Balloon Fight

Name: Balloon Fight
Year: 1985
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Arcade
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: N/A

In my review for Excite Bike, I suggest that of the original sixteen games released for the NES (also known as the "black box series"), only Super Mario Bros. and Excite Bike enjoyed popularity in America past their initial run.  You might be wondering, are their any other black box games that still hold up?  The answer is a resounding yes.

Balloon Fight is a game developed by Nintendo and originally released to arcades in 1984.  Conceived as a "clone" (gamer slang for "rip-off") of arcade classic Joust, Balloon Fight expanded upon the formula in enough ways to become a memorable game in it's own right.  In the main game, you play a balloonist who flies around platforms, popping your enemies' balloons while trying to avoid getting your own balloons popped.  When an enemy's balloon is popped, they plummet to the ground, and if they land on a floating platform, you have a few seconds to finish them off before they inflate a new balloon and return as a more powerful opponent (in the tradition of games like Mario Bros. and Bubble Bobble).  Falling into the water underneath the platforms is instant death, and if you hover too near, a hungry fish waits to attack friend and foe alike.  Other obstacles, such as clouds that shoot lighting and the bumpers from Smash Bros, serve to further compound matters.

Balloon Fight improves upon the basic Joust formula in several ways.  First of all, the controls are stronger, and you'll never die from a cheap shot you couldn't react to.  The slippery momentum is gone here, making the controls more about judging how fast you should flap your arms (to gain lift) at any certain time.  There's more level variety here, too; the first three levels serve as a practice, similar to Joust, and then levels four through twelve cycle indefinitely.  Each level has it's own layout and placement of obstacles to keep you on your toes.

The biggest addition here, and something I wish a lot more NES arcade ports had done, is the addition of a second, simple but awesome mini-game called Balloon Trip.  Basically, it's Flappy Bird, almost twenty years before Flappy Bird existed.  You navigate your balloonist through a never-ending randomly generated maze of electric sparks to get the highest score possible.  It's challenging yet oddly relaxing at the same time, and easily qualifies as it's own game, making the fifty dollar price tag a lot easier to swallow.

Balloon Fight is at it's heart a Joust clone, but it expands upon the formula in so many ways, and came out so much earlier then Joust's NES port, that you could be forgiven for assuming Joust ripped off of Balloon Fight.  The greater variety of levels, plus the addition of the excellent Balloon Trip mini-game, makes this "tribute" a clear superior to it's predecessor.

Graphics & Animation: 2 (Average)
The graphics are simple but charming; I especially like the way the enemy bird-men use a bicycle pump to re-inflate their balloons.  Little touches like this, and the animation on the collectible balloons, show how much a little extra attention can elevate a game.

Music & Sounds: 1 (Bad)
The Balloon Fight theme is actually pretty catchy; too bad what you'll mostly hear during gameplay is the annoying bicycle-squeak sound effect of enemy's flapping their wings.  The other sound effects are pretty satisfying, especially popping balloons, and the theme does play on loop during the Balloon Trip game.

Controls & Level Design: 4 (Excellent)
The controls here are great, giving you the perfect blend of challenge and precision.  The level design is a little on the simple side, with little variety, but  it lends itself well to the constant chaos happening on screen at any given time, and the randomly generated nature of Balloon Trip (a rarity on the NES!) means you can play endlessly without getting bored.

Story & Presentation: 2 (Average)
In true arcade fashion, their's basically no story whatsoever (the manual doesn't even give the poor balloonist a name).  The presentation is simple but appealing, with little touches like an animated balloon serving as your menu cursor elevating things a little.  I especially like the fact  that the whole of the game takes place at night, with stars always twinkling in the background; it provides a nice change of pace from the usual "blue skies and clouds" background of so many platforms on the NES.

Length & Replayabilitiy: 3 (Good)
Easily one of the best of the one-screen platform games on the NES.  You can get into that arcade groove, but things are hectic enough that you can never truly relax, and the randomly generated mazes of Balloon Trip ensure you can play forever without getting bored.

Total: 12 (Average)