Balloon Trip: Difference between revisions

From the Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
(This article could be merged into Beta Elements or Yoshi Touch & Go, but I think it's OK on its own for now.)
 
mNo edit summary
 
(68 intermediate revisions by 33 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
[[Image:BalloonTriptitle.jpg|thumb|right|'''''Balloon Trip'''''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> title screen.]]
{{italic title}}
{{about|the tech demo prototype for [[Yoshi Touch & Go]]|the minigame in [[WarioWare: Smooth Moves]]|[[Balloon Trip (minigame)]]|[[Villager]]'s up special move in the [[Super Smash Bros. (series)|Super Smash Bros. series]]|[[Villager#Balloon Trip|Villager § Balloon Trip]]}}
{{game infobox
|title=Balloon Trip
|image=[[File:BalloonTriptitle.jpg|250px]]<br>'''''Balloon Trip'''''{{'}}s title screen
|developer=[[Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development|Nintendo EAD]]
|publisher=[[Nintendo]]
|release=N/A (Shown at E3 2004)
|genre=[[Genre#Platform|Platformer]]
|modes=Single-player
|ratings=
|platforms=[[Nintendo DS]]
|media=
|input={{input|ds=1}}
}}
'''''Balloon Trip''''' was a [[Nintendo DS]] [[tech demo]] shown at {{wp|Electronic Entertainment Expo|E3}} on May 11, 2004.<ref name="tmk">[http://www.themushroomkingdom.net/techdemos.shtml Tech Demos]. ''The Mushroom Kingdom''. Retrieved April 1, 2015</ref> Eventually, it evolved into ''[[Yoshi Touch & Go]]'' in 2005.


'''''Balloon Trip''''' was a [[Nintendo DS]] tech demo shown at the [[Wikipedia:E3 Media and Business Summit|E3 Media and Business Summit]] of 2004. It is best known for eventually evolving into ''[[Yoshi Touch & Go]]''.
==Gameplay==
[[File:BalloonTripscreenshot.jpg|thumb|left|A screenshot of ''Balloon Trip''.]]
''Balloon Trip'' takes its inspiration from the events of <i>[[Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island]]</i>, following [[Baby Mario]] as he plummets towards [[Yoshi's Island (location)|Yoshi's Island]] after being knocked away from the [[Stork]] by [[Kamek]]. Three balloons hold Baby Mario aloft in the air, though touching an [[List of enemies|enemy]] removes one of these balloons. If Baby Mario loses all three balloons, he will be abducted by Kamek. The player uses the [[stylus]] to draw clouds across the sky to guide Baby Mario away from enemies and draw circles around enemies to encase them in bubbles, turning them into [[coin]]s. (Later on, in ''Yoshi Touch & Go'', these bubbles could be dragged and thrown with the stylus, though it is unknown whether such a feature existed in ''Balloon Trip''.) The goal of the game is to earn points by collecting as many coins as possible.


== Gameplay ==
If Baby Mario survives the skies for a set amount of time, he will eventually find his way to the ground, where he will be caught by [[Yoshi]] and the player will be congratulated for their score, ending the demo.<ref>Harris, Craig (May 11, 2004). [http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/05/12/e3-2004-hands-on-balloon-trip-ds E3 2004: Hands-On: Balloon Trip DS.] ''IGN''. Retrieved April 1, 2015.</ref>


[[Image:BalloonTripscreenshot.jpg|thumb|left|A screenshot of ''Balloon Trip''.]]
==History and development==
''Balloon Trip'' would eventually be released as the full game ''Yoshi Touch & Go''. While ''Yoshi Touch & Go'' was originally conceived as a [[Nintendo GameCube]] title, [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] believed the game would "have a greater impact" on Nintendo DS.<ref name="nsider">[https://web.archive.org/web/20190310022741/https://www.nsidr.com/archive/the-making-of-the-game-yoshis-touch-and-go The Making of the Game: ''Yoshi Touch & Go''.] ''N-Sider.'' Retrieved April 1, 2015.</ref> The GameCube version of the game - conceived as a puzzle platformer where Yoshi protects Baby Mario - never made it past the conceptual stage, and ''Balloon Trip'' was developed for E3 2004. After the positive reception of the demo, director Hiroyuki Kimura and chief programmer Keizo Ohta felt as if there was "no turning back" from developing the DS project<ref name="nsider"/>. They were given an executive greenlight and a larger development team to expand the concept into a full game for Nintendo DS.


''Balloon Trip'' starred [[Baby Mario]] and seemed to have been based on the early parts of ''[[Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island]]''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> story, focusing on Baby Mario plummeting towards [[Yoshi's Island (place)|Yoshi's Island]] after being knocked away from [[the Stork]] by [[Kamek]]. In ''Balloon Trip'', Baby Mario is given three [[balloon]]s to hold him aloft in the air, though touching an [[Enemies|enemy]] can remove one of these balloons. If Baby Mario loses all three of these balloons, he will be snatched up by Kamek and presumably be taken to [[Bowser's Castle|Baby Bowser's Castle]], changing the course of [[Mario]]'s life. However, the [[player]] of ''Balloon Trip'' may use the [[stylus]] to draw clouds across the sky as to lead Baby Mario away from enemies; if Baby Mario touches a cloud, his fall will be affected by it in a realistic manner (therefore allowing players to guide Mario out of enemies' paths). Players can also draw circles around enemies to encase them in bubbles, turning them into [[coin]]s. (Later on, in ''Yoshi Touch & Go'', these bubbles could be dragged and thrown with the stylus, though it is unknown whether such a feature existed in ''Balloon Trip''.) Leading Baby Mario to coins or rewarding him with enemies-turned-coins was the true goal of ''Balloon Trip'', as collecting coins was the only way to earn points. If Baby Mario survives the skies for a set amount of time, he will eventually find his way to the ground, where he (once again reflecting the story of ''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island'') will be caught by a [[Green Yoshi]] (thought to be [[Yoshi]]) and the player will be congratulated for their score, ending the demo.
The full game ''Yoshi Touch & Go'' was announced October 7, 2004.<ref name="tmk" />


== History and Development ==
Most of <i>Balloon Trip</i>'s basic gameplay would survive into ''Yoshi Touch & Go'', with the most obvious difference between the two games being the addition of the automatically scrolling ground segments, wherein Yoshi protects Baby Mario, which did not exist in ''Balloon Trip''. Smaller differences between the two games include the relocation of [[Fang]]s, which appear in the sky in ''Balloon Trip'', to the ground segments only of ''Yoshi Touch & Go'', and the removal of <i>Balloon Trip</i>'s [[Boo]] enemy (replaced in ''Yoshi Touch & Go'' with [[Toady|Toadies]]). The final game featured new sprites and animations for most characters, as well as a new {{wp|Head-up display|HUD}}.


As stated above, ''Balloon Trip'' would eventually be released as the full game ''Yoshi Touch & Go''. During the days of ''Balloon Trip'', it would appear that ''Yoshi Touch & Go'' was already planned (though then unannounced) to eventually become a full game, making ''Balloon Trip'' an example of the rare case that is a tech demo previously planned to be released as a full game. It would actually seem that the ''Balloon Trip'' tech demo came somewhat late in the early conceptual planning stages for ''Yoshi Touch & Go'', at a time when it was not yet completely decided whether the final version of ''Yoshi Touch & Go'' would be for the [[Nintendo GameCube]] or DS. After ''Balloon Trip'' was shown at E3, ''Yoshi Touch & Go''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> programmers decided that there was "no turning back" and expanded upon ''Balloon Trip'' for the Nintendo DS rather than the GameCube (whose version they did away with), eventually creating the final ''Yoshi Touch & Go'' current-day players are familiar with.
Most of <i>Balloon Trip</i>'s sounds were used in the final ''Yoshi Touch & Go'' without any changes.


=== Differences With ''Yoshi Touch & Go'' ===
==Trivia==
*This tech demo's name may have been derived from that of the Balloon Trip [[minigame]] featured in some versions of the previous [[Nintendo]] game ''{{wp|Balloon Fight}}''.


More or less all of ''Balloon Trip''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> basic gameplay survived into ''Yoshi Touch & Go'', although this gameplay actually existed as only one half of each of the final ''Yoshi Touch & Go''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> one-player modes. Specifically, ''Yoshi Touch & Go'' added a whole new section to each of its modes (save for the multiplayer Vs. Mode): After Baby Mario lands on Yoshi's back (at which ''Balloon Trip'' would have ended), ''Yoshi Touch & Go'' places in a whole new playable segment involving Yoshi, which abilities such as [[Jump]]ing, [[Flutter Jump]]ing, and throwing a limited supply of [[Yoshi Egg]]s, traversing across Yoshi's Island and avoiding or defeating various enemies, several of which were not even seen in ''Balloon Trip'' or, for that matter, ''Yoshi Touch & Go''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> own sky segments. It is possible that these ground segments were derived from ''Yoshi Touch & Go''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> canceled GameCube version (which was said to involve Yoshi protecting Baby Mario) or other elements from ''Yoshi Touch & Go''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> early planning that were not involved in the ''Balloon Trip'' tech demo.
==References==
<references/>


Aside from this noticeable gameplay addition of ground segments, several other, smaller differences were done from ''Balloon Trip'' to the final ''Yoshi Touch & Go''. Several enemies' attacking patterns and turf were changed, with enemies such as [[Fang]]s becoming exclusive to the ground segments and foes such as [[Boo]]s being completely removed from the game. (The Boos' attacking patterns were seemingly taken up by [[Solo Toady|Solo]] [[Toady|Toadies]] in the final ''Yoshi Touch & Go''.) The red arrow used in drawing clouds was also removed and given no replacement. Though ''Balloon Trip''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> basic art style survived into ''Yoshi Touch & Go'' (despite being elaborated on in fields such as shading and attention to detail), several character designs were completely redone from those of ''Balloon Trip'' before ''Yoshi Touch & Go'' was released. On a similar note, most characters and objects in ''Balloon Trip'' were also given different animation and the final game sported a new [[Wikipedia:Head-up display|HUD]] as to reflect its various new gameplay features. Perhaps strangely, most of ''Balloon Trip''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> sounds were used in the final ''Yoshi Touch & Go'' seemingly unedited.
{{Yoshi games}}
{{unreleased media}}


== Trivia ==
[[Category:Tech demos]]
 
[[Category:Nintendo DS games]]
* This tech demo's name may have been derived from that of the Balloon Trip [[mini-game]] featured in some versions of the previous [[Nintendo]] game ''[[Wikipedia:Balloon Fight|Balloon Fight]]''.
[[Category:Games]]
 
[[Category:Yoshi games]]
== Sources ==
[[Category:Platforming games]]
 
* [http://www.themushroomkingdom.net/techdemos.shtml The Mushroom Kingdom]
 
* [http://ds.ign.com/articles/513/513163p1.html IGN]
 
* [http://www.n-sider.com/articleview.php?articleid=425 N-sider]
 
{{Yoshi series}}
 
[[Category:Tech Demos]]
 
[[Category: Nintendo DS Games]]
 
[[Category: Yoshi Games]]

Latest revision as of 01:36, September 28, 2022

This article is about the tech demo prototype for Yoshi Touch & Go. For the minigame in WarioWare: Smooth Moves, see Balloon Trip (minigame). For Villager's up special move in the Super Smash Bros. series, see Villager § Balloon Trip.
Balloon Trip
Balloon Trip
Balloon Trip's title screen
Developer Nintendo EAD
Publisher Nintendo
Platform(s) Nintendo DS
Release date N/A (Shown at E3 2004)
Genre Platformer
Mode(s) Single-player
Input
Nintendo DS:

Balloon Trip was a Nintendo DS tech demo shown at E3 on May 11, 2004.[1] Eventually, it evolved into Yoshi Touch & Go in 2005.

Gameplay[edit]

Balloon Trip
A screenshot of Balloon Trip.

Balloon Trip takes its inspiration from the events of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, following Baby Mario as he plummets towards Yoshi's Island after being knocked away from the Stork by Kamek. Three balloons hold Baby Mario aloft in the air, though touching an enemy removes one of these balloons. If Baby Mario loses all three balloons, he will be abducted by Kamek. The player uses the stylus to draw clouds across the sky to guide Baby Mario away from enemies and draw circles around enemies to encase them in bubbles, turning them into coins. (Later on, in Yoshi Touch & Go, these bubbles could be dragged and thrown with the stylus, though it is unknown whether such a feature existed in Balloon Trip.) The goal of the game is to earn points by collecting as many coins as possible.

If Baby Mario survives the skies for a set amount of time, he will eventually find his way to the ground, where he will be caught by Yoshi and the player will be congratulated for their score, ending the demo.[2]

History and development[edit]

Balloon Trip would eventually be released as the full game Yoshi Touch & Go. While Yoshi Touch & Go was originally conceived as a Nintendo GameCube title, Shigeru Miyamoto believed the game would "have a greater impact" on Nintendo DS.[3] The GameCube version of the game - conceived as a puzzle platformer where Yoshi protects Baby Mario - never made it past the conceptual stage, and Balloon Trip was developed for E3 2004. After the positive reception of the demo, director Hiroyuki Kimura and chief programmer Keizo Ohta felt as if there was "no turning back" from developing the DS project[3]. They were given an executive greenlight and a larger development team to expand the concept into a full game for Nintendo DS.

The full game Yoshi Touch & Go was announced October 7, 2004.[1]

Most of Balloon Trip's basic gameplay would survive into Yoshi Touch & Go, with the most obvious difference between the two games being the addition of the automatically scrolling ground segments, wherein Yoshi protects Baby Mario, which did not exist in Balloon Trip. Smaller differences between the two games include the relocation of Fangs, which appear in the sky in Balloon Trip, to the ground segments only of Yoshi Touch & Go, and the removal of Balloon Trip's Boo enemy (replaced in Yoshi Touch & Go with Toadies). The final game featured new sprites and animations for most characters, as well as a new HUD.

Most of Balloon Trip's sounds were used in the final Yoshi Touch & Go without any changes.

Trivia[edit]

  • This tech demo's name may have been derived from that of the Balloon Trip minigame featured in some versions of the previous Nintendo game Balloon Fight.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Tech Demos. The Mushroom Kingdom. Retrieved April 1, 2015
  2. ^ Harris, Craig (May 11, 2004). E3 2004: Hands-On: Balloon Trip DS. IGN. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  3. ^ a b The Making of the Game: Yoshi Touch & Go. N-Sider. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
[Edit]
Yoshi games
Yoshi's Island series Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995, SNES) • Yoshi's Island DS (2006, DS) • Yoshi's New Island (2014, 3DS)
Other Yoshi (1991, NES) • Yoshi's Cookie (1992, NES) • Yoshi's Safari (1993, SNES) • Tetris Attack (1996, SNES) • Yoshi's Story (1997, N64) • Picross NP Vol. 2 (SFC, 1999) • Yoshi Topsy-Turvy (2004, GBA) • Yoshi Touch & Go (2005, DS) • Yoshi's Egg Toss (2006, Adobe Flash) • Yoshi's Woolly World (2015, Wii U) • Yoshi's Crafted World (2019, Switch) • Play Nintendo activities (2014–present)
Reissues Yoshi no Cookie: Kuruppon Oven de Cookie (1994, SNES) • Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (2002, GBA) • Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World (2017, 3DS)
Tech demos Yoshi Demo (1999, GBA) • Purple Yoshi tech demo (Unknown, GBA) • Balloon Trip (2004, DS)
Crossovers Super Smash Bros. (1999, N64) • Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001, GCN) • Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, Wii) • Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (2014, 3DS) • Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2014, Wii U) • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018, Switch)
[Edit]
Unreleased media
Canceled games Super Mario games Mario Artist • Mario Takes America • Super Mario 64 2 • Super Mario RPG 2 • Super Mario's Wacky Worlds • VB Mario Land • Super Mario Spikers
Donkey Kong games Return of Donkey Kong • Donkey Kong no Ongaku Asobi • Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers • Diddy Kong Pilot (2001/2003) • Donkey Kong Racing • Diddy Kong Racing Adventure
Tech demo Super Mario games Super Mario 128 • Mario Demo • NDDEMO • Mario Kart XXL • Mario's Face • Chase Mii • New Super Mario Bros. Mii
Yoshi games Yoshi Demo • Balloon Trip
Miscellaneous Archie Comics Super Mario comic
Retrieved from "https://www.mariowiki.com/index.php?title=Balloon_Trip&oldid=3762808"