Ports, Sequels, and References
The game was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Japan-only NEC PC-8801, the Sharp X1, the Game Boy Advance as Balloon Fight-e for the e-Reader and part of the Famicom Mini Series in Japan. It can also be played in Animal Crossing for the Nintendo GameCube. Nintendo released a port on the Nintendo 3DS as part of its Ambassador program.
Nintendo released a Game & Watch version of the same name, based on the NES version's Balloon Trip mode. The protagonist is "a Balloon Man" (according to the manual). Unlike Balloon Fighters, Balloon Men use rocket suits instead of flapping their hands to elevate while holding balloons.
A sequel to Balloon Fight called Balloon Kid was released on October 1990 in North America and on January 31, 1991 in Europe for the Game Boy, which expands from the game's roots and revamped it into a full platforming adventure. This title was not released in Japan on the Game Boy, but colorized versions titled as Hello Kitty World (published by Character Soft) for the Famicom and Balloon Fight GB for the Game Boy Color were only released in Japan.
Caltron Ind Inc. released a 6-in-1 multi-cart featuring a conspicuous game titled Adam and Eve with game play suspiciously similar to Balloon Fight, essentially a generic version of Balloon Fight.
Balloon Fighter and Flipper trophies are obtainable in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and the Flipper is also a usable item, replacing the Bumper from the previous game. The Balloon Fighter was considered for a playable role during the development of Super Smash Bros. Melee, but the Ice Climbers were chosen instead. The original background music for the Balloon Trip in Balloon Fight can be heard in Melee's Icicle Mountain stage as alternate music. The giant fish makes a cameo appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It appears on the Ice Climber-based stage, the Summit, in which it tries to attack the players from the sea. In addition, a remixed version of the main theme, titled "Balloon Trip" is available for the Summit stage as well. Stickers of the Balloon Fighter and the Balloon Fight Enemy can be collected in Brawl.
In the WarioWare, Inc. series, some of 9-Volt's games are based on Balloon Fight. In WarioWare: Smooth Moves, there is also a minigame functioning as a three-dimensional version of Balloon Trip; player use the Wii Remote only for the microgame version, and also use the Nunchuk in the complete 3D Balloon Trip.
The original tech demo for Yoshi Touch & Go was called Yoshi's Balloon Trip. Balloon Fight is the theme for Touch Mode in Tetris DS, although the mode itself has almost nothing to do with the game other than the music and decorative graphics.
On April 12, 2007, Club Nintendo released Tingle's Balloon Fight for the Nintendo DS, an exclusive game featuring Tingle, a Nintendo character who originated from The Legend of Zelda series. The game included the original "Balloon Fight" mode, and also an additional mode titled "Balloon Trip", where Tingle attempts to cross the ocean in a balloon. A gallery that contained concept art was also included, where each piece could be unlocked by completing specific in-game tasks.
On June 8, 2007, Balloon Fight was released in Europe on the Virtual Console available for 500 Wii Points. It was later released in North America on July 16, 2007, and Japan on November 12, 2007.
The Piranha Plant boss in Mario Party DS used the same gameplay principal as Balloon Fight except that Mario drops bomb seeds instead of popping enemies balloons and then kicking them.
In the Manga series Hellsing By Kouta Hirano, almost every chapter title is a video game reference. Chapter 44 (Vol 6 Ch 7 in the Graphic Novel) was titled "Balloon Fight".
In the RPG series Earthbound, the two games Mother and Earthbound have a place called Magicant that represents the mind of a person, the main character in each game may meet the flyingmen who look like the enemies in Balloon Fight, but they will fight alongside you instead of against you.
In the Upcoming Game Nintendo Land there is an attraction called Balloon Trip Breeze, that is very similar to Balloon Trip from the original Balloon Fight.
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