Nintendo's take on Joust: pop enemy balloons, jump, float. Simple and impeccable. Two-player co-op is pure joy. A Nintendo classic that never ages.
Your verdict
Category
Action4 players3+
Co-op
Description
Action game in which flying knights inflate balloons to rise and knock down enemies. Published by Nintendo, released in the USA in 1986. Top-down view with balloons to inflate, combat by knocking down enemies and popping their bubble. NES port of the Nintendo Balloon Fight arcade game.
The US NES edition, an early Black Box from the console's American launch period, the market that carried the NES. The loose grey cart is ubiquitous and cheap given the massive NTSC print. Value sits almost entirely in graded sealed and Black Box CIB, whose cardboard box warps and yellows easily, making a copy with intact flaps and corners far scarcer than the game itself.
Better with friends
A little weightless masterpiece where you flap your wings to pop your opponent's balloons while keeping your own intact. With two, the co-op mode's teamwork rubs against fierce rivalry the moment you switch to a duel, each trying to drop the other into the water. Immediate and unpredictable, it sparks hilarious reversals and restarts endlessly for express rounds full of shouts.
Is Balloon Fight still worth playing in 2026?
Balloon Fight is a Nintendo classic that distils the essence of Joust with particular elegance. You strike opposing balloons, jump, float, and every motion counts. The two-player co-op is pure joy, a guaranteed source of laughter, and Balloon Trip offers a luminous score attack. The aerial handling needs a few minutes of adjustment but quickly turns addictive. For early Nintendo fans, purified arcade classic lovers and local two-player evenings, still a timeless cart to bring out without hesitation today.
