The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Gameplay
The player controls two green men with an orange cannon, stationed on the parapet of a castle, that fires at a fleet of hot air balloons. Below the cannon, the King moves slowly back and forth as the balloons return fire and dive toward him. If a balloon reaches the ground, it will sit there until the King walks into it, at which time it lifts off with him. The player must then shoot the balloon to free the King, who will parachute safely to the ground. At times, two or more diving balloons can combine to form a single larger one, which awards extra points and splits apart when hit.
The cannon is destroyed by collision with balloons or their shots, but is replaced after a brief delay with no effect on the number of remaining lives. One life is lost when a balloon carries the King off the top of the screen; the game ends when all lives are lost. As in Galaxian, the round number stops increasing at round 48.
Legacy
King & Balloon was later featured in Namco Museum Encore for the PlayStation, as an exclusive release for Japan. It made its North American console debut on Namco Museum Battle Collection for the PSP, in which the player could choose the King's voice (original Japanese or later U.S. version) after unlocking the manic settings. It also appeared in Namco Museum Virtual Arcade for the Xbox 360, as well as Namco Museum Megamix for the Wii. Hamster Corporation released the game as part of their Arcade Archives series for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in July 2023.
