fight | October 19, 2001 | Action | Sharp X1 | ||
| Famicom Mini Balloon Fight | May 21, 2004 | Action | GBA | ||
| Tingle's Balloon Fight | April 2007 | Action | DS | ||
| Balloon Fight | November, 2007 | July 16, 2007 | June 8, 2007 | Action | Virtual Console |
|
|||||