PixlBit

Crazy Balloon

Released: 1980

Pitch: Guide the swinging balloon to the goal with precise controls.

Crazy Balloon is, in my opinion, a frustrating stress simulator. There is a maze of pointy objects waiting to pop your balloon and you need to navigate your ever-swinging balloon through it unscathed. I assumed before playing that there would be some balloon phyisics involved. That would be interesting, at least, but no. Other than the constant swinging, your balloon sits motionless if you don't push any buttons. Once I finally got through the first level—which took several tries—the second level turned out to be exactly the same but with some moving pointy bits and that's where I noped out. I don't like this kind of gameplay and if they're not even going to save the recycled levels for later down the line, I'm not going to play.