Balloon Kid

Balloon Kid
Developers: Pax Softnica, Nintendo R&D1 Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Game Boy Released in US: October 1990 Released in EU: January 31, 1991 This game has unused graphics.

Balloon Kid is a sequel to the NES launch title Balloon Fight.

Unused Graphics

There were plans for the game to be released in Japan under the name Balloon Kids; though those plans curiously fell through. However, there are remnants of the "Kids" title screen graphic found in the international release.

Hidden within the game are the graphics of an unused enemy. It bears a striking resemblance to Eggplant Men from Wrecking Crew, which was also worked on by Nintendo R&D1. Based on the animation and how the enemy works in Wrecking Crew, the enemy would have likely walked along the ground. However, the only enemies in the game that are on the ground immediately kill the player on contact. Perhaps this enemy was removed because it would be ineffective, since an eggplant with legs is far less dangerous than fires or crocodiles.

These unused graphics seem to show a skull, which likely would have served as some kind of enemy or obstacle. We really don't have any guess as to what this may have done, or even if it was an enemy at all. This was likely scrapped because it didn't fit in with the overall light-hearted theme of the game.