| Balloon Fight: Aerial Ace | ||||
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| Developer(s) | Amuza | |||
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo | |||
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 3DS | |||
| Genre(s) | Action | |||
| Series | Balloon Fight series | |||
| Release Date(s) |  June 16, 2014 June 16, 2014 June 16, 2014 June 16, 2014 | |||
| Mode(s) | Single-player Multiplayer Online | |||
| Age Rating(s) |   
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| Media Included |  Digital Download
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Balloon Fight: Aerial Ace (バルーンファイト：空のエース！Balloon Fight: Ace of the Skies! in Japan) is the second direct installment in the Balloon Fight series, developed by Amuza and Nintendo. It was released on the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U eShop on July 16, 2014 worldwide.
It is a sequel to the 1985 game, Balloon Fight, and generally retains the same gameplay mechanics. However, there are numerous new modes of play, each adding something unique to the Balloon Fight series.
Nintendo eShop Description[]
Balloon Fight is back and bigger than ever! Take flight in 8 different modes including the high-flying Helium Fly or take it old-school with the classic Balloon Fight. With new modes, new items and new customization, everything's new in Balloon Fight: Aerial Ace!
Gameplay[]
The main gameplay elements of the original are retained, with the player flying through the sky on balloons. The player controls a Balloon Fighter, which will usually be their Mii, and can customize their balloons and clothes. The Balloon Fighter has two balloons attached to their helmet which enables them to fly around.
Gameplay of Balloon Trip in the Wii U version
Balloons represent the players life, meaning that if the player runs out of balloons they will lose.
- Get hit by an enemy
- Fall into the water
- Get eaten by the fish near the surface of the water
- Get hit by lightning
- Get hit by one of the games items
In total, there are eight modes of play each with their own gameplay. They consist of: the Balloon Fight mode where the goal is to defeat all the enemies on screen before they defeat you, Sky Races mode where the goal is to come first in fast-paced races, Game of Balloons where the goal is to win the most amount of minigames, Balloon Quest where the player goes across a side-scrolling world on a journey to stop Balord, the Balloon Trip mode where the goal is to avoid obstacles on a side-scrolling level, Helium Fly where the goal is to fly upwards without getting trapped and taken into the thunderclouds, World of Balloons where the goal is to complete tasks for people in the world and Balloonboards where you can compete in daily challenges and get ranked on a world leaderboard.
Also in World of Balloons, the player is given their own home they can decorate with the credits they earn from completing tasks. In their home is the options and settings functions as well, including the customisation for character appearance and balloon type/colour.
Items[]
In the Balloon Fight, Sky Races and Balloon Quest mode, special items can appear to wreak havoc on your enemies. When an item box appears, the first player, or enemy, to run into the item box will get the item. There are currently an unconfirmed amount of items in the game.
| Item | Description |
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Watch out for this spiky nuisance barreling towards your balloons. Throwing this dart will freak your friends as they try to avoid it, or get one of their balloons popped. |
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When being big is just to big, take a shrinking potion to make yourself small! Your enemies will have a much harder time trying to hit you now. |
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If your arms are tired from flapping them in the air, strap on a pair of angel wings to quickly fly around the place. With the angel wings, flying has never been so fast... and dangerous! |
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When rubber isn't enough, cover your balloons in a thick golden layer. Not only will your balloons shimmer in the sky, but they'll even be able to take an extra hit. But be warned, gold has it's weight too. |
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Because what could be more fun than sabotaging your friends! With the Helium Pump you can now force your friends into slowly flying upwards without their control. |
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The magical rainbow is here to save your day! When under the influence of the rainbow, your Balloon Fighter will be completely protected from any damage for a limited time. Plus, any enemy you'll touch will lose a balloon until the Rainbow's effects wear off. |
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This horn really is super! It lets off a large shockwave to tell your enemies you mean business. If anyone comes into contact with it, they'll lose a balloon, and any item around you will be destroyed by its power. |
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Now the mighty lightning bolt is at your disposal! Shock your enemies with this electric fueled attack. Watch the lightning bolt fly across the sky and make your enemy's hairs stand on end. |
Modes[]
In Balloon Fight: Aerial Ace, there are many different modes to play, each with their own different gameplay. There is a total of 8 different modes in the game which all are based around different gameplay features and mechanics to differentiate each of them. Some modes can be played with multiple players and some even have online functionality.
| Logo | Description |
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Battle against computers, your friends or even anyone in the world! Compete to pop all your enemies balloons before all your's are popped. You can also team up to fight waves of enemies before they beat you, but watch out for the fish!
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It's a day at the races for the Balloon Fighters! Take flight in races with up to eight Balloon Fighters and make a hectic dash to get to the front of the pack. Nothing is simple in this fast-paced racing game.
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In a battle of wits, skills, and everything in between, all cards are off the table! Pit it out against opponents in an assortment of mini-games that will test you to your limits. With many ways to play, it's a sure fire way to get the party started.
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Oh no! Balord has sent his army of duckees to drop bombs over the world! Quick, fly across to Balord's Lair and defeat that little pest before his army bombs the world.
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This single-player game will get your Balloon Fighter round the world and back. Travel across stages collecting balloons but watch out for the nasty enemies. Compete for the highest score on the world leaderboards, or just your consoles leaderboards.
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Up, up and away! Fly up high into the sky using your helium filled balloons, but don't get stuck otherwise you'll end up taken away in the thunderclouds. Reach the cosmos in this high-altitude, high fun game.
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Welcome to the World of Balloons, not everything is easy in this world though! Complete missions for the people and deck out your home with your hard earned credits.
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Everyday is a new challenge! Test your skills in daily or weekly challenges and see where your score stands up on the world leaderboards. Make sure to compete everyday to see where you stack up against the world!
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Balloon Fight[]
In Mode A, one or more players team up to defeat a waves of enemies that appear on the screen. Each player starts with three lives. In Mode B, it's a free for all brawl. Each Balloon Fighter attempts to pop all the other Balloon Fighter's balloons before their balloons are popped. The players balloons can get popped in numerous different ways, either by getting hit, falling into the water or getting eaten by the fish. The items in the game can be used in this mode.
Enemies[]
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Sky Races[]
One to four players race against computers, friends or online and try to come first. Tracks are set in 2D or 3D, and are always randomly generated and set in the Morning, Afternoon, Evening and Night portions from the Balloon Trip mode. The items in the game can be used in this mode.
Game Of Balloons[]
The Game Of Balloons mode is a collection of numerous different minigames that you and computers, friends or anyone online can compete in. There are a total of 20 minigames ranging from Free-For-All, 2 Vs 2 and 1 Vs 3 types of games.
Minigames[]
| Free-For-All | ||
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| Name | Gameplay | Controls |
| Bad Eggos | Collect more eggs that fall from the sky than your rivals. But be careful, running into rotten eggs will cause you to drop some eggs! | A: Fly Joystick: Move |
| Crash Landing | Balord has popped your balloons and your falling through the sky! Make it to the ground first to be saved by the Pencilvania Balloon Corps. | Joystick: Move Joystick: Move |
| Is It A Bird? | A sign will reveal the object you will have to look around for, and the first one to find and collect the item three times will win. | A: Fly Joystick: Move |
| Gone With The Wind | A large hurricane has appeared to take the Balloon Fighters. Be the last person flying outside of the hurricane to win. | A: Fly Away |
| Lights Up, Lighthouse | The Balloon Fighters are surrounded by lighthouses with blinding lights. Avoid the light to stay up in the air, as the last player flying wins. | A: Fly Joystick: Move |
| Bull Over | Bulls are on the loose, and they're headed straight for you. With not enough air to fly away, you'll have to jump over the bulls for the longest to win. | A: Jump |
| Ball-oon Boy | The Balloon Fighters are being ball boys and girls. Catch the most amount of the flying baseballs to win. |
A: Fly |
| Around the World in 15 Seconds | Fly around the world the most amount of times in the time limit to win, all whilst avoiding the obstacles trying to slow you down. | A: Speed Up Joystick: Move |
| Fighter Says | The Balloon Fighter will tell everyone to do a task in the world. Whoever finishes the task first wins. Careful not to get tricked up on his fake tasks! | A: Fly B: Pick up Joystick: Move |
| Hot Balloon | Keep your balloons cold to avoid them popping around the fire. The last balloons standing wins! | A: Fan B: Fan |
| 2-Vs-2 | ||
| Name | Gameplay | Controls |
| Ball Fight | It's a ball fight! Throw balls at the enemy team and hit them before they hit you. | A: Fly B: Pick up/Throw Joystick: Move |
| Fly Fighter Fly | One player is attempting to fly in a hazardous sky, while the other player is attempting to stop the obstacles from hitting their teammate. Last team standing wins! | Flying Player A: Fly Joystick: Move Protecting Player |
| Sugar Rush | One player is on a sugar rush whilst the other throws sweets at them to speed them up. Whoever flies the furthest wins! | Flying Player A: Fly Joystick: Move Sweets Player |
| Armageddon | One team drops obstacles on the other team who are flying through the air. If the flying team is still alive after the time limit ends, they win. But if they're gone from the air, then the other team wins! | Bomb Team A: Select hazard B: Use hazard Joystick: Move crosshairs Air Team |
| Balloonatic | Numerous balloons fly around the field. The first team to pop all of their colored balloons, wins! | A: Fly Joystick: Move |
| 1-Vs-3 | ||
| Name | Gameplay | Controls |
| Fly Bye | The three players fly around while the lone player controls tornados and tries to make the team players get caught in a tornado and fly away. | Lone Player Stylus: Create tornados Team |
| Eye of the Arrow | The lone player shoots arrows towards the team players and attempts to pop each balloon the team players have. | Lone Player Stylus: Cast arrows Team |
| Fish Out Of Water | The lone player flies high above the water on three balloons, whilst the team players shoot cannonballs and try to pop the lone players balloons. | Lone Player A: Fly Joystick: Move Team |
| Up, Up And Away | The lone player presses a set of six buttons to pump up their balloon, whilst the team players each press 2 buttons to pump up their balloon. Whoever's balloon goes the highest, wins! | Press buttons that appear |
| Night Light | The team players fly around Pencilvania at night with a torchlight searching for the lone player, who attempts to not get found to win. | Lone Player A: Fly B: Hide Joystick: Move Team |
Balloon Quest[]
Balord has sent his army of Duckees to bomb the world. Your balloon fighter has to make their way across the world to get to Balord's Lair and defeat him to stop his army. This mode functions like Balloon Trip except with levels.
Levels[]
| Levels | |
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| Pencilvania | |
| 1-1 We're off to See Balord | Your Balloon Fighter quest starts off right here, in Downtown Pencilvania. A simple level which introduces the gameplay as you fly through the metropolis. |
| 1-2 Greylead | It's time to head on up to the tip of the skyscrapers of Pencilvania, the town made of pencils. Be careful though, those greyleads are sharpened to a point! This is not going to be an easy flight. |
| 1-3 Good Knight | The sun has disappeared and the Pencilvania nightsky is brightly lit. Unfortunately, it's past curfew and the Pencilvania Police are on patrol. |
| 1-4 Highway Flyway | We're finally on the highway out of Pencilvania. Actually, it's the Highway Flyway, which means speeding hover cars are flying everywhere! |
| 1-Boss Lord Duckee Chase | Lord Duckee has appeared to bomb Pencilvania, and he's chasing you back into the city! |
| Mount Puddle | |
| 2-1 Written in the Rocks | Experience the rich oriental history of Mount Puddle, the place where it never stops raining. Unfortunately rain is never good for a balloon! |
| 2-2 Hail, Hail Go Away | A large thunderstorm has hit the mountain and it's a true downpour out here. Be careful though, when hails starts to fall, balloons start to pop! |
| 2-3 Peaktips, Pagodas, and More Puddles | The summit of Mount Puddle is so high up it's covered in ice! The chilly atmosphere will send your Balloon Fighter into a big chill so you better not stay out there for too long, the pagodas will be a perfect spot to take refuge. |
| 2-4 Game Show Slopes | From the top to the bottom, it's time to fly down Mount Puddle's ski slopes! It seems like the ski slopes got a remodelling, and has been amped up into a hazardous route like a game show. |
| 2-Boss The Abominable Snowman | The Abominable Snowman is not letting your Balloon Fighter off Mount Puddle that easy. Defeat him quickly before he bombs the entire Mount Puddle and sends it out of this world, never to be seen again. |
| Spring Willows | |
| 3-1 I Heart Blossoms | Spring Blossoms is in full bloom! But don't be fooled, this charming place also has some harmful creatures despite its beautiful scenery. |
| 3-2 The One in the Great Tree | To continue on, it looks like you're going to have to scale the Great Tree of Spring Willows. While one side of the tree blooms, the other side wilts, and it's here you'll find the nastiest creatures. |
| 3-3 Cruising The Cascades | Now way up high, it's time to head back down along the Spring Cascades, where the waterfalls flow wildly and every which way. Beware of The Fish, it's everywhere! |
| 3-4 No Stop For Picnics | You've never seen beautiful rolling hills like these before... because these ones are really rolling and moving! It'll be hard to navigate through here with nothing staying still. |
| 3-Boss Night of the Living Flowers | Hidden away in the darkest corners of the wilting blossoms, the living flowers have risen up and are prepared to bomb the rest of the willows. Quick, stop them! |
| Balord's Lair | |
| 4-1 Entering The Lava Lair | Entering Balord's Lair is not going to be easy, especially with all this lava around which is looking to burn you to a crisp. |
| 4-2 Clockwork Red | Now inside, it's time to discover what Balord is living with. Clocks? You better get out of this place before the clocks squash you and your balloons into nothing. |
| 4-3 Tomb Invader | Balord is not letting you through his lair that easy. He's set up a number of booby traps for you to suffer through, and to make it worse, it's time to head through the dim catacombs in the lair. |
| 4-4 Dethroned | Balord is finally on the horizon, and he doesn't seem to like that idea as he's set out his toughest enemies to get you. Watch your back or risk never leaving this place. |
| 4-Boss It's Him? Balord!? | Finally, it's time to show Balord who's boss. Go give that guy a good kick up the bum. |
Balloon Trip[]
Similar to the Balloon Trip Breeze attraction from Nintendo Land, players use the GamePad screen to make a gust of wind which moves the player through the 2D side-scrolling stages.
They will have to avoid obstacles on their way and use the stylus to create air gusts, as well as destorying the many things in your way. The mode cycles through days and times of day to mark you progress. After passing through a Morning, Afternoon, Evening and Night section, the player will progress to the next day.
Enemies[]
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Helium Fly[]
One-player is flying in a vertically scrolled stage and has to get as far as they can without reaching the bottom of the screen. To get to the bottom of the screen, the player either has to get caught under obstacles for a long enough time or simpy fail to press A which raises the players altitude.
World Of Balloons[]
The World Of Balloons mode features a 3D world for the first time in Balloon Fight. The player is given jobs to do in the world such as carrying a present from one person to the other or buying something for another person. The game is intergrated with Miiverse so anyone can post a mission for someone to complete for them.
The player also receives a house in this mode that they can customise with the credits they earn from completing tasks. Credits can be spent at the many different shops across the world. In the house, the player can customise their Balloon Fighter, as well as access the settings and options of the game.
Balloonboards[]
Much like Challenge Mode in Rayman Legends, Balloonboards is a game where Daily Challenges are uploaded for anyone to compete in. The challenges range from "Make It As Far As You Can" to "Survive In The Hurricane". The better the score the player gets, the higher up the leaderboard they go. If a player is in the Top 10, their Nintendo Network ID is highlighted down the bottom of the screen.
Gallery[]
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References to other Games[]
- Galaga: The enemy, Gullaga, is a mockup of the name galaga and they act like enemies from galaga.
- Ice Climber: A mountain with what appears to be the Ice Climbers on it, can be seen in various modes.
- Balloon Fight: The default Male Balloon Fighter is based on the original Balloon Fighter. Balloon Fight and Balloon Trip modes both appeared in this game.
- Super Mario series: In the Balloon Quest level, 3-4: No Stop For Picnics, it is possible to see Princess Peach's Castle. A Toad House also appears on the map in World of Balloons.
- Tomb Raider: Level 4-3 of Balloon Quest, known as Tomb Invader, is a reference to the series.
- Star Fox Assault: The player will fly through the Orbital Gate, with it acting as an obstacle, if they reach high enough in the Helium Fly mode.
- Mario Party 7: The minigame Balloonatics appears as an altered minigame in Balloon Fight: Aerial Ace.
- Super Mario Galaxy: Numerous miscellaneous things from the game appear in the background of Helium Fly if the player goes high enough into space. A Gearmo constellation, Good Egg Galaxy and the Cosmet Observatory are some of the things seen.
- Nintendo Land: Duckees are the common enemy that appeared in Balloon Trip Breeze.
- Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze: An exact replica of one the games levels appears in 2-2: Hail, Hail Go Away in Balloon Quest.
- Mario Kart 8: The Super Horn originated from this game.
Trivia[]
- In the Wii U version of the game, a Wii Remote can join and help out in any of the single-player modes.
- The default Balloon Fighters are based off of the original Balloon Fighter from Balloon Fight, and Alice from Balloon Kid, the sequel to Balloon Fight.
- Various retro Nintendo games can be seen in an arcade window during the Balloon Quest level 1-1. They include Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, and strangely Rhythm Heaven.
- A popular rumour went around after release, suggesting that the arcade could be entered and all the games seen through the window could be played in full form. This has never been confirmed, however.
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