GamingPickz

Balloon Fight

Balloon Fight is a 1984 action video game developed by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was originally released for arcades as VS. Balloon Fight, with the console version releasing in Japan in 1985 and internationally in 1986.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.

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Released
1984
Developer
HAL Laboratory
Platforms
6 systems
Critics
Not scored
Steam Deck
Unknown
Download
Not stated
We have not written a full review of this game.This is a catalogue entry: everything below comes from a source we can link, checked on a stated date. There is no score and no verdict here, because we only publish those after a reviewer has played the game and written it up properly. Our team may well have played this one. Until someone writes the review, we are not going to imply a verdict we have not put our name to.

The record

Catalogue facts
First released1 January 1984
DeveloperHAL Laboratory, Nintendo Research & Development 1
PublisherNintendo
PlatformsNintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo 3DS, Arcade, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U
Genresaction game, platformer

Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q1201014, seeded 30 August 2026.

How long is Balloon Fight? How long to beat it

Total play time for Balloon Fight is about 1.3 hours to do everything, and around 0.7 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.

Balloon Fight length by how much you play
How you playHoursPlayers logged
Just the main story: straight through the critical path0.7h77
Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do1.2h16
Completionist: everything: 100% the game1.3h22

Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.

Where Balloon Fight sits on the grid

The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Balloon Fight lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.

The whole catalogueLargely forgotten
Year
34ahead of 1% of the catalogue
Reach
42ahead of 82% of the catalogue

Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.

What readers say about Balloon Fight

Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.

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Where Balloon Fight appears

The ranked lists and finder pages Balloon Fight qualifies for, from its own genre and platform to what it takes to run.

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Common questions about Balloon Fight

What platforms is Balloon Fight on?

Balloon Fight is available on Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo 3DS, Arcade, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U. It first released in 1984.

Who made Balloon Fight?

Balloon Fight was developed by HAL Laboratory, Nintendo Research & Development 1 and published by Nintendo.

How long does it take to beat Balloon Fight?

about 0.7 hours for the main story, 1.2 hours with the main extras, 1.3 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.