Balloon Battle
Balloon Battle is a battle mode that makes its debut in Super Mario Kart and has appeared in all console installments since then. In it players must use items to hit opponents to pop one of their balloons. If all balloons are popped, the player suffers a penalty from being either eliminated or respawned with points deducted from their scores. The mode can be played in a free-for-all setup or a team setup, depending on the game. From Super Mario Kart until Mario Kart DS, the victor is determined as the last driver remaining, from Mario Kart Wii onward, victory is determined based on points earned from popping balloons, with Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart World featuring a mix of elimination and earning points.
History[edit]
Super Mario Kart[edit]
The Battle Mode debuts in Super Mario Kart. It is only available with two players, and no computer-controlled drivers. Each player has three color-coded balloons that circle around their kart, with blue balloons for player one, and red for player two. ? Panels spread around the field provide players with items, which they can use to hit their opponent and pop their balloons. Once a player is eliminated, the battle ends.
Mario Kart 64[edit]
Battles return as a main mode available in Mario Kart 64, with support for up to four players. In a battle, each player has three balloons of a specific color corresponding to their character floating above their head. Besides being hit by items, falling off the course and colliding with another player at high speed also cause a balloon to be popped. Once a player is eliminated, their character turns into a Mini Bomb Kart, which explodes when colliding with another player. Once the Mini Bomb Kart explodes, it does not respawn. Getting hit by items does not cause it to explode.
| Character | Balloon color |
|---|---|
 Mario |
Red |
 Luigi |
Green |
 Peach |
Pink |
 Toad |
Light blue |
 Yoshi |
Teal |
 DK |
Brown |
 Wario |
Yellow |
 Bowser |
Purple |
Mario Kart: Super Circuit[edit]
Battle return in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, played similarly to its iteration in Mario Kart 64, with a few small differences. Every player's balloons are now colored red, and colliding with other players no longer causes them to pop. Once a player is defeated they transform into a Bob-omb instead of a Mini Bomb Car. It otherwise behaves identically, blowing up when colliding with other players. After blowing up, the Bob-omb respawns.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!![edit]
With the introduction of other Battle modes in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, battles have now been named Balloon Battle. The mode saw a few changes introduced, such as the ability to steal balloons from opponents by using a Dash Mushroom, Star, or a Slide Attack to collide with them. Stealing balloons this way allows players to hold more than three balloons at once, and they keep the original color of the balloon. Players also no longer transform into Mini Bomb Karts or Bob-ombs when defeated, simply disappearing until the end of the round. Balloons are now colored according to the port order, instead of by character.
| Player order | Balloon color |
|---|---|
| Player 1 | Red |
| Player 2 | Blue |
| Player 3 | Green |
| Player 4 | Yellow |
Mario Kart DS[edit]
In Mario Kart DS's iteration of Balloon Battle, players start out with one balloon instead of three, with four extra balloons stored away. By holding 
or by blowing into the 
, they are able to inflate more balloons, up to the usual maximum of three. The kart cannot be accelerating or moving at a high speed in order for the balloon to be inflated. Like Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the color of a player's balloon is determined by their number.
| Player order | Balloon color |
|---|---|
| Player 1 | Green |
| Player 2 | Blue |
| Player 3 | Yellow |
| Player 4 | Red |
| Player 5 | Purple |
| Player 6 | Cyan |
| Player 7 | Orange |
| Player 8 | Pink |
Mario Kart Wii[edit]
Mario Kart Wii introduced many changes to Balloon Battle. Matches are now timed to three minutes, and drivers are divided into two teams: Red and blue. The objective is now to be the team which popped the most balloons within the time limit, instead of being the last driver remaining. As such, balloons popped are counted individually before being added up to a team total. A new addition to Balloon Battle in this game is the ability to respawn after losing all balloons; this causes one point to be deducted from the driver's own pool. No points are deducted if they have zero points.
Mario Kart 7[edit]
Mario Kart 7 reduced the time limit of the match is reduced to two minutes. After losing all balloons, drivers lose half their points (up to 3 points). When played without teams, each driver is assigned balloon colors according to their number, similar to Mario Kart DS. When played with teams, they are instead assigned red or blue balloons, similar to Mario Kart Wii.
| Player order | Balloon color |
|---|---|
| Player 1 | Red |
| Player 2 | Blue |
| Player 3 | Green |
| Player 4 | Yellow |
| Player 5 | Purple |
| Player 6 | Cyan |
| Player 7 | White |
| Player 8 | Black |
Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[edit]
Mario Kart 8's Balloon Battles combines the survival mechanic used in older games and the timed point-based setup of the previous two installments. Drivers start with three points, and losing a balloon will deduct one point. If all balloons are popped, they are out of the game, but in team mode or multiplayer, players can still participate as a ghost and cannot gain more points. Appearing transparent on the player's screen but invisible to everyone else, they can still use items to harm the other drivers and can still win if the player manages to reach enough points prior to losing all balloons. Balloon Battle is the only Battle mode option available in Mario Kart 8. In this game, when players are playing with no teams, there are twelve different colors the balloons can be. Balloons also have the Mario Kart logo on them.
| Player order | Balloon color |
|---|---|
| Player 1 | Red |
| Player 2 | Blue |
| Player 3 | Yellow |
| Player 4 | Cyan |
| Player 5 | Pink |
| Player 6 | Green |
| Player 7 | Black |
| Player 8 | Orange |
| Player 9 | Lime |
| Player 10 | Purple |
| Player 11 | Brown |
| Player 12 | White |
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe changes the Balloon Battle rules back to the setup last used in Mario Kart 7, along with a few changes. The mode now uses the timed point-based scoring system again, and can be played either in teams or free-for-all. There are also now 1.5 seconds of invincibility frames, unlike the Wii U version. Each driver now starts out with five balloons rather than the traditional three, and losing all balloons halves the driver's points rounded down, regardless of how many points they have. The driver respawns with three balloons instead of five. The details of the balloons are the same as in Mario Kart 8 (including the twelve colors).
Mario Kart Tour[edit]
Mario Kart Tour's rendition of Balloon Battle is similar to that of Mario Kart 8's, where losing all of one's balloons will result in being eliminated, but there is still a time limit present. In this game, much like how races only have two laps instead of three, drivers only start with two balloons instead of three in Battle mode. Once a driver loses all of their balloons, their kart will be put on a Lift that circles the perimeter of the stage. When the player hits an Item Box, they can still throw items at opponents from offstage. This is only possible for the player themselves in multiplayer, as the match automatically ends when the player is eliminated in single-player. Like in Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart 7, there are eight different colors the balloons can be, based on player number. Additionally, 53 different balloons can be purchased in the Shop, with 47 being spheres bearing an icon of a character, enemy or object, and six being in other shapes.
| Player order | Balloon color |
|---|---|
| Player 1 | Red |
| Player 2 | Green |
| Player 3 | Blue |
| Player 4 | Yellow |
| Player 5 | Cyan |
| Player 6 | Pink |
| Player 7 | Purple |
| Player 8 | White |
Mario Kart World[edit]
This section is a stub. Please consider expanding it to include any missing information. Specifics: How exactly is it like Mario Kart Tour? Detail returning mechanics and changes
Mario Kart World's Balloon Battle uses the same timed elimination-based system as in Mario Kart Tour. Eliminated players automatically get last place and lose all their points.
Profiles[edit]
Mario Kart DS[edit]
- In-game description:
- English:
Burst your opponents' balloons with items! If all your inflated balloons burst, you lose! Blow into the mic to inflate your balloons!
- English:
Mario Kart 7[edit]
- Electronic manual description:
- English:
The goal of a Balloon Battle is to pop your opponents' balloons using items. The player or team who pops the most balloons within the time limit wins. Your popped-balloon count is reduced every time you lose all of your balloons.
- English:
Gallery[edit]
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Balloon Battle.
Artwork from Super Mario Kart
Toad's balloon from Mario Kart 64
Screenshot from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Artwork from Mario Kart Tour
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ふうせんバトル[1] Fūsen Batoru |
Balloon Battle | |
| Chinese (simplified) | 气球对战[?] Qìqiú Duìzhàn |
Balloon Battle | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 氣球對戰[?] Qìqiú Duìzhàn |
Balloon Battle | |
| Dutch | Ballongevecht[?] | Balloon Battle | |
| French | Bataille de ballons[?] | Balloon Battle | |
| German | Ballonschlacht[?] | Balloon Battle | |
| Italian | Battaglia palloncini[?] | Balloon Battle | |
| Korean | 풍선 배틀[?] Pungseon Baeteul |
Balloon Battle | |
| Portuguese | Batalha de Balões[?] | Balloon Battle | |
| Russian | Бой с шарами[?] Boy s sharami |
Battle with balloons | Mario Kart 7 |
| Шаробой[?] Sharoboy |
From шар (shar, "balloon") and бой (boy, "battle") | Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | |
| Spanish | Batalla de globos[?] | Balloon Battle |
