Balloon Fight
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| Balloon Fight | |
| Developer | Nintendo R&D1 Hudson Soft (MZ-1500, PC-8801, Sharp X1) |
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| Publisher | Nintendo Hudson Soft (MZ-1500, PC-8801, Sharp X1) |
| Platforms | Arcade, iQue Player, NES, PC-8800 series, Sharp X1, Zaurus, GBA, e-Reader, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, NES Classic Edition, Nintendo Switch |
| Released | Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System Japan: January 22, 1985 United States: June 3, 1986 Europe: March 12, 1987 Arcade (PlayChoice-10) Worldwide: 1986 PC-8801 Japan: October 1985 Sharp X1 Japan: November 1985 Zaurus Japan: September 2001 Nintendo 64 (Animal Forest) Japan: April 14, 2001 GameCube (Animal Crossing) Japan: December 14, 2001 North America: September 15, 2002 Japan (e+): June 27, 2003 Europe, Oceania: September 24, 2004 Game Boy Advance Worldwide (e-Reader): September 16, 2002 Japan (Famicom Mini): May 21, 2004 iQue Player (Animal Forest) China: June 1, 2006 Wii (Virtual Console North America: July 2, 2007 Japan: November 13, 2007 Europe: June 8, 2007 Oceania: June 8, 2007 Nintendo 3DS (Virtual Console) North America: May 2, 2013 Japan: August 22, 2012 Europe: May 2, 2013 Oceania: May 2, 2013 Wii U (Virtual Console) North America NA: January 23, 2013 Japan: April 27, 2013 NES Classic Edition/Famicom Mini Japan, Oceania: November 10, 2016 Europe, North America: November 11, 2016 Nintendo Switch (Nintendo Switch Online) Worldwide: September 18, 2018 |
| Added to Museum |
GC (Animal Crossing): January 20, 2003 NES Classic: June 22, 2017 FC Mini: August 10, 2017 e-reader: January 20, 2018 |
Balloon Fight is a single screen action game by Nintendo. It is the home version of VS. Balloon Fight, the game that used the VS. System for use in arcades. It was released for the Family Computer on January 22, 1985, and for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America on June 1986. It was one of the thirty games included with the NES Classic Edition and the Famicom Mini, which was released on November 10, 2016.
Story
A nameless balloon fighter has two balloons attached to a helmet, and variates the flying height in order to drop down on opponents to pop their balloons.
The goal of the game is for the balloon fighters to pop all of the balloons of the enemies, while keeping their own balloons afloat.
Balloon Fight can be played with a single balloon fighter, or with two balloon fighters in two player cooperative mode.
There is also an additional mode called Balloon Trip, in which the goal is to avoid lightning while collecting balloons, aiming to get the high score.
Development
Balloon Fight was simultaneously developed for use in arcades using the Nintendo VS. System, as well as for the Family Computer, the Japanese version of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Because both systems share the same processor, the code for the Famicom version was shared with the team making the arcade version. The VS. System version did have a few differences from the Famicom version, due to the fact that it had slightly more capable hardware.
Versions
The Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment System version had three modes, A was the single-player mode, B was the two-player mode, and C was the aforementioned Balloon Trip mode. When Hudson Soft ported the game to the computers that were popular in Japan at the time, the NEC PC-8800 series and Sharp X1, they retained all three modes. The Nintendo Entertainment System version, with the three game modes, was released to arcades in 1985 using the PlayChoice-10 system. This system allowed gamers to choose between ten Nintendo Entertainment System games. To allow the games to be played in an arcade, a separate CPU was used to control the game select, give hints for the game, and display a timer. The timer would end the game session, but the gamer was allowed to play as many games as they wanted until time ran out.
Retro gaming took off in the early 21st century, as gamers who grew up with the games of the 1980s and 1990s became adults. In lieu of this, Balloon Fight was re-released several times, for many different systems. It was ported to the Sharp Zaurus personal data assistant in 2001. In 2002, the Nintendo Entertainment System version was re-released for the Game Boy Advance e-Reader unit, which allowed gamers to scan in cards to play games or get in-game add-ons for Game Boy Advance games. In 2004, the Famicom version was re-released in Japan for the Game Boy Advance on a cartridge.
It has been available on all of Nintendo's Virtual Console digital distribution platforms. It was released for the Virtual Console on Wii in 2007, on 3DS in 2011, and on Wii U in 2013. It was released for the NES Classic Edition microconsole in 2016. It was also released on the Nintendo Switch NES online emulator, with an online multiplayer function, in 2018.
Sequels
It spawned a sequel for the Game Boy titled Balloon Kid (released for the Game Boy Color in Japan as Balloon Fight GB and for the Famicom as Hello Kitty World). There was also a remake for the Nintendo DS starring Tingle, from The Legend of Zelda series, titled Tingle's Balloon Fight.
