Balloon Journey

Reflex-based video games are great when you need something light to put your patience to the test, although it’s not as simple as making the said games hard. In fact, the difficulty comes second after the ingenuity of the gameplay mechanics, because everything is more fun if the mechanics are great, regardless of how difficult the levels are.

Balloon Journey is an arcade game in which your goal is to guide a poor fellow to the top of a tower by controlling his ascent using balloons. Naturally, the way up is riddled with traps, spikes and enemies, which makes your task that much more complicated. The controls are pretty challenging as well, making your mission even tougher than it has to be.

The only thing you have to do is steer the character from left to right and press Space in order to keep ascending, but the levels feature all sorts of traps that make your job much harder. Hence, spikes pop your balloons and send you spiraling down, and you also have to avoid arrows, monsters and the floor itself, which forces you to keep ascending no matter what.

There are many levels awaiting for you, each one of which features a different challenge. The obstacles get tougher to avoid and closer together, forcing you to think fast and keep moving at all times. Some of the stages also take place at night, making it slightly more difficult to see what’s coming. Unfortunately, the controls are a bit too jumpy sometimes, which causes a lot of frustration.

It’s one thing to die because of a trap, but it’s infuriating to meet your end because the game failed to react quickly enough to your input. Although this is part of the game’s charm and the reason for some of the difficulty, Balloon Journey can be a bit too rough sometimes. Thus, you need to be prepared for a few annoying portions and power through when the situation is bleak.

All things considered, Balloon Journey is a decent game, but it has its fair share of problems as well, including the laggy controls. Thus, it can be good fun for a few minutes, but it might lose its appeal after you see too much of it.