''Crazy Balloon'' is an

arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an ar ...

released by

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It ...

in 1980.Crazy Balloon
at Killer List of Videogames ''Crazy Balloon'' requires the player to maneuver a

balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or li ...

through a maze full of thorns to reach the goal.

Gameplay

The player controls a

box A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and ca ...

tied to a floating

, which swings left and right continually, within a maze filled with

spikes The SPIKES protocol is a method used in clinical medicine to break bad news to patients and families. As receiving bad news can cause distress and anxiety, clinicians need to deliver the news carefully. By using the SPIKES method for introducing a ...

. Any contact with the spikes, either with the balloon or the box, destroys the balloon. Using a four-way

joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...

, the player moves the box through the maze and toward the goal, ensuring that the swinging balloon avoids the spikes. The player collects points as the box moves closer to the goal (backtracking earns no points). Certain areas of the maze are colored green and purple, and the player will earn more points if the balloon and box pass through the area safely. While there is no time limit, the player cannot wait for a long time; otherwise, a face will appear and blow the balloon into the spikes. As the player completes mazes, individual spikes, or even the entire maze, may begin moving or scrolling.

Music

''Crazy Balloon'' sports relatively basic sound effects. The speaker beeps whenever the balloon gets closer to the goal. When the player starts a new maze, a portion of the melody from "

Oh! Susanna "Oh! Susanna" is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864), first published in 1848. It is among the most popular American songs ever written. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all ti ...

" is played. Similarly, when the player loses a balloon, a portion of the chorus from the "

Toreador Song The Toreador Song is the popular name for the aria "" ("I toast you"), from the French opera ''Carmen'', composed by Georges Bizet to a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. It is sung by the bullfighter (French: '' toréador'') Esca ...

" from the opera ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opér ...

'' is played.

Legacy

The original arcade version is included in emulated compilations such as ''

Taito Legends 2 ''Taito Legends 2'' is the sequel to '' Taito Legends'' and is a follow-up collection of 39 (or 43, see below) Taito arcade games for Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows. As the former collection, it has been derived from the Japan exclus ...

'' ( PlayStation 2,

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by th ...

and Microsoft Windows) and '' Taito Legends Power-Up'' (

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 200 ...

) in 2006. An updated version of the game, named ''Crazy Balloon 2005'', was included alongside the original arcade release on ''Taito Legends Power-Up''. There were no official contemporary home ports, but there were clones, including ''Crazy Balloon'' for the Commodore 64 ( Software Projects, 1983)Crazy Balloon
at Lemon 64 and ''Crazy Balloons'' for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

(A&F Software, 1983).Crazy Balloons
at World of Spectrum A version for the

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an empha ...

was developed by

Acornsoft Acornsoft was the software arm of Acorn Computers, and a major publisher of software for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. As well as games, it also produced a large number of educational titles, extra computer languages and business and u ...

but was never released.Lost and found
at Stairway to Hell

References

External links

*{{KLOV game
Taito Legends Power-Up
US home page 1980 video games Arcade video games Commodore 64 games NEC PC-6001 games NEC PC-8001 games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation Portable games Windows games Xbox games ZX Spectrum games Cancelled BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Taito arcade games Video games developed in Japan Multiplayer and single-player video games