Pioneer Balloon, 1982 SNK/Rock Ola

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crazyclimber80

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Published on November 13, 2018 8:58:46 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELOPC30LHm4

Duration: 14:07

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5

Oddball scrolling adventure game (rather similar to FANTASY, also by SNK/Rock-Ola) set in the Old West pioneering days. Fly your hot air balloon over enemy territory, shooting (what exactly I'm not certain-- I'm not sure what would be dropped from hot air balloons as projectiles) at enemies like covered wagons, horse-drawn carriages, Native American Indians, birds, apes (told ya this was strange), and avoiding typhoons. Pass all these dangers to arrive at a fortress where you must safely make your landing and then start all the stages over again with increased difficulty. You can fire 3 shots at a time, and in many stages you must simply destroy all the enemies to advance, so don't spare the ammo! You can sometimes use birds as a shield from the enemy fire (they will at least keep the shot from getting through to you), or in another stage you can shoot the bird and send its falling corpse down to take out apes below. The stages are: Covered wagons that fire arrows up at you, Native American Indians firing zigzaggy arrows (?) up at you, a bird flying upwards while you shoot at apes trying to hurl coconuts at you (here is where you can shoot the bird back down to nail the apes), Typhoons rising from the sea, Horse drawn carriages firing bullets up at you (!), and the fortress where you must avoid colliding with birds, rock formations or the side of the fortress. Then all starts over. Some technical gaffes and the overall weirdness factor keeps the game from being terribly memorable.. I hate when you innocently shoot at the explosion of a destroyed bird and the explosion creeps closer and closer to you, then takes you out! Odd music choices like "The Great Escape" theme and "The Yellow Rose Of Texas", as well as some generic Rock-Ola/SNK tunes. Hope you had a great Veteran's Day Weekend everybody; and a special thank you to all who served and a special recognition to those who gave their lives for this great country.