Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Release: 06/86 Genre: Action
I am not usually one to chase high scores. Even in the heyday of the arcade it was rarely my thing. It takes a truly exceptional game for me to want to engage with a repetitive gameplay loop over and over. Balloon Fight is one of those titles. What I initially dismissed as a throwaway title in the early days of the NES instead became a game I actively competed for high scores with my friends. With its innovative use of physics and simple yet engaging gameplay Balloon Fight is excellent.
Balloon Fight was originally one of Nintendo’s earliest arcade games. This made it an easy candidate for a NES port and the conversion is near flawless. It is even better in a few ways. There are also versions for Japanese PC platforms like the PC-88 and Sharp X1. The game is highly regarded within Nintendo as they make it a point to re-release it as often as possible. To this day Balloon Fight is available on almost platform they have released in some form.
The NES version of Balloon Fight differs from the arcade in terms of its physics, controls and AI. Both buttons flap with A functioning as the standard flap while B is essentially rapid fire and enables a smooth float. The physics were altered ever so slightly for smoother motion and feel more realistic rather than the rigid controls of the Vs. arcade unit. Enemies will actively try to avoid you instead of simply attacking aggressively which makes the game more fun. It makes you work with the controls and physics to achieve victory. Lastly the playing field is confined to a single screen which eliminates blind hits. These are all (mostly) simple changes yet they have a profound effect on the game for the better.
The inspiration for Balloon Fight is very clearly Joust. Both feature aerial protagonists whose main goal is to gain the high ground and eliminate their competition. Both games feature great use of physics as you must manually flap to propel yourself higher with momentum and positioning playing a key role. There are differences however. Where Joust has a single mount your balloon fighter has two balloons strapped to their head. Balloons make for larger targets and even though you have two compared to the enemies one losing any is detrimental. Losing a balloon immediately affects your ability to maneuver. The only way to recover is to die or survive until the bonus round.
The biggest difference and what separates Balloon Fight is its level design. Rather than a single map each of Balloon Fight’s twelve levels is unique. While they begin with a few simple platforms combined with the game’s physics they make every stage feel unique. The enemies begin each level inflating their balloons, giving you a chance to wipe them out quickly. At first they are slow but soon they pump them out fast and some possess smart AI. A few features are there for complexity: bumpers will send you flying in a random direction which can be dangerous and lightning clouds generate sparks that add another element to keep track of. The job is not done once you pop a balloon either. If they land on solid ground they will attempt to become airborne once more. It’s the simple yet frantic pace that makes balloon fight so fun.
Even though I enjoy the single player mode where I spent most of my time was the Balloon Trip. This is NES exclusive and is an endless obstacle course that challenges you to survive as long as possible on a single life to accrue as many points as possible. The initial set of sparks and balloons are always the same but after one round they become randomized. The incentive to play longer comes in ranking up the balloons for more points; every 20 balloons ranks up. It sounds simple but due to the random nature of this mode it can be tough. I spent many hours in Balloon Trip and even now can still return to it for a quick run. I would have loved more elements to spice it up like enemies but what is present is varied enough.
In Closing
Balloon Fight is a great game and one of the bright spots of the early NES lineup. It is a bit limited but its core premise is so great it exceeds that. The game is still fun to play for brief bursts even today. Balloon Fight may not be the first game I return to but is quality nonetheless.
