Balloons have appeared in every game in the Balloon Fight franchise, and are the namesake of the series. Popping Balloons is the main way to earn points in every game.
Function
Vs. Balloon Fight, Balloon Fight (NES), and Tingle's Balloon Fight DS
In Vs. Balloon Fight, the NES version, and all of its ports and remakes, there are large, free-floating Balloons which appear in the Bonus Stages and Balloon Trip mode. During Bonus Stages, Balloons will float upward out of Pipes, and the Balloons you pop do not immediately give you points. Instead, the amount you pop is counted up afterward and you are awarded all of the points at once, with the possibility for a Super Bonus if no Balloons were able to float away. In Balloon Trip, these large Balloons immediately grant points based on their color. If the player pops 20 in a row without letting any leave the screen, the Balloons will advance to the next color and become worth more points.
There are also smaller Balloons which support the Balloon Fighters and Balloon Birds. Balloon Birds only have one Balloon, and the color of it determines their speed and difficulty. Balloon Fighters get two Balloons, with the color only differentiating the players. If a player loses only one Balloon, they will not be able to rise as quickly. If any character loses all of their Balloons, they will begin to fall, although Balloon Birds have the ability to parachute safely to the ground and inflate new Balloons if not defeated entirely.
Balloon Fight (Game & Watch)
The Balloons in the Game & Watch adaptation of Balloon Fight serve a role in the game's story, as they carry the pieces of a map which leads to Oiram Repus. In each Phase, the player must collect 25 Balloons in order to progress. While the Balloon Man holds Balloons, they are only decorative and cannot be interacted with in any way.
Balloon Kid and Balloon Fight GB
Much like in Balloon Trip on the NES, there are large Balloons which float in place throughout each Stage. If the player collects 20 in a row without letting any scroll off-screen, all of the remaining Balloons will be upgraded to be double Balloons. However, letting a Balloon escape will revert all remaining Balloons back to normal, unlike the NES game. Alice and Samm fly using two Balloons, and similar to the Balloon Fighters will have difficulty ascending with only one. However, unlike the Balloon Fighters, Alice and Samm are able to drop their Balloons to walk along the ground, as well as being able to inflate new Balloons when standing on the ground. While Balloon Birds do appear in the game and their Balloons can be popped in order to make them fall, there are no points granted for doing so. There is also a Power-Up Balloon item which makes the player invincible.
Balloon Trip Breeze
In the Nintendo Land sub-game Balloon Trip Breeze, the gameplay is similar to Balloon Kid. Large Balloons float throughout the level, and popping 20 in a row without letting any escape will upgrade all remaining Balloons to the next color and point value. Much like Balloon Kid, letting a Balloon escape will revert all Balloons completely. Balloon Birds appear in this game again, including a new variation which has two Balloons. The player's Balloons function similar to how they did in the NES game, since they cannot be dropped or re-inflated.
Appearance
Vs. Balloon Fight & Balloon Fight (NES)
Balloon Birds are suspended by either a pink, green, or yellow Balloon. Similarly, the Balloon Fighters fly using either red or blue Balloons. The larger free-floating Balloons can either be green, orange, or red.
PC ports of Balloon Fight
In the PC-8801, Sharp X1, and MZ-1500 ports of Balloon Fight, the variety of colors is limited by the hardware. Because of this, the colors of some Balloons were changed. Pink and green Balloon Birds are now white and cyan respectively. The larger Balloons can now be red, blue, magenta, and an extra tier which is green.
Balloon Fight (Game & Watch)
The Balloons in the Game & Watch adaptation of Balloon Fight are small and circular with a long string tied to a capsule.
Balloon Kid and Balloon Fight GB
Originally on the Game Boy, all of the Balloons are simply gray due to the color limitations of the system. However, in Balloon Fight GB, all Balloons are red, and the Balloon in the background while they are upgraded is light blue.
Tingle's Balloon Fight DS
While Tingle's Balloon Fight DS is a remake of the NES game, most Balloon colors have been changed. The player will always see themselves with one red and one blue Balloon, and in multiplayer the other players will appear to have Balloons which match their suit color, being either green, pink, blue, or white. The large Balloons in the Bonus Stages and Balloon Trip mode are now pink, green, and yellow, like the Balloon Birds. These free-floating Balloons also now have Rupees, the currency of the Legend of Zelda series, attached to them. These Rupees are small, hexagonal, and gemstone-like. Pink Balloons have green Rupees, green Balloons have blue Rupees, and yellow Balloons have red Rupees.
Balloon Trip Breeze
All Balloons in this game have a faint polka-dot pattern on them. The large Balloons can be green, yellow, purple, red, or white. The player's Balloons are red, and all Balloon Birds have yellow Balloons. The free-floating Balloons have small triangular weights attached to the bottom of the string.
Points
Box Art
Vs. Balloon Fight/Balloon Fight (NES)
| Color | Item/Character | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Green | Item | 300 |
| Orange | Item | 500 |
| Red | Item | 700 |
| Red/Blue | Player | 1000 |
| Pink | Enemy | 500 |
| Green | Enemy | 750 |
| Yellow | Enemy | 1000 |
Balloon Fight (Sharp X1, PC-8801, MZ-1500)
| Color | Item/Character | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Red | Item | 300 |
| Blue | Item | 500 |
| Magenta/Green | Item | 700 |
| Red/Blue | Player | 100 |
| White | Enemy | 500 |
| Cyan | Enemy | 750 |
| Yellow | Enemy | 1000 |
G&W Balloon
Balloon Fight (G&W)
| Consecutive Balloons | Points |
|---|---|
| 0-19 | 1 |
| 20-39 | 2 |
| 40-59 | 3 |
| 60+ | 4 |
Balloon Fight GB
| Type | Item/Character | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Single (Red) | Item | 100 |
| Double (Red/Blue) | Item | 200 |
| Single | Enemy | 0 |
Pink Balloon + Green Rupee
Tingle's Balloon Fight DS
| Color | Item/Character | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Pink + Green Rupee | Item | 300 |
| Green + Blue Rupee | Item | 500 |
| Yellow + Red Rupee | Item | 700 |
| Pink | Enemy | 500 |
| Green | Enemy | 750 |
| Yellow | Enemy | 1000 |
| Green | Character | 1000 |
| Pink | Character | 1000 |
| Blue | Character | 1000 |
| White | Character | 1000 |
| Red | Character | 1000 |
Red/ White Dotted Balloon
Nintendo Land: Balloon Trip Breeze
| Color | Item | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Green/ Yellow Dots | Item | 1 |
| Yellow/ White Dots | Item | 2 |
| Purple/ Magenta Dots | Item | 3 |
| Red/ White Dots | Item | 5 |
| White/ Gray Dots | Item | 10 |
| Yellow/ Light Yellow Dots | Enemy | 10 |
Official Descriptions
In Nintendo Land, a Balloon item can be unlocked for the main plaza, and when you tap on it Monita will say this about it:
"It's just an ordinary balloon. I am trying my very best to resist the urge to pop it."
Also, the manual of Balloon Fight on the Game & Watch states this on the "Appearing Characters" page (Page 6):
"Drifting in the sky with the torn pieces of the hideout map attached."
Trivia
- The Rupee colors in Tingle's Balloon Trip are worth 1 Rupee (Green), 5 Rupees (Blue), and 20 Rupees (Red) in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, which is when Tingle's Balloon Fight seems to take place around. There are Yellow Rupees worth 10 Rupees in that game, but since the Balloon was already Yellow, they might have wanted a contrast in color.
- Balloons are incorporated into the logos of Vs. Balloon Fight, Balloon Kid, and Balloon Fight GB. The NES game's title screen might also be built out of shaped Balloons.
- In the NES game, Balloons can be popped even after they appear to have floated off-screen in some cases because their hitbox extends farther down than the sprite.
- In Nintendo Land: Octopus Dance, the bonus level has green Balloons from Balloon Trip Breeze in the background, carrying various objects and creatures, such as the Octopus, Bulborbs, and Watermelons.
