Balloons are simple items that increase your score when popped. They can either float on their own or be carrying something. They have appeared in every game in the Balloon Fight franchise, being the namesake of the series.
Appearance[edit | edit source]
In their first appearance in both Vs. Balloon Fight and the NES game, Balloons came in a variety of different colors depending on how they were being used. The Balloon Fighters used red and blue Balloons, the Balloon Birds used either pink, green, or yellow Balloons, and the larger Balloons in the Bonus Stages and Balloon Trip could either be green, orange, or red. For both Balloon Birds and the larger standalone Balloons, their color indicates their point value.
In the Sharp X1 port of Balloon Fight, the standalone Balloon colors were changed to being red, blue, and magenta, with the addition of a fourth tier of green Balloons. Pink and green Balloon Birds also were changed to have white and cyan Balloons, respectively.
The Balloons in the Game & Watch game are a key part of the game's story, as they carry pieces of a map which leads to Oiram Repus. Compared to the Balloons seen in the first two games, these are smaller but have longer strings and have a small capsule tied to the end of the string. The Balloon Man also carries two Balloons, which although monochrome in-game due to the screen's limitations, are shown to red in the game's art.
Due to the screen of the Game Boy, all of the Balloons in Balloon Kid are gray. However, in the game's color remake, Balloon Fight GB, most of the Balloons are red, except when the player pops twenty in a row and they turn into double Balloons, where the one behind is light blue.
In Tingle's Balloon Fight, the colors are carried over from the original two games, but with the addition of having Rupees, the currency of the Legend of Zelda franchise, tied to the end of the strings of the standalone Balloons. In four-player multiplayer, each player is given Balloons which match the color of their suit. Tingle has green Balloons, Ankle has pink Balloons, Knuckle has blue Balloons, and David Jr. has white Balloons. However, the character which you're controlling will always have one red and one blue Balloon on your screen.
In Nintendo Land: Balloon Trip Breeze, there are five different colors for standalone Balloons: green, yellow, purple, red, and white. They have a polka dot pattern on them, and hold a small triangle-shaped weight on the string. Balloons Birds all have yellow Balloons, and the player has red Balloons.
Function[edit | edit source]
If the player floats into a Balloon, it will pop and in most cases give the player points. If the Balloon was holding another player or an enemy, and they don't have any Balloons left, they will fall. While free-floating Balloons can be popped from any angle, ones that are supporting a character can't be popped from below.
In the Game & Watch game, 25 Balloons must be popped before the player can move on to the next phase.
In Balloon Kid and Balloon Fight GB, popping 20 Balloons in a row will cause the rest of the Balloons to become Double Balloons, although they will revert back to normal if the player lets any go off screen. Similarly, in Balloon Trip mode in the NES game, popping 20 in a row without letting any pass will cause their color to change and their point value to increase.
Other Games[edit | edit source]
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.
Points[edit | edit source]
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)
| 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
Balloon Kid
| Type | Item/Character | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Single (Red) | Item | 100 |
| Double (Red/Blue) | Item | 200 |
| Single | Enemy | 0 |
Pink Balloon + Green Rupee
Tingle's Balloon Fight
| 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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
- 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.
- In Balloon Kid, there was a power-up called the Power-Up Balloon that gave you invincibility when you popped it.
- The Vs. Balloon Fight title screen looked a lot more like it was made out of Balloons, but the NES version likely did not have this due to a lack of space.
- In the NES game, Balloons can be popped even after they've floated off-screen in some cases because their hitbox extends farther down than the sprite.
