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Balloon Kid is a video game for the Game Boy console that was developed by Nintendo. The original game was never released in Japan. The Japan exclusive game Hello Kitty World however, was released for the Famicom in March 27, 1992 as a port and remake of the game, which replaced the main protagonist Alice with Kitty White and her younger brother Jim with Tippy Bear, amongst other more minor changes.
It is a sequel to Balloon Fight, a popular video game on the NES. In Single Play mode, the player Alice adventures past her hometown Pencilvania, a stage with pencil shaped skyscrapers in search for her little brother Jim.
A remake of the original game was later released exclusively to Japan in 2000 titled Balloon Fight GB for the Game Boy Color. It upgraded the original game in various ways; for example by adding a world map, save function and a Super Game Boy border. Balloon Fight GB was available on the now discontinued Nintendo Power download service from August 1, 2000.
Plot[]
Gameplay[]
Single Play mode[]
The player controls Alice, through eight stages; a girl who is searching for her younger brother Jim via two balloons. It plays much like Balloon Fight, though rather than being in one small tight place, the player is able to adventure and go through new areas. If both of Alice's balloons pop, she will either lose a life or land on safe ground depending on where she lands. If Alice approaches water, she will be eaten by a fish similar to the one in Balloon Fight called Floppy Fish according to the game manual, or Flicky Frog in Stage 7.
If both of Alice's balloons pop and she lands on safe ground, then the player will have to re-inflate new balloons to stay afloat. If just one of the balloons pop, then it will be more challenging to control Alice. Unlike Balloon Fight, it is possible for the player to remove all balloons and walk on the ground and jump. Occasionally, the player will have to remove all balloons to reach certain bonuses. It is even essential to do this on stages 6 and 8.
VS Play mode[]
This mode requires a Link Cable and another Balloon Fight game. In VS Play mode, player one controls Alice and player two controls Samm; who is Alice's rival. The player who gathers the most balloons in three rounds wins.
Balloon Trip[]
Balloon Trip involves Alice traveling through an endless stage and attempting to travel the furthest distance possible without sinking or getting struck down by a Spark. The 'aim' of this mode is to beat the previous highscore (or the default highscore of 25,000) and receive rank 1/50, much similar to the Balloon Trip mode from the original Balloon Fight. Grabbing balloons on the way can also increase the score and reduce the rank. The ranking system starts at 50 and gradually decreases in constant score intervals starting from rank 49 depending on the player's highscore. [1]. The highscore doesn't save in Balloon Kid when the game is powered off, but it is saved in Balloon Fight GB. Oddly, the stage isn't actually infinite, as flying for a long enough distance will actually bring you to an end of the level, which simply acts as a kill screen. This is almost impossible to reach without cheat codes or other game alterations.
Development[]
Reception[]
External links[]
- Balloon Kid at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Balloon Kid at GameFAQs
- Balloon Kid at MobyGames