Retro Roam: Balloon Fight (NES) Review!

Hello gamers, I hope you are doing well.

Welcome back to another episode of my gaming series Retro Roam. In this series like always I'll be sharing some of my experiences of playing retro games, they could be from any area and from any console generation too as long as they have the retro vibe to them.

One of the most influential consoles is the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which was released in 1983 in Japan with the name Family Computer (FC) or Famicom. So many games were made for this console and many of them reached a cult level of following. Let's talk about one such classic game, Balloon Fight.

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Balloon Fight

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In this game, we control a Balloon Fighter which has two balloons attached to its helmet and the goal is to clear the wave of enemy fighters by bursting their balloon and puncturing their parachutes. You will progress to the next level if you successfully manage to defeat all the enemy fighters.

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You start with three lives and lose a life if the enemy manages to burst both of your balloons, you fall into the water or fly close to the water and get eaten by the fish. The later levels have clouds which emit lightning and if you get hit by those you will lose the life no matter how many balloons you have.

We start with two balloons and if one of them gets burst the flotation becomes harder too. But all the enemy fighters start with just one balloon and if you burst it. They will glide down with a parachute and start blowing up air into another balloon. We can kill them by hitting them before they fly again.

Every fourth level is a bonus level where you have to burst all the balloons which float from the pipes placed on the ground. Collecting all of them gives you a bigger bonus. A Super Bonus!

The levels get increasingly challenging as you progress and more platforms will be added to the levels with more enemy fighters. Some of the fighters are better than the others and give more points.

Also, when you kill one of the enemies and they fall into the water, a bubble will rise. Bursting it will give you more bonus points.

Game Modes

There are two game modes in this one.

• Single/Two Player Fights - Clearing one level at a time by defeating all the enemy fighters. You can either play a single-player game or a co-op with another player and both players can even burst each other's balloons which can make this one even more interesting and kind of a PvP too. Each player gets 3 lives only though and the best strategy might be playing together to defeat the enemies but it leads to a lot of accidents which can break your friendships easily...lol

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• Balloon Trip - This is an endless mode where the fighter has to dodge all the lightning and collect balloons as the screen just moves from one side to the other. There are no discrete levels in this one, just an endless mode and only one player can play this one. Also, there is only one life in this mode.

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It is quite fun when you have a friend to play with, whether you choose to cooperate or just take each other out it will sure give you some laughs. I can see why this was such a hit back then. The never-ending quest for getting the high score makes the Balloon Trip mode fun too.

The retro music track is such a banger too, especially the one in the Balloon Trip mode.

Final Thoughts

Balloon Fight is a classic retro experience which gave a lot of gamers a great time. I played it with my cousin back in the time but much later after its release and we loved it. The difficulty is well balanced and controls were quite good, even though there is a floating momentum and drag as you try to change your course. The graphics aren't the best part of it but the gameplay and powerful music make it a great game of its time.

Let me know if you played this one and what were your experiences. I would love to hear your thoughts about it.

Thanks for reading...

#KeepPlaying

Note:

• All the content is mine unless otherwise stated.
• Hive gaming text divider from Raizel posted in Hivegaming Discord Server.