Balloon Fight

Developer: Nintendo
Year: 1984

If you have any question as to why there aren't any Wii's for your kids a full year and change after launch, you really don't need to look much farther than Balloon Fight. Nintendo has been doing things like this for 25 years now, and all the video ram and double data rate memory and pixel shading in the world doesn't change the fact that the whole point is that these games are supposed to be fun.

Balloon fight is actually just Joust, of course, but it's with balloons instead of ostriches. It's got great music and features great 2-player, which Laura pointed out was cool in that Mario Brothers way where you switched from cooperative to competitive anytime you wanted to. You mash the crap out of A to float, you have 2 balloons, and when they both get popped, you fall into the ocean. In the meantime, try and pop other people's balloons. That's it. That's all. And it's really good.

There's not much to say here. I mean, your thumb gets tired, the person you're playing with accidentally pisses you off by popping a balloon, and the whole flavor of the game changes. It's easy at first, then it gets difficult without your noticing, and then you die, and then you want to play again. You play Balloon Fight, and you realize that anyone who was counting the big N out had sort of forgotten how good they are at what they do.

A great game, and an important reminder.

Rating: 9/10 It's simple, but for what it is, it's not far from perfect.
Advice: Don't be ashamed -- the 'turbo' button is there for a reason.
Best Moment: The first time you mash your way back up out of the ocean just in time to escape drowning.