BALLOON KID for the ZX Spectrum 128K version ZX09 ========================================================================= An unofficial fan port of the Game Boy game Balloon Kid (Nintendo, 1990), rebuilt natively for the ZX Spectrum. It needs a 128K machine (128K, +2, +2A, +3) or an emulator set to one, running at normal speed. It does not fit a 48K. THE STORY --------- In the little town of Pencilvania lived a brother and sister who loved to play with balloons. One day Jim filled all his balloons and tied them together into a beautiful balloon rainbow across the sky. "What a great idea, Jim," said Alice, "but please be careful!" Just then a strong wind blew, and Jim was carried away into the sky. Jim, a very clever boy, had an idea: he would leave a trail of balloons for Alice to follow. Help Alice find her brother by collecting the balloons he has left behind - but watch out for the mean animals and dangerous obstacles along the way. FILES ----- BalloonKid128.tap One player: the introduction, all eight stages, BalloonKid128.sna the ending and credits, and Balloon Trip, as a tape and as a snapshot. BalloonKidVS128.tap Two players (VS PLAY) on one shared screen, as a BalloonKidVS128.sna tape and as a snapshot. BalloonKid_plus3.dsk A +3 disk with both games on one title screen. inlay/ The cassette inlay (J-card), as an A4 sheet with crop and fold marks and as a 212 x 107.6 mm page (206 x 101.6 mm trim plus 3 mm bleed). LOADING ------- Tape On a 128K, +2, +2A or +3, choose Tape Loader (Loader on a +2A or +3; not 48 BASIC) from the menu and play BalloonKid128.tap (one player) or BalloonKidVS128.tap (two players). The loading screen comes up first. The one-player tape takes about 8 minutes, the two-player tape about 6. +3 disk Insert the disk and choose Loader from the +3 menu. The loading screen shows while the game loads (about 15 seconds). The title offers VS PLAY too: choosing it loads the two-player game from the disk (about 20 seconds), and SINGLE PLAY or BALLOON TRIP on its title loads the one-player game back. Redefined keys and CONTINUE carry across. Leave the disk in the drive. Snapshots Load BalloonKid128.sna or BalloonKidVS128.sna with a snapshot loader (DivMMC, DivIDE and similar interfaces) or in an emulator. Each snapshot starts on the title screen. THE TITLE SCREEN ---------------- Choose SINGLE PLAY, BALLOON TRIP, CONTINUE (once earned) or REDEFINE KEYS (and VS PLAY on the +3 disk). Up and down move the cursor (W/S, the arrow keys, Sinclair 9/8, Kempston, or your down key); F, D, 0 or fire starts. CONTROLS (ONE PLAYER) --------------------- A / S left / right F flap with balloons: press repeatedly to stay up. With no balloons, jump: hold F longer to jump higher D let go of the balloons G down. Standing on the ground, press it four times to blow up a new balloon (Alice can hold two at a time) F, D or fire skip the introduction, ending and credits Symbol Shift + Z skip to the next stage (cheat) Symbol Shift + X invulnerability on / off (cheat) Sinclair 1 6 left, 7 right, 8 down, 9 up (flap), 0 fire (let go) Kempston directions, up flaps, fire lets go SINGLE PLAY ----------- The screen scrolls to the left by itself through eight stages. Reach the final signpost of each stage to move on to the next. At the end of every second stage a gang boss tries his best to keep Alice out of his territory. Balloons Each balloon Jim left behind scores 100 points. Collect 20 in a row and double balloons, worth 200, appear - but miss just one and they disappear. Bonus game Fly into the Game Boy to play it: 20 balloons rise from the chimneys. Collect them all and a heart balloon appears; catch it for an extra life. Miss one and the bonus game ends. Enemies The mischievous ones only try to burst Alice's balloons - and without balloons, they can help her reach high places or cross wide stretches of sea. The grumpy ones cost a life. Losing both balloons over the sea costs a life too. Some of the enemies: Beaky Birds and Pokey Penguins, Floppy Fish and Flicky Frog, Chow Chow the Alligator and Wonka the Walrus, Buzzy Bees, Sparkys, the Burner Boys, and the boss, Wacka Wacka Wolf. BALLOON TRIP ------------ One stormy day, Alice decided to test her piloting over the ocean. Guide her through skies full of lightning sparks, collecting the balloons along the way. Burst a bubble from the sea for 200 points: the scrolling stops for a moment so you can collect every balloon on the screen. VS PLAY (BalloonKidVS128.tap or .sna, or VS PLAY on the +3 disk) ---------------------------------------------------------------- In Pencilvania, balloon fights are very popular. Alice and her friend Samm race along the same course: beat the other to the finish, or burst their balloons so they fall into the sea. There are no lives. Landing on the other player's balloons pops one. Every tenth balloon collected releases a bonus bundle. The first to win three rounds wins the match. Left/right Flap Let go Down/pump Joysticks Alice A / S F D G Kempston, Sinclair 2 (1-5) Samm H / J L K ENTER Sinclair 1 (6-0) A player's keys and joystick can be used together. Keyboard ghosting: the Spectrum's keyboard wiring can produce phantom key presses when two players hold several keys at once (for example one player moving and flapping while the other flaps). This is a limitation of the hardware, and the default keys are affected. Putting Alice on a Kempston joystick avoids it completely. In an emulator, mapping gamepads to the joysticks avoids the PC keyboard's own limits too. Playing on the keyboard alone? This set of keys cannot ghost, whichever keys both players hold at once (no four of them share two half-rows and two columns of the keyboard matrix). Enter it with REDEFINE KEYS: LEFT RIGHT FLAP RELEASE DOWN Alice A S W X Z Samm H J U M N REDEFINE KEYS ------------- On either title, choose REDEFINE KEYS and press one key for each prompt: LEFT, RIGHT, FLAP, RELEASE, DOWN (in the two-player version, for ALICE and then SAMM). The new keys last until the machine is switched off. The joysticks are not affected. SPECIAL STRATEGIES ------------------ - If you are holding balloons and come to a gap too narrow for them, press D to let them go and go through on foot. Catch them again by jumping into them, or blow up new ones (G four times, standing). - With no balloons, take a run-up: a running jump from the very end of a floor clears a wide gap. Walking off an edge still leaves a moment to jump. - The first two stages can be passed without any balloons. It is tricky, but the techniques will be valuable in later stages. - Ride the moving platforms, and some of the mischievous enemies, to reach places that seem impossible. - Look out for heart balloons: each is worth an extra life, but they can be risky to reach. Weigh your chances carefully! NOTES ----- This is a non-commercial fan project. Balloon Kid is (c) Nintendo; no original ROM is included. Conversion by Kirby2000.