King & Balloon (US)| 1980 |
Description:
Notes:
Notes:
Release type:
Developer: Namco
Controls/Input Device: Control(joy8way), Buttons(1)
Number of Players: 2
Rating:
Creator:
More Creator:
More Coder/Software:
Developer: Namco
Controls/Input Device: Control(joy8way), Buttons(1)
Number of Players: 2
Rating:
Creator:
More Creator:
More Coder/Software:
Publisher:
Manufacturer:
:
License from/Copyright:
Graphics/Artwork:
Music:
SoundFX:
System/ConversionClass:
SoundMix: Mono
Manufacturer:
:
License from/Copyright:
Graphics/Artwork:
Music:
SoundFX:
System/ConversionClass:
SoundMix: Mono
More Graphics/Artwork:
More Music/Sound:
Acting Talent involved:
:
:
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More System Details:
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Acting Talent involved:
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More System Details:
URL: Official:
URL: Rules:
URL: Hints:
URL: Cheats:
URL: Reviews:
King & Balloon (US) VGMuseum Game Endings
King & Balloon (US) on CAESAR
King & Balloon (US) high score and replay at MARP
King & Balloon (US) on datObase
URL: Rules:
URL: Hints:
URL: Cheats:
URL: Reviews:
King & Balloon (US) VGMuseum Game Endings
King & Balloon (US) on CAESAR
King & Balloon (US) high score and replay at MARP
King & Balloon (US) on datObase
Mameinfo.dat entry:
0.37b10 [Yochizo]
WIP:
- 0.147u2: hap fixed clone Omega Fighter Special. The game fails to boot or finish post. After showing bad rom errors, the game resets.
- 0.147u1: Fixed maincpu rom loading.
- 0.122u7: Fixed gfx1/2/3/4/5 rom loading.
- 0.89u3: Changed Z80 CPU2 clock speed to 5MHz.
- 0.37b10: Yochizo added 'Omega Fighter' (UPL 1989) and clone Omega Fighter Special.
- 21st November 2000: Yochizo fixed some graphics bugs in the Omega Fighter / Atomic Robo-kid driver.
- 8th November 2000: Yochizo sent in a driver for Omega Fighter and Atomic Robo-kid.
- 25th April 1999: Dumped Omega Fighter Special.
LEVELS: 8 (restarts once)
Other Emulators:
* FB Alpha
* JFF
* Raine
Recommended Games (Star Force):
Catacomb
Vega
Espial
Night Star (DECO Cassette)
Nova 2001
Star Jacker
Stunt Air
Zodiack
Star Force
Alpha Mission / ASO
Alpha Mission II / ASO II
Astro Warrior (Mega-Tech)
Mission 660
Rafflesia
S.R.D. Mission
Truxton / Tatsujin
Tatsujin (Tourvision PCE bootleg)
Truxton II / Tatsujin Oh
Blast Off
Blazing Lazers
GunHed (Tourvision PCE bootleg)
The Next Space
Omega Fighter
Super Star Soldier (Tourvision PCE bootleg)
Lethal Thunder
Pollux
Strike Gunner S.T.G
Vimana
Explosive Breaker
Final Star Force
Galmedes
Gunlock
GunNail
Nebulas Ray
Super-X
Gekirindan
Viper Phase 1
Fever SOS
Mars Matrix: Hyper Solid Shooting
Romset: 2016 kb / 8 files / 457.8 zip
Credits Mameinfo and Mametesters Project Robert J. Rabgno et al.
0.37b10 [Yochizo]
WIP:
- 0.147u2: hap fixed clone Omega Fighter Special. The game fails to boot or finish post. After showing bad rom errors, the game resets.
- 0.147u1: Fixed maincpu rom loading.
- 0.122u7: Fixed gfx1/2/3/4/5 rom loading.
- 0.89u3: Changed Z80 CPU2 clock speed to 5MHz.
- 0.37b10: Yochizo added 'Omega Fighter' (UPL 1989) and clone Omega Fighter Special.
- 21st November 2000: Yochizo fixed some graphics bugs in the Omega Fighter / Atomic Robo-kid driver.
- 8th November 2000: Yochizo sent in a driver for Omega Fighter and Atomic Robo-kid.
- 25th April 1999: Dumped Omega Fighter Special.
LEVELS: 8 (restarts once)
Other Emulators:
* FB Alpha
* JFF
* Raine
Recommended Games (Star Force):
Catacomb
Vega
Espial
Night Star (DECO Cassette)
Nova 2001
Star Jacker
Stunt Air
Zodiack
Star Force
Alpha Mission / ASO
Alpha Mission II / ASO II
Astro Warrior (Mega-Tech)
Mission 660
Rafflesia
S.R.D. Mission
Truxton / Tatsujin
Tatsujin (Tourvision PCE bootleg)
Truxton II / Tatsujin Oh
Blast Off
Blazing Lazers
GunHed (Tourvision PCE bootleg)
The Next Space
Omega Fighter
Super Star Soldier (Tourvision PCE bootleg)
Lethal Thunder
Pollux
Strike Gunner S.T.G
Vimana
Explosive Breaker
Final Star Force
Galmedes
Gunlock
GunNail
Nebulas Ray
Super-X
Gekirindan
Viper Phase 1
Fever SOS
Mars Matrix: Hyper Solid Shooting
Romset: 2016 kb / 8 files / 457.8 zip
Credits Mameinfo and Mametesters Project Robert J. Rabgno et al.
History.dat entry:
King & Balloon (c) 1980 Namco.
The player controls two green men (likely soldiers in the king's army) with an orange cannon that fires at squads of descending balloons. You must protect the King and prevent him from being captured and carried away by one of the balloons. Unlike most shooter games, the player's cannon can be hit and destroyed any number of times; it is the King that must be protected. The game ends when the king is carried away three times.
- TECHNICAL -
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 3.072 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 2.5 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Tone generator, discrete circuits, and a DAC for speech
Players : 2
Control : 2-way joystick
Buttons : 1 (FIRE)
- TRIVIA -
King & Balloon was released in October 1980 in Japan by Namco. It was released in North America by GamePlan the same year.
King & Balloon is the first game from Namco to feature voices.
Kevin Olkowski holds the official record for this game with 48900 points.
- UPDATES -
The voices differed between Japanese and U.S. versions. In the Japanese version, the abducted king yelled 'Help! Help!', but with heavy Japanese pronunciation, sounding more like 'Herupuu!'. In the U.S. version, the voice was redone as a more English-sounding 'Help!'.
- SCORING -
On single balloons, first score is in formation, second score diving or rising, third score is rising with King in tow.
Red Balloons : 50, 100, 150
Orange Balloons : 40, 80, 120
Yellow Balloons : 30, 60, 90
White balloons : 20, 40, 60
On combination balloons, first score is first hit, second score is second hit, third score is third hit. First color is balloon color, second color is line/gondola color
Red/White : 500, 1,000, 1,500
Orange/Yellow : 400, 600, 1,000
Yellow/Orange : 300, 500, 700
White/Red : 200, 300, 500
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* A player can easily top 100,000 or more on this game using two basic tactics: maximizing the points available, and ensuring the cannon is always best placed to destroy any balloon that grabs the king. Since all cannons are expendable, success often depends on their deliberate tactical destruction.
* Keep an eye out for the giant balloon. These balloons are worth more point than regular balloons. Shooting it once makes it become a medium-sized balloon, and shooting it a second time reverts it back to being a normal balloon.
* Giant balloons never appear by themselves - there will always be at least one small balloon on the screen at the same time. As soon as you see a giant balloon start to form, let a normal balloon destroy your cannon as soon as possible. This should give you enough grace time when you reappear to fire three shots at the giant balloon for 3000 points, and then position yourself correctly if there is a balloon attempting to abduct the king. It is possible to destroy 5 or 6 giant balloons by per level, gaining you around 20,000 points.
* Try to keep the level going as long as possible unless you're down to your last 6 balloons - at this point giant balloons rarely from.
* Just like Galaxian, the game only goes up to round 48. If round 48 is completed, the game will continue to work but will always report the level as 48.
- PORTS -
* Consoles :
Sony PlayStation [JP] (October 30, 1997) "Namco Museum Encore [Model SLPS-01050]"
Microsoft XBOX 360 [US] (November 4, 2008) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 21022]"
Microsoft XBOX 360 [EU] (May 15, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
Microsoft XBOX 360 [AU] (June 4, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
Microsoft XBOX 360 [JP] (November 5, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 2RD-00001]"
Nintendo Wii [US] (November 16, 2010) "Namco Museum Megamix"
* Handhelds :
Sony PSP [US] (August 23, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model ULUS-10035]"
Sony PSP [EU] (December 9, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model UCES-00116]"
Sony PSP [JP] (February 23, 2006) "Namco Museum Vol.2 [Model ULJS-00047]"
Sony PSP [KO] (November 8, 2007) "Namco Museum Vol.2"
* Computers :
MSX [JP] (1984)
MSX [EU] (1984) by Bug-Byte
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] [JP] (December 24, 1998) "Namco History Vol.4"
- CONTRIBUTE -
Edit this entry: http://www.arcade-history.com/?&page=detail&id=1282&o=2
Licensed from Alexis Bousiges under a CC Attribution 3.0 License
King & Balloon (c) 1980 Namco.
The player controls two green men (likely soldiers in the king's army) with an orange cannon that fires at squads of descending balloons. You must protect the King and prevent him from being captured and carried away by one of the balloons. Unlike most shooter games, the player's cannon can be hit and destroyed any number of times; it is the King that must be protected. The game ends when the king is carried away three times.
- TECHNICAL -
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 3.072 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 2.5 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Tone generator, discrete circuits, and a DAC for speech
Players : 2
Control : 2-way joystick
Buttons : 1 (FIRE)
- TRIVIA -
King & Balloon was released in October 1980 in Japan by Namco. It was released in North America by GamePlan the same year.
King & Balloon is the first game from Namco to feature voices.
Kevin Olkowski holds the official record for this game with 48900 points.
- UPDATES -
The voices differed between Japanese and U.S. versions. In the Japanese version, the abducted king yelled 'Help! Help!', but with heavy Japanese pronunciation, sounding more like 'Herupuu!'. In the U.S. version, the voice was redone as a more English-sounding 'Help!'.
- SCORING -
On single balloons, first score is in formation, second score diving or rising, third score is rising with King in tow.
Red Balloons : 50, 100, 150
Orange Balloons : 40, 80, 120
Yellow Balloons : 30, 60, 90
White balloons : 20, 40, 60
On combination balloons, first score is first hit, second score is second hit, third score is third hit. First color is balloon color, second color is line/gondola color
Red/White : 500, 1,000, 1,500
Orange/Yellow : 400, 600, 1,000
Yellow/Orange : 300, 500, 700
White/Red : 200, 300, 500
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* A player can easily top 100,000 or more on this game using two basic tactics: maximizing the points available, and ensuring the cannon is always best placed to destroy any balloon that grabs the king. Since all cannons are expendable, success often depends on their deliberate tactical destruction.
* Keep an eye out for the giant balloon. These balloons are worth more point than regular balloons. Shooting it once makes it become a medium-sized balloon, and shooting it a second time reverts it back to being a normal balloon.
* Giant balloons never appear by themselves - there will always be at least one small balloon on the screen at the same time. As soon as you see a giant balloon start to form, let a normal balloon destroy your cannon as soon as possible. This should give you enough grace time when you reappear to fire three shots at the giant balloon for 3000 points, and then position yourself correctly if there is a balloon attempting to abduct the king. It is possible to destroy 5 or 6 giant balloons by per level, gaining you around 20,000 points.
* Try to keep the level going as long as possible unless you're down to your last 6 balloons - at this point giant balloons rarely from.
* Just like Galaxian, the game only goes up to round 48. If round 48 is completed, the game will continue to work but will always report the level as 48.
- PORTS -
* Consoles :
Sony PlayStation [JP] (October 30, 1997) "Namco Museum Encore [Model SLPS-01050]"
Microsoft XBOX 360 [US] (November 4, 2008) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 21022]"
Microsoft XBOX 360 [EU] (May 15, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
Microsoft XBOX 360 [AU] (June 4, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
Microsoft XBOX 360 [JP] (November 5, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 2RD-00001]"
Nintendo Wii [US] (November 16, 2010) "Namco Museum Megamix"
* Handhelds :
Sony PSP [US] (August 23, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model ULUS-10035]"
Sony PSP [EU] (December 9, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model UCES-00116]"
Sony PSP [JP] (February 23, 2006) "Namco Museum Vol.2 [Model ULJS-00047]"
Sony PSP [KO] (November 8, 2007) "Namco Museum Vol.2"
* Computers :
MSX [JP] (1984)
MSX [EU] (1984) by Bug-Byte
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] [JP] (December 24, 1998) "Namco History Vol.4"
- CONTRIBUTE -
Edit this entry: http://www.arcade-history.com/?&page=detail&id=1282&o=2
Licensed from Alexis Bousiges under a CC Attribution 3.0 License
cheat.dat entry:
00000000 800A 00000004 FFFFFFFF Infinite Lives
20800000 11E1 000000C9 FFFFFFFF Invincibility - Player
20810000 11FB 000000C9 FFFFFFFF Invincibility - Player (2/2)
20800000 0CDB 000000C9 FFFFFFFF Invincibility - King
00000000 82D0 00000001 FFFFFFFF Stop Disappearing when hit
Credit Pugsy's MAME Cheat file
00000000 800A 00000004 FFFFFFFF Infinite Lives
20800000 11E1 000000C9 FFFFFFFF Invincibility - Player
20810000 11FB 000000C9 FFFFFFFF Invincibility - Player (2/2)
20800000 0CDB 000000C9 FFFFFFFF Invincibility - King
00000000 82D0 00000001 FFFFFFFF Stop Disappearing when hit
Credit Pugsy's MAME Cheat file
