Balloon Kid... I imagine you to be a Balloon Master!

Same here
Just by looking at his username, I knew he was going to be a tough competitor for this game.

EDIT:  Removed old score of 491,400

I'm finally starting to get the hang of this game.  I can do better. 

Score updated... rolled Balloon Fight like a big fat chick. My last pic I did'nt get the phase # in, but I did get a pic in a phase or 2 before. If that shouldn't count, feel free to take the points off...

^^^ That is INSANE.

It's fine,the score is terrible. To my knowledge,I never played this game as a kid and have barely played it period. I should be able to improve,but I'd be surprised if it was a lot.

My tip would be that once I stopped trying to do anything fancy like point-racking, and just focused on rapid progression and acing the bonus levels, I saw my score jump from the low 100k to around 500k...

The best thing you can do is keep lighting off the screen.  Screw the bubbles, screw letting guys power up for more points.  Just kill them all quick, and focus on the fast guys right away.

I'll try this tomorrow although I've never been very good at (or fond of) games with designed flighty controls. Joust is another one that comes to mind.

Wow! Congrats on rolling the score. As for me though, I was close... The later levels are brutal beyond belief! I know I can roll this score!

834300

Thanks dude! Your definitely gonna roll this one too, I feel it coming...

I wonder whats gonna happen after phase 99? Do you think the levels will reset?

I think the NES explodes when that happens.  Or a kill screen. 

Just an excellent score, I'm super impressed!  I doubt I'm gonna roll it but I'm gonna try anyway.

You can do it brotha, this game gets super easy after a while...

Good idea.  That way we can tell if the score rolls are legit or not.

This thread is making me laugh at myself so much..... I was feeling good about my run of 80,000 thinking like 200k would win this thing haha you guys are no joke!

I'm in the same boat.  My best so far is a little over 90K and this thread is very sobering.  I'll be happy just to hit 6-digets at this point, and if I do, I think I'd call it for the week and post it then.  Still, it's fun to see how insane these scores can get.

Good luck to everyone the rest of the way and it's making me think of an over/under to how many can roll the score by the end of the week!

Once you get the hang of rapid progression and nailing the bonus rounds, you will start seeing your score go up by 100k points every few games (since every 6 levels is worth nearly 100k just in bonus rounds the necessity of progression really becomes obvious)

EDIT:  Old score of 922,400

Balloon Fight is such a cool freaking game. It brings back an insane amoutn of nostalgia because we rented it a bunch as kids, but most importantly it has aged VERY well and the music still owns.

I'll see if I have sometime before the weekends out to play since I haven't posted in awhile but I can tell you my score won't even come close to some of these awesome high scores. Awesome scores so far!

Overall a fun game,but I absolutely HATE these flighty controls. I know they were designed that way on purpose,but I still freaking hate them. Any tips on how to control your character better? And how to do better on the bonus stages?

For flying I exclusively use the b-button so I don't have to tap as much.

Also, it is really critical to learn not to bounce off of the top.  It is a really easy way to die to race to get "top lance" but ricochet off the top and end up as bottom lance.

The other important thing in regular levels is prioritizing attacks.  It is way more important to pay attention to the guys that still have balloons than hitting somebody's parachute.  Neutralize the opponents first, then mop them up before they can regain flight, if you have to.



for the bonus stages, it is about energy conservation.  That is, since the momentum rules are pretty strict, the less you need to change momentum the higher speed you can maintain making it more likely you will reach the balloon.  Also, realize that it is often faster to go around the wrap than across the screen.  Finally, and most importantly, strive to get balloons when they are low to the ground.  In essence that maximizes the time you have to grab misses.

I guess I just suck at this game. The best I've been able to do so far is 128k. And is it me,or do the balloons seem to come out in more difficult spots the higher you are on the screen? Idk..... Either way,I don't see myself getting even remotely close to most of these scores. Everyone has games they are awesome and poor at,this just happens to be the latter for me.

The bonus balloons are totally random, from what I can tell.  Sometimes you just can't get all of them.

But if you minimize energy spent (i.e. maximize how much you are "gliding down" through big batches of them) you will do better most of the time.


128k should only be Phase 8 or 9 (or Phase 7 if you're doing really well).

You can get farther than that with a few minor improvements, I'm sure.


The key is to not have your guy "energized" and going fast and bouncing all over the place because then you don't have the control you need to avoid bad collisioins.

Try to avoid fighting "around the edge", since it is really easy to misjudge altitude across the screen-wrap.
Keep the fight in the middle where you can see it and make better judgements.

Also, you can really use the platforms to your advantage. 
If you can lure the enemies to lower altitudes, then they will be slowed down by platforms as they climb back to the top.  That is your chance to strike.



(also, absolutely critical to remember that any contact from the inferior position will count as a hit against you --- so "chasing" along the top is extremely dangerous, if you ricochet and they don't, for instance)

I just get too spastic when controlling my player. Often I'll be trying to avoid an opponent or a spark and end up running into them anyway. I just need some tight(er) controls.