Review 16: Balloon Fight (NES)

Balloon Fight is a game that was released in Japan on January 22, 1985. Featuring an unnamed Balloon Fighter, it has had numerous ports and remakes made for it, including one featuring the character Tingle from The Legend Of Zelda. So what this game all about? Let's find out.




Gameplay: 8/10


There are three modes in this game: 1 Player Mode, 2 Player Mode and Balloon Trip. 1 Player Mode is the main mode, in which you start with three lives. In it, you can use the control pad to go left or right and repeatedly press the A or B buttons to go up. If you stop pressing the button(s), the Balloon Fighter goes down. The point of the game is to pop all of the enemy Balloon Fighter's balloons by bumping into the balloons and then knocking them down, while at the same time not allowing them to pop your two balloons, in which case you will lose a life. It is also possible to lose a life by accidentally falling into water, getting eaten by a fish if you're too close to said water, or getting hit by lightning. 


At the same time, like any other good NES game, there is a points system. Points can be earned by popping enemy balloons, knocking the enemy down, popping the bubbles which appear after the fallen enemy is off the screen, or by popping balloons (without a fighter) in a bonus round, which happens after every 2 stages.


The next mode is the 2 Player Mode. It is exactly the same as the first mode, except a second player can join in for a co-operative game, meaning you can't pop the balloons of the other player. The only thing about these two modes are the controls: When you first get into the air, it's extremely hard to move left or right, and although that changes after a while, it makes stopping hard as well, even if you're trying to flap in the opposite direction.


Finally, the last mode is Balloon Trip. It could be considered as a different game altogether, as the gameplay is very different than the first one: Here, the screen is side-scrolling, and the objective is to collect as many balloons as you can while not falling too deep or touching any of the lightning sparks. You only start off with one life in this mode, making it even more difficult.


All in all, the gameplay of this game is very addictive, and having an extra, completely different mode certainly doesn't hurt it at all.




Graphics: 7/10


The graphics here certainly aren't the best, but they're not too bad either; as in, not as good as the graphics of Super Mario Brothers 3, but better than that of Super Mario Brothers. Not much else to say here.


Music: 6/10


The main problem in this game is that during most of the game, you will not hear any music. Instead, you will hear a bunch of high-pitched noises as you flap around and try to get the enemy, which can be a little annoying at times. To my knowledge, the only background music is the music that plays in the bonus round/Balloon Trip mode, and although it's catchy, it's not enough to give the "soundtrack" a good rating. 


Replay Value: 10/10


This is one of those games that has an addictive quality as soon as you start playing. Somehow, to me popping balloons while not trying to get popped yourself is pretty dang fun, and it makes you want to get as far as you possibly can in the game, which also goes with Balloon Trip. There's just something about it that makes you not want to stop.


Overall: 8/10


Marred only by its lack of a soundtrack and difficult controls, Balloon Fight is a great game that is vastly underrated. It has overall good gameplay, three modes and a great addictive quality, so why not get it? It's available on the Virtual Console for only 500 Wii Points.