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| Balloon | |||
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| Item Type | Balloon | ||
| First Appearance | Donkey Kong Country (1994) | ||
Balloons, also called Life Balloons or Extra Life Balloons, are recurring items in the Donkey Kong Country series. As their name suggests, they are small, colored balloons that float around. Collecting one will give the player an extra life, identically to 1-Up Mushrooms in the Mario series. They come in three variants: Red Balloons, Green Balloons, and Blue Balloons.
In the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy, Balloons were shaped in the head of the main character; they were shaped like Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Country, Diddy Kong in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, and Dixie Kong in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!. Later games would have them take the appearance of standard, round balloons.
Effect[]
As mentioned, Balloons will give the player an extra life. In the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy, the Red Balloons give one life, the Green Balloons give two lives, and the Blue Balloons give three lives. As such, Green and Blue Balloons tend to be less common. Once collected, they will float to the life counter and add to the total amount of lives. Additionally, should the player lose a life, the balloon next to the life counter will pop. In later games such as Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Donkey Kong will also float down to the start of the level or the last checkpoint with a Red Balloon.
In Donkey Kong Country Returns, both Green and Blue Balloons were absent. However, Green Balloons were retooled for a new use in its Nintendo 3DS remake Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D. They can be purchased from Cranky Kong's shop for three Banana Coins, and it can be equipped upon before entering a level. Green Balloons will save the player from falling down a bottomless pit, bringing them back to the platform they were on before they fell. However, they cannot be used in levels where the player must keep moving or in levels where they ride a Mine Cart or Rocket Barrel, nor can they be used in multiplayer. This functionality would return in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, where they can be bought from Funky Kong for seven Banana Coins.
Blue Balloons return in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze as well. They can be purchased from Funky Kong for five Banana Coins, and when equipped, it will give the player extra air underwater.
Appearances[]
Super Smash Bros. Charged[]
Balloons, labelled as Extra Life Balloons, are represented as a Trophy and Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Charged. It is a Novice-type Spirit that decreases the user's falling speed by 10% when equipped. The Spirit battle is Alice, who will jump often and avoid conflict.
 Extra Life Balloon
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| Bottomless pits got your spirits down? Don't worry, just grab a Balloon to get back in the game! Finding one of these is always a good thing, so you'd better grab it before it flies away! In Donkey Kong Country, they can come in three colors: red ones give you one life, green ones give you two lives, and the rare blue ones give you three! In Tropical Freeze, the different colored Balloons have new functions. Rather than giving lives, the green ones can save you from a bottomless pit, and the blue ones can give you extra air underwater. | |
Type Series Related Appearances |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In Donkey Kong Land III, Balloons took the appearance of Diddy Kong, despite him being absent from the game.