Balloon Fight: 42 Balloons: The Balloon Fight Collection

This is a collection of multiple Balloon Fight hacks combined into one. There are hacks that may appear familiar, some more obscure than others, and there are some hacks that are appearing for the first time, all in this collection.

This collection came about from a childhood fascination in old NES multicarts, and preserving the projects inspired by Balloon Fight.

Some of the more obscure hacks in this multicart include: Fish War, Iwata Edition, Balloon Fight X2, Shadows Edition, Zero Gravity, and the newly discovered, Killer Kitty.

In addition, for the first time ever, courtesy of https://www.romhacking.net/community/5512/'s https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4826/, the level hacks, https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2519/ and https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2657/, can now be played with up to 4 players!

A full list of included hacks is available in the readme, along with the authors involved. Please check out and support their original Balloon Fight hack releases, as well as their other projects!

This hack uses the BPS patching format. Please download the https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/893/ utility by https://www.romhacking.net/community/16/ and refer to the readme file for appropriate patching instructions. Patches are included for both the Japanese and American versions.

This hack uses the MMC5 mapper, so please use a compatible emulator. At the time of its initial release, it works well in https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/689/ and https://www.mesen.ca/. It has not been tested on real hardware.

For any inquiries, please refer to the readme for contact information, or reach out in https://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=20232.0 on the Romhacking.net message board. Thank you.

42 Balloons: The Balloon Fight Collection (A.K.A. 42-in-1 Balloon Fight)
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Table of Contents

1. What Is It?
2. What's Included?
3. What Disclaimer?
4. What's With Those Patches?
5. What Games? I
6. What Games? II
7. What Programs?
8. What Change Log?
9. Thank Who; How Many?
10. Who? (Contact)
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1. What Is It?

This is a ROM hack of the NES game/port, Balloon Fight, by Nintendo. More specifically, it is a
bunch of Balloon Fight ROM hacks combined together into one.

This collection came about from a childhood fascination in old NES multicarts, and preserving the
projects inspired by a simple but enjoyable NES classic, the fan favorite, Balloon Fight, as well
as making some of the more obscure projects more accessible. There are also some projects that were
created specifically for this collection and aren't available anywhere else.

With all of that said, this multicart uses the MMC5 mapper, and therefore, its compatibility with
certain emulators is, as of this writing, limited or nonexistent. It is known to work in
FCEUX 2.2.3 and Mesen 0.9.9. It has not been tested on real hardware.

This collection would not have been possible without all of the creative individuals and groups of
people who have expanded on one of the many amazing little gems from Nintendo that still continues
to keep us connected with our treasured childhood memories. From countless different perspectives,
all of the projects gathered into one multicart will hopefully continue to inspire and take others
back to a simpler time, where many tiny warriors take flight in only the most prestigious balloon
popping challenges and competitions!
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2. What's Included?

The following files should be included in this download:

- 42in1BF-J.bps
- 42in1BF-U.bps
- 42 Balloons Spell Book.txt
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3. What Disclaimer?

The hacks and mods included within this custom collection have been included without permission
from any parties involved in those projects. Part of the reason why is because this multicart,
worked on in secret, was intended to be a completely unexpected surprise. The other part is because
some project creators would likely not have been so easily contacted, either due to inactivity,
obscurity, complete mystery, or all of the above.

This collection is intended to be the "ultimate" (but unofficial) collection and preservation for
true Balloon Fight fans (at least, for the time being).

However, if you want your hack removed from this collection for one reason or another, then please
refer to the "Contact" section to make potential arrangements.

Alternatively, if you should make your own Balloon Fight hack in the future and wish for it to be
included in this collection, then please refer to the "Contact" section to see if your project can
fit in this collection or a potential future collection!

This ROM hack is NOT to be sold. If you find this ROM hack being sold, DO NOT BUY IT!
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4. What's With Those Patches?

You need to apply a patch to your Balloon Fight ROM to be able to play this collection. The ROM
you have will determine which patch you use (either J or U).

To apply a .bps patch, use the "beat" utility by byuu:
https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/893/

You can find out which Balloon Fight ROM you have from its checksums. You can do this with the
"HxD" utility by Maël Hörz:
https://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/

Open your Balloon Fight ROM in HxD. Under the Analysis menu, select "Checksums...". You can
select multiple algorithms by holding down the Ctrl key, or a range of algorithms by holding down
the Shift key.

If your checksums match the "Balloon Fight (J) [!].nes" ROM, use the "42in1BF-J.bps" patch.

If your checksums match the "Balloon Fight (U) [!].nes" ROM, use the "42in1BF-U.bps" patch.

Balloon Fight (J) [!].nes
CRC-32: A0DABE0A
MD-5: 04855CD998B41C56C22CE451B1879A05
SHA-1: BE2C30D69B1EBA76EAF1CC259DFA41F0F29B0FB2
SHA-256: D10749D1A94FA28350C23973CFE95879367CCB553802DAA4CC3434ACABB446E4

Balloon Fight (U) [!].nes
CRC-32: CB8FD7B2
MD-5: 6E125395CA4F18ADDB8CE6C9152DEA85
SHA-1: F5E4CD9F287A8233EEE35AD1881B2770D9F2C453
SHA-256: 9710F31E7EE204A69AAAAFB6AF340EFEC89657A245C8D402DEE95DAEA4F8A49F

Once patched, your new ROM should have the following checksums:

42-in-1 Balloon Fight (v1.1).nes
CRC-32: E39DA1E0
MD-5: A61EA4DB855537D7EA88A45AAB3769C7
SHA-1: 5781DCD9BEACEEB50E5FA18B92E55AF3B00BB378
SHA-256: CC6EFDDF454EFE7A0C22E8B914CABEF6F05E659046F3C69B2F7D9DD387EDBD29
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5. What Games? I

Here is a full list of the games and hacks as they appear in "The Balloon Fight Collection":

1. Balloon Fight
2. Joust More
3. Balloon Mario
4. Air Umbrella
5. Butterfly Fight
6. Super Mario Balloon
7. Fish War
8. Fish War - Balloon Trip
9. Iwata Edition
10. Clovermon: Balloofang Fight
11. Cosmic Balloon Assault
12. Board Fight
13. 4 Players Hack
14. Killer Kitty
15. Balloon Fight X2
16. Norwegian
17. Hungarian
18. Indonesian
19. Spanish
20. Arabic
21. Balloon Fight Hard Mode
22. Backwards Balloon Fight
23. Fish is Missing!
24. Shadows Edition
25. 4 Players Hack - v. 1.0
26. No Bonus Phases
27. Double Speed
28. Double Trip Speed
29. Fish War - Nature Color
30. Zero Gravity
31. Cosmic Balloon Assault - 4 Players Hack
32. Board Fight - 4 Players Hack
33. Cosmic Balloon Assault - No Bonus Phases
34. Cosmic Balloon Assault - 3 Lives
35. Board Fight - 3 Lives
36. Cosmic Balloon Assault - Butterfly Fight
37. Cosmic Balloon Assault - Clovermon: Balloofang Fight
38. Cosmic Balloon Assault - Super Mario Balloon
39. Board Fight - Butterfly Fight
40. Board Fight - Clovermon: Balloofang Fight
41. Board Fight - Super Mario Balloon
42. Killer Kitty - 6 Lives
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6. What Games? II

Here is more information for the games and hacks included in "The Balloon Fight Collection":

1. Balloon Fight - By Nintendo Research & Development. The NES/Famicom port released in 1985 and
internationally in 1986. This is the original game that the other hacks in this collection were
based off of and inspired by.

2. Joust More - Graphics hack by Grimlick that changes the graphics of the levels and enemies to
resemble those from the game Joust.

3. Balloon Mario - Graphics hack by Rinkaku that changes the balloon fighters to Mario and Luigi.

4. Air Umbrella - Graphics hack by Inventor that changes the graphics of the background and
enemies. The player controls Meowkie from Mappy with his ears cut off.

5. Butterfly Fight - Graphics hack by DASTARD with Touhou Project themed graphics. The player
character is based on Touhou character, Yuyuko Saigyouji.

6. Super Mario Balloon - Graphics hack by Magnus Nilsson that changes Balloon Fight into a Mario-
themed game. The balloon fighters are now Mario and Luigi, and the enemies are Koopas. The palettes
are brighter, the starting lives are increased, and the high pitched noise that the enemies make is
changed to a more neutral sound.

7. Fish War - Graphics, music, and assembly hack by BBG and Nature Color, and developed by Nice
Code Software, that takes place in the deep blue. The balloon fighters and enemies are now all
fish. Balloon Trip is unavailable in this version.

8. Fish War - Balloon Trip - Like above, a more advanced hack. This version has different music
and a Balloon Trip mode.

9. Iwata Edition - Graphics hack by John Riggs that changes the player sprite into Satoru Iwata.

10. Clovermon: Balloofang Fight - Graphics hack by PoClo/CAPSLOCK PRIME and Le Ruse Bird. This hack
was inspired by the ROM hack, Pokémon Clover.

11. Cosmic Balloon Assault - Level and graphics hack by Quick Curly. Changes include 12 brand new
Phases, starting with 6 extra lives instead of 2, modified Bonus Phases, some surprise graphical
appearances from other games, and individual palettes for each Phase.

12. Board Fight - Level and graphics hack by Quick Curly, Mattrizzle, MegaEliteGamers,
MrRichard999, Static S, Thermoptic, Vicious Poetry, and Zieldak. Changes include 16 new Phases, no
Bonus Phases, starting with 20 extra lives instead of 2, some more graphical appearances from other
games, and individual palettes for each Phase.

13. 4 Players Hack - Assembly hack by mishra that allows Balloon Fight to be played with 3 or 4
players! This is version 1.1. It includes some bug fixes and a cheat menu, allowing you to choose
your starting lives, extra enemies on or off, extra enemies taking 3 hits on or off, and rebound
from the top of the screen on or off.

14. Killer Kitty - An unknown level, graphics, and assembly hack that was discovered on a thumb
drive in a night club raid. Inspired by Hello Kitty, the balloon fighters and enemies have been
modified. Additional changes include 16 new Phases and Bonus Phases with individual palettes,
unique starting positions, new lives counters, modified graphics, and more! Also, for the first
time ever, players can experience a new Balloon Trip challenge! It appears to be an unfinished or
incomplete version or dump, however. Could there be a part 2 somewhere? In a different night club,
perhaps?

15. Balloon Fight X2 - Palette and infinite lives hack by DANGER X.

16. Norwegian - Norwegian translation of Balloon Fight by SSJAndy in 2003.

17. Hungarian - Hungarian translation of Balloon Fight by Szemigi in 2017.

18. Indonesian - Indonesian translation of Balloon Fight by Pi-Man in 2018.

19. Spanish - Spanish translation of Balloon Fight by Wave in 2019.

20. Arabic - Translation of Balloon Fight to Arabic by Diariko in 2019.

21. Balloon Fight Hard Mode - Hack by Quick Curly that replaces all enemies in all the levels with
the fastest enemies.

22. Backwards Balloon Fight - Hack by Quick Curly that mirrors the levels and starting points for
the balloon fighters so that it looks like you're playing a mirror of the original game.

23. Fish is Missing! - This is the original Balloon Fight, but the fish won't appear out of the
water!

24. Shadows Edition - Graphics and palettes hack by davycrocket in 2018. All of the backgrounds,
objects, and sprites appear in full colors.

25. 4 Players Hack - v. 1.0 - The initial release of the 4 Players Hack by mishra.

26. No Bonus Phases - If you want to play only the main Phases of the original Balloon Fight game,
and not the Bonus Phases, then try this option.

27. Double Speed - Assembly hack by nensondubois that makes the game play faster!

28. Double Trip Speed - Assembly hack by nensondubois that makes Balloon Trip play faster!

29. Fish War - Nature Color - Similar to the previous Fish War entries, but the title screen is
modified to credit Nature Color.

30. Zero Gravity - Similar to Air Umbrella, but with a modified title screen and modified intro
music.

31. Cosmic Balloon Assault - 4 Players Hack - For the first time ever, courtesy of mishra's 4
Players Hack, you and 2 or 3 of your friends can take your "assault" to the next level... or 12!

32. Board Fight - 4 Players Hack - Like above, thanks to mishra's 4 Players Hack, Board Fight has
been converted over to a 4 players edition. For both level hacks, multiple graphics banks had to
be utilized to account for all the custom graphics, due to how the 4 Players Hack is managed, and
the layouts of later levels had to be converted over, byte for byte, to account for the new
arrangements of the CHR-ROM graphics banks. Though, you won't notice a difference while playing the
hacks - only if you peek at them using graphics viewers and whatnot.

33. Cosmic Balloon Assault - No Bonus Phases - This lets you play the Cosmic Balloon Assault hack
without Bonus Phases.

34. Cosmic Balloon Assault - 3 Lives - For those who consider starting with 6 extra lives too easy,
you can start with 3 lives like in the original Balloon Fight.

35. Board Fight - 3 Lives - If starting with 20 extra lives is overkill for Balloon Fight masters,
this might be the selection for them, and you!

36. Cosmic Balloon Assault - Butterfly Fight - Play the modified levels of Cosmic Balloon Assault
with the modified graphics from Butterfly Fight.

37. Cosmic Balloon Assault - Clovermon: Balloofang Fight - Cosmic Balloon Assault with Clovermon:
Balloofang Fight graphics.

38. Cosmic Balloon Assault - Super Mario Balloon - Cosmic Balloon Assault with Super Mario Balloon
graphics.

39. Board Fight - Butterfly Fight - Play the modified levels of Board Fight with the modified
graphics from Butterfly Fight.

40. Board Fight - Clovermon: Balloofang Fight - Board Fight with Clovermon: Balloofang Fight
graphics.

41. Board Fight - Super Mario Balloon - Board Fight with Super Mario Balloon graphics.

42. Killer Kitty - 6 Lives - Is the original Killer Kitty hack too deadly for you? Maybe starting
with 6 extra lives instead of 2 will make getting through all the Phases a little more manageable.
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7. What Programs?

This project was made possible thanks to the following programs and utilities:

- beat by byuu
- FCEUX 2.2.3 by everyone at the FCEUX Team
- HxD by Maël Hörz
- Mesen 0.9.9 by Sour
- Tile Layer Pro by SnowBro
- WindHex32 by Bongo`
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8. What Change Log?

Here is where any notes should be documented if there are any potential future updates.

If you would like to contribute any work to improve this collection overall (or, would like to
collaborate on a future collection or other project), please refer to the "Contact" section.

------------
Version 1.0 - Tuesday, September 1, 2020
- Initial public release.

44-in-1 Balloon Fight.nes
CRC-32: 4C91320C
MD-5: E823F551A67CAB9C1271B1AA54FD8EE7
SHA-1: DD61EDB0DFB9ABBBA12B10C72BD569591821DDB6
SHA-256: 33AB39E13FA9A7A2C54D7583C17D3C2BA1D09B4582C192BCA1F3D68DB8EBC2A1
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Version 1.1 - Saturday, November 7, 2020
- Multicart layout reorganized.
- "Balloon Fight X3" hack removed due to redundancy.
- "French" translation removed by request.
- Tile layout for water fixed in Phase 06 of Killer Kitty hack.

42-in-1 Balloon Fight (v1.1).nes
CRC-32: E39DA1E0
MD-5: A61EA4DB855537D7EA88A45AAB3769C7
SHA-1: 5781DCD9BEACEEB50E5FA18B92E55AF3B00BB378
SHA-256: CC6EFDDF454EFE7A0C22E8B914CABEF6F05E659046F3C69B2F7D9DD387EDBD29
------------

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9. Thank Who; How Many?

AlexSRMD
BBG
blackhole89
blargg
Bluestone19
Board 2
Bongo`
BootlegGames Wiki
Bootsy Spankins, P.I.
Buckethead
byuu
CaH4e3
cuberootinbinary
DANGER X
DASTARD
davycrocket
Diariko
Disch
dougeff
English1stud
errijnde
FCEUX Team
Flotonic
Googie
Grenade Studios
Grimlick
Hello Kitty
Intruder X
Inventor
JcDizon
Jeville
JMFSpike
John Riggs
Kejardon
KingPepe
Konami
Le Ruse Bird
Maël Hörz
Magnus Nilsson
Mattrizzle
MegaEliteGamers
mishra
MrRichard999
Nature Color
nensondubois
NesDev
NewRisingSun
Nice Code Software
Nintendo
Nintendo Research & Development
Pi-Man
PoClo/CAPSLOCK PRIME
Quietust
Reginald von Hoobie-Doobie
Rinkaku
Romhacking.net/RHDN
Sanrio
SchlossRitter
Smart89
SnowBro
SomeOrdinaryGamers
Sorin
Sour
SSJAndy
Static S
SunGodPortal
Szemigi
taizou
Thermoptic
Tiles
vhernandez2121
Vicious Poetry
Vizzed
Wave
Within Shadows
Zieldak
Zophar's Domain
Zynk
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10. Who? (Contact)

Who even bothered to put together this Balloon Fight Collection? Well, again, it was not possible
without Nintendo and everyone who produced their own individual Balloon Fight projects in the past.

The person who was crazy enough to throw all of the different flavors together into a single
sandwich and eat it too was an individual who goes by Quick Curly.

If you haven't heard of him, well, it would make sense since he hasn't been around for a while.

If you want to tell him yourself why you support him going back into hiding and staying there this
time, or if you have an idea of what he should maybe work on next, then you should be able to reach
him through the following means:

Romhacking.net
https://www.romhacking.net/community/1051/
https://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=3816

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/Qu1ckCur1y

Email: quickcurly[at]yahoo[dot]ca

A thread for my attempted projects can be found here:

https://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=20232.0

If you enjoy Balloon Fight as much as I do, and have considered making your own Balloon Fight hack
in the past, please stop by. I look forward to potential opportunities to work together with other
individuals who have the enthusiasm and motivation to get their hacking hands dirty, and won't just
leave me to do all the work by myself, which will only result in a project never truly reaching its
full potential. I have my own perspectives and preferences that the general perception doesn't
normally agree with, but if I have to choose between my own ideas and those of someone else who has
no desire or willingness to work with me, I'm going to continue to do things my own way.

***You can prevent that dark future!!!***
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Database match: Balloon Fight (Japan)
Database: No-Intro: Nintendo Entertainment System (v. 20180803-121122)
File SHA-1: BE2C30D69B1EBA76EAF1CC259DFA41F0F29B0FB2
File CRC32: A0DABE0A
ROM SHA-1: 0F85A4D325B97D7977177B9C7808F0558239766E
ROM CRC32: 2B462010

Database match: Balloon Fight (USA)
Database: No-Intro: Nintendo Entertainment System (v. 20180803-121122)
File SHA-1: F5E4CD9F287A8233EEE35AD1881B2770D9F2C453
File CRC32: CB8FD7B2
ROM SHA-1: 57F86E49372AE44DA79F269973E7DB4F443D0B98
ROM CRC32: 401349A8