King & Balloon is an arcade game by Namco released in 1980. The game is a Shoot 'Em Up that uses the same board as Namco's previous hit Galaxian.
The player controls a cannon operated by two green men. Rows of enemy hot air balloons attack from the sky above, firing bullets and dropping to the ground. While these attacks can destroy your cannon, staying alive is not the main objective, as on the platform below you is the titular king. When the balloons reach the ground, they will capture the king if they make contact with him, then attempt to fly away. If one of the balloons manages to make it offscreen with the king in tow, the player loses one life, but they can prevent this by shooting the balloon down before it gets away.
King & Balloon is one of the first video games to make use of voice synthesis. The king will shout "Help! Help! Help!" whenever he gets picked up by a balloon, he says "Thank you!" when you shoot down the balloon he's trapped in, and he says "Bye bye!" if the balloon gets away with him. The Japanese and English versions of the game use different voice clips for each quote, with the Japanese version giving him a heavy Japanese accent.
The game has been re-released a handful of times through the Namco Museum series. The first one to feature it was the Japan-only Namco Museum Encore for the PlayStation. Later compilations with the game include Namco Museum Battle Collection on the PlayStation Portable (The first home release of the game in North America), Namco Museum Virtual Arcade on the Xbox 360,, and Namco Museum Megamix on the Nintendo Wii.
King & Balloon contains examples of:
- Asteroids Monster: Sometimes, two balloons will merge together into one large balloon before descending. These balloons are worth more points for shooting, and may split apart after as well.
- Balloon of Doom: The antagonists of the game are hot air balloons that swoop down from the sky to capture the king and lift him away.
- Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: If your cannon is hit by an enemy balloon or the bullets they fire, it will be destroyed, and the two men controlling it will collapse, but will respawn seconds later with no impact on the number of remaining lives. The only way to actually lose a life is if the king gets captured.
- Endless Game: The game goes on until the player runs out of lives.
- Friendly Fireproof: You can't shoot the king while he's being lifted away, as shooting the balloon he's in will result in him safely falling back to the ground.
- Name and Name: The title is King & Balloon, referring to both the king the player must protect, and the balloons that act as the antagonists.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Your cannon can only take one hit before being destroyed, though it will be quickly replaced, and you don't lose a life.
- Palette Swap: The default form of the balloons all use the same sprite, but each row has a different color, with red at the top, orange below that, yellow under that, and white at the bottom row.
- Parasol Parachute: When a balloon carrying the king is shot down, the king will descend back to the ground slowly using an umbrella.
- Protection Mission: The main objective is to protect the king from being captured by the balloons by shooting them down before they can reach him and then fly away with him. If a balloon gets away with him, you lose a life.
- Secondary Character Title: The game's title makes reference to the king you're protecting and the balloons aiming to kidnap him, but not the cannoneers you actually play as.
