Balloon Fight [Model HVC-BF]

Balloon Fight © 1985 Nintendo.

Portage of the 1984 arcade game; "Vs. Balloon Fight".

Balloon Fight is a single/fixed screen action game. The player takes control of a floating character equipped with a helmet and two balloons tied to his back, and the action buttons allow him to quickly flap his arms, and to fly like a bird and defy gravity. The goal of each stage is fairly simple - our atypical hero must fly around the screen and clear all the rival balloon fighters. As he hits them from above and pops their balloons, they slowly parachute to the ground and must be kicked into the water, and this before they even get a chance to inflate another balloon and burst into battle again.

Once an enemy is defeated and sinks to his doom, a bubble slowly floats up and can be collected for points. Of course the player is not immune to enemy attacks, and if one of his balloon pops, then his ability to fly becomes greatly restricted, and one more hit sends him plunging into the water. And that's not all, storm clouds are dotted around each stage and start shooting lightning bolts if the player lingers too long in a single level. Furthermore, one of the most dangerous challenges of all is the large hungry fish that lives in the water - if the player (or an enemy) happens to fly too close to the bottom of the screen, the predatory fish will try to gobble them in one bite.

Finally, a bonus stage awaits the player every three levels, in which he has to pop twenty balloons within a time limit for bonus points. The game includes a simultaneous two-player mode as well as a single-player game called 'Balloon Trip', in which the goal is to fly forward, avoid lightning bolts and collect balloons for points.