The evil Dr. Blimp has stolen the precious helium bubbles, so pump yourself up and prepare for some platforming action as you travel the world to take them back! But be careful, this world is littered with dangerous foes and treacherous obstacles. Any slip-ups, and you might find yourself being scattered to the wind!
Originally designed for mobile platforms, Balloony is a 2D platformer primarily designed for a younger audience. While this caveat of being designed for mobile may, for some folks, be an excuse for a less clean and less developed experience, I do not think so. And since it has been ported to the Switch, I will treat it as though I’m playing a Switch game.
After completing every level available, and staring at the title screen for a couple of long, difficult minutes, I can’t help but feel severely underwhelmed, not just at the experience, but at almost every single aspect of this game. Where to begin? Well, let’s start with the levels themselves. At no single point throughout the whole time playing Balloony can I say that I was even vaguely challenged. The fact that this game is designed for a younger audience base is no reason why it shouldn’t be challenging. Adversity helps us grow as people, striving to push through difficulty is one of the most satisfying things to experience as someone who loves to play games of all kinds.
But was this supposed to be easy? I’m not so sure. We have to take a look into the mechanics of the game to assess this factor. You are a balloon. You can roll, you can jump and you can fly. Simple as that. The problem is, that the flying mechanic is ridiculously overtuned. By spamming the fly button, you can pretty much hang in the air for as long as you want. Oh, is that an obstacle or a group of enemies, maybe a maze of spikes? Just tap tap tap and fly over the top. Almost every single level in the game can be cleared through an obviously unintended method, by just flying past everything.
It honestly makes me think that perhaps the game was originally designed without the flying mechanic, and then it was added at the last moment and not properly play-tested. Despite this, I tried not to cheese every level and play through them the proper way, and even then, I encountered no difficulty. Young children are not stupid, and I believe they don’t need to be pandered to and underestimated. Real game difficulty takes time to design and figure out, time which seemingly hasn’t been taken here. The bosses are one of the most egregious aspects in this regard. Most of them are simply scaled-up enemies who you have to bonk on the head 3-5 times. Where are the interesting mechanics or unique attacks? They just move up and down or side to side. Emotionless 2D sprites who convey absolutely nothing of any value to the player. The fact that a young child may play this as one of their first games and believe this is how the majority of games are designed is a very sad thought indeed.
But what if difficulty is not an important factor? That’s fair enough, I can understand someone who might want something relaxed or thought-provoking. Well, let’s begin with the main character… a balloon. The devs really shot themselves in the foot here. It’s a circle with 2 eyes and a mouth. That’s it. There’s nothing of interest going on here. Some of the most popular 2D platformers of all time invest heavily in their character design. So why not take a page from their book? Just look at Mario, Sonic and Rayman to name a few. Great designs with a ton of history and personality. Of course, this isn’t a triple-A game. So how about Celeste, Hollow Knight, Shantae or Braid? All of these characters are interesting to look at and have mechanics that we haven’t seen in other titles. They offer something fresh, something new and exciting. Balloony does none of this. You don’t learn mechanics or gain new abilities, or develop as a character or a player through this experience.
For me, a lot of this boils down to the mood and personality of a journey. The world building is really important in this regard, even in a simple platforming game. Why are there cactus walls in almost every level? Couldn’t the devs come up with a more interesting barrier that blends with the environment of the level? Why are the same enemies in every setting? Bored of wasps and mosquitoes? Well too bad. The music is repetitive and uninspired, or even missing from the winter world entirely. Why should I bother collecting all the stars in every level when I don’t feel inspired by the world? Even if we do treat this as a mobile game, not a Switch title, mobile games have evolved so much in the past 20 or so years, that Balloony truly feels like an unfortunate relic from the past.
But what about the good? There must be some right? Well if you force me to give the game some praise, the control scheme is very easy to pick up (even if the jumping is stiff and locks you into a certain direction). I didn’t encounter any game breaking bugs. In addition, it’s decent value for money if you want to collect all the stars and cosmetics. But even this is a bit of a reach.
Whether it’s overly punishing hitboxes or bland level design, Balloony struggles to get its feet off the ground. There’s so much inspiration out there when it comes to 2D platformers, and yet it feels as though almost none of the things that made those games great made it into this title. If you’re looking for an engaging experience then you’d better look elsewhere, because this game has gone down like a lead balloon.
