Famicom Mini: Balloon Fight

As part of the Famicom Mini line of Game Boy Advance games, Nintendo re-released Balloon Fight as the 13th game.
== Differences ==
The game is being directly emulated, so there are no differences in the standard gameplay. However, the game was modified so that the two player game is removed from the title screen until the system is connected to another player's system. It also allows the player to save their high score through the L + R menu. 
The most apparent difference while playing are the "squished" visuals. While the other Game Boy Advance ports use the same method to shrink the screen, the sprites were modified slightly in this release to better accommodate the smaller screen. 
== Availability ==
This game was first released on May 21st, 2004 in Japan only. Although North America and Europe had a similar line of re-released NES games under the NES Classics name, Balloon Fight was not released in those regions.
However, this was not the first nor the only port of Balloon Fight to the Game Boy Advance. Two other ports exist, though they contain less features. The first was included in Animal Crossing on the GameCube, and could be downloaded to a Game Boy Advance through a link cable. There was also a version distributed through a set of five e-Reader cards known as Balloon Fight-e.
A leaked prototype of a Famicom Mini compilation for the Chinese iQue Game Boy Advance has surfaced online, featuring several different previously released titles accessible through a rudimentary menu. Interestingly, it includes Balloon Fight, but with an English menu.
== Cartridge ==
Like most other Famicom Mini series games, the plastic of the cartridge shell is red on the front and white on the back instead of the normal dark gray all-around of most Game Boy Advance cartridges. The cartridge came inside a plastic sleeve which was inside the small Famicom box replica.
== Multiplayer ==
The game could be played in two-player mode, although the option doesn't appear until the Link Cable or Wireless Adapter was plugged in on both systems and the multiplayer option (the option third from the top) was selected from the emulation menu by pressing R and L. Once the game was downloaded to the other device, the two-player option becomes available. From this point, the two players could play together, or they could become disconnected, at which point the other player can press start and then still play the single player version of Balloon Fight until they power the system off. While playing through the Wireless Adapter, the signal strength is shown in the top-right, and an unstable connection will cause both games to lag.
== Trivia ==
* The packaging included a removable smaller cardboard box which contained the actual cartridge. This smaller box was basically a shrunk-down version of the original Famicom game's box, complete with all the art and text on the sides of the box.
* This game was available as part of a collector's set through Japan's Club Nintendo service. The collector's edition included three cases of 10 games each, and each case contained one of the three series of Famicom Mini games. Balloon Fight was in the second series, and the sleeve around the collector's case depicted many Balloon Fight characters alongside the characters of the other games from that set.
* At one point, a collectible eraser was made of this game, which was a light blue Gameboy Advance cartridge-shaped eraser with the label and inner box of this release of Balloon Fight.
*In Daigasso! Band Brothers, one of the songs is called the "Famicom Mini Medley," specifically featuring music from games which were released as part of the Famicom Mini line. This included music from Balloon Fight.
* Tetris DS appears to use similarly squished sprites from this version.
*Although many sprites were changed to be optimized for the Game Boy Advance, some were only partially fixed.
**Most Balloon Bird sprites have been reworked, although the idle airborne animation was not. This causes the head to occasionally change size.
**On the title screen, most tiles for the logo were fixed so that they wouldn't flicker. However, two tiles in the top of the "G" were left unchanged, and do flicker.
**Most of the tiles for the Clouds are fixed so that they don't flicker. However, two tiles in the bottom-left of the sprite do flicker.
**All unused graphics, such as the large white Cloud and Ceiling from Vs. Balloon Fight, are left untouched.
== External Links ==
* Official Website: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n08/fmk2/balloonfight/index.html
Category:Games
Category:Handheld Games
Category:Remake Games
Category:Balloon Fight Games