PixlBit

A high-flying adventure that takes you where no child has gone before

Balloon Kid is the sequel to the beloved NES game Balloon Fight (released in North America in 1986), and is far greater in size and scope. Where BF is a simple game, offering two simple modes of play, BK is in comparison much larger, offering three modes (and remember, this is a Game Boy game). BK was released in 1990 and was developed/published by Nintendo. 

BK is a platformer, but not your typical one. Using balloons, you can float your way through the levels, but there are plenty of hazards to avoid. The game offers three modes: the main adventure mode, two player mode, and a challenge mode entitled "balloon trip." The adventure mode is comprised of eight stages, surprising since this is a GB game (those stages aren't short either). 

What devious person would put all those balloons on a little boy? Oh, he did it himself? Oops.

Unlike BF, this game actually has a story. When you begin the adventure mode, the protagonist (a girl named Alice) will watch in horror as her little brother floats away in a cloud of balloons; why is he floating away? Who knows, we never find out, but it's the basic premise for a great game. Now Alice must don balloons of her own and fly off to rescue him! Alice will traverse some dangerous terrain, including skies of terror, beaches filled with dangers, a mysterious forest, even going inside a giant whale, and eventually making it to Antartica, where penguins are keen on popping those balloons. Yes, Alice will go to the ends of the earth to save her brother. 

The gameplay is simple. You press the A button to float in the air, pressing it again and again to go higher, and holding off to lower. The B button will cause Alice to let go of her balloons, but be careful, she's very vulnerable without them. On foot, she can run and jump, but she's very slippery to control. Should you find yourself without balloons, simply pressing down on the control pad will have Alice pumping more balloons. You can only have two balloons at a time; if one pops, it would be best to find some land and pump up another one, otherwise if you're hit again, goodbye, Alice! 

There are all kinds of obstacles to avoid. In the air, watch out for birds, bolts of lighting, rain clouds, falling spikes, and other airborne objects. On land, enemies can harm you such as flaming jumping dudes (I have no idea what they're supposed to be), beach crabs, walruses, spikes, and other things. And should Alice hover too close to the water, a giant fish will jump up and try to grab her by the keister and pull her under! This is no adventure for the faint of heart! 

Throughout each level, you'll want to do your best to collect as many balloons as possible; at the end of the level, the balloons are tallied up and your score is given. I thought it was funny that if you fly too high during the first level (the beach), you'll hit a brick ceiling. Who built a brick ceiling over the beach? Of course, I know it's there because otherwise some lazy gamer would just fly super high and avoid all the obstacles in the level, so good job, programmers. 

                                      "I think I took a wrong turn."

I mentioned that there were eight levels; each even-numbered level contains a boss at the end. The first two are extremely simple; in fact, it's nearly impossible for them to hurt you. The other two, however, are a little more difficult. The first level is very easy, getting you acclamated to the controls. Half-way through the game, however, the difficulty is ramped up as you notice how fast the screen is scrolling. Suddenly, sparks of doom appear in the sky; should you touch one, BZZZZZ, Alice is electrocuted to death. It gets pretty insane. The last level especially is difficult as Alice is forced to let go of her balloons and run and jump through most of the stage (which is hard because she's so slippery). 

I almost forgot to mention that most of the stages have bonus levels. You will see a giant Game Boy; enter it to find yourself in a room with four pipes. Balloons will come out of the pipes and you are tasked with collecting them all. This happens while the original Balloon Fight theme plays. If you get all the balloons, you will receive a 1-up. The game is generous in handing out 1-ups throughout the adventure, which appear in the form of a heart floating through the level. Most levels also contain a power-up which makes Alice invincible. The scrolling speeds up as you fly through and try to hit as many baddies as possible; the invincibility lasts for a long time before it ends. 

           I thought the beach was supposed to be a safe, friendly place

The level design is done very well. Don't expect to fly at the top of the screen and avoid all the obstacles. Obstacles are found at the top and bottom for Alice, so you will have to figure out how to get past. The sparks of doom (as I call them) can be frustrating and difficult to avoid sometimes. Also, level 4 puts you inside a giant whale, and you must avoid falling teeth and things like that. One of the levels has you inside a cave, with spikes everywhere. Birds can be a huge hindrance in the air; if you run into a bird, you will bounce off of it, but if it hits a balloon, it will pop. In BK, placement is everything. In this the game excels. 

On the surface, it may seem that BK is a nice kid-friendly game. Not so! If anything, it only goes to show in how many gruesome ways a poor little girl can die: electrocuted to death, impaled on giant spikes, scorched to death by flaming dudes, or even eaten by a giant fish! What great lengths to which Alice is willing to go to save her brother! In the end, however, it's all worth it. 

The music is fantastic in BK, and no wonder, it was composed by the legendary "Hip" Tanaka. The main theme is awesome, and the ending theme is a medley of themes from the game, done masterfully. Check out the music for yourself below this review. 

The two player mode has one player controlling Alice and the other controlling Samm, who is apparently her eternal rival. The goal is to see who can collect the most balloons before getting to the end of the stage. I haven't played the multiplayer, but I imagine it's pretty fun. 

The Balloon Trip mode has you controlling Alice once again, this time to see how far you can get in the stage. Sparks of doom litter the screen. It's a challenge for sure, especially when those sparks begin moving around. If anything, you don't want Alice to become fish food. 

Final Verdict--4 Stars: Recommended

BK is a wonderful little game. One reason it's so great is because Gunpei Yokoi was the producer (the man who created Metroid and the Game Boy). It's simple, fun, and charming. And it offers quite a bit for a GB game. It's available on the 3DS Virtual Console, and I would certainly encourage you to buy it if you've never played it. Here's hoping that Nintendo gives Alice another chance to fly into the sky in a future game. 

Join me every Saturday as we take a look back at all kinds of retro games, good and bad.