Mr. Balloon Remake by Mapax

Almost 10 years later, Mapax has just released a remake of its first game for MSX called Mr. Balloon, a dexterity game for MSX2 launched in 2014 which took part in the #msxdev Compo contest of that year.

Same game and therefore same goal since our mission will consist of crossing a labyrinth to reach the finish line and for this we will have some items at our disposal to make things easier. But literally, this time the game takes one step back to take two steps forward. The machine by default now changes from MSX2 to MSX1 but with the addition of the V9990 VDP there is a drastic resolution increase from the original Screen 5 256x212 pixels to B7 mode 1024x424 pixels (1024x212 interlaced). This means a much bigger labyrinth to wander through.

On the other hand, its catchy and nice PSG soundtrack is also enhanced with MSX-MUSIC support, a big change that will delight chiptune lovers. Finally, the game mechanics and other details have been improved for a better game experience. In short, the requirements are as follows:

MSX1 with 16 KB RAM
V9990
MSX-MUSIC

Relevant link: Mr. Balloon Remake download

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Comments (13)

By ToriHino

Paladin (959)

04-11-2023, 23:20

And another V9990 title, very nice . That is quite the resolution used here and also the music is a very nice upgrade.

By gdx

Enlighted (6632)

05-11-2023, 09:46

Is it possible to improve the movement of the balloon in the labyrinth? It's a little hard to turn. Can you also do a non-interlaced version?

By Manel46

Paladin (680)

05-11-2023, 11:06

gdx,
I assume you are referring to turning when you are not at full throttle. It is an added difficulty, but there is some tolerance.
Without interlacing, vertical definition would be lost.

By gdx

Enlighted (6632)

05-11-2023, 15:33

Manel46 wrote:

I assume you are referring to turning when you are not at full throttle. It is an added difficulty, but there is some tolerance.

No, but maybe it's because I played with OpenMSX. Otherwise, a little more tolerance would be better.

Manel46 wrote:

Without interlacing, vertical definition would be lost.

I know but I prefer a lower resolution than interlacing.

By Manel46

Paladin (680)

06-11-2023, 11:28

Why don't you like interlacing?

By gdx

Enlighted (6632)

06-11-2023, 13:36

The flickering effect is unpleasant to me.

By Manel46

Paladin (680)

06-11-2023, 14:28

I don't see flickering. Update Openmsx to the latest version. Also on Webmsx, it's going well.
In real hardware with my TR-ST, with the Power Graph, it goes without flickering.

By gdx

Enlighted (6632)

08-11-2023, 08:51

The principle of interlacing is to display every other frame with an offset. As for me, I see it very well on the real MSX. It's a little less visible on the emulator but it's still visible.
Either you are less sensitive to it than me, or it depends on the used monitor. Also maybe you are using an upscaler that reduces the flicker.

By santiontanon

Paragon (1872)

08-11-2023, 17:39

In principle, it's as gdx says, interlacing implies flickering. Of course emulators can artificially remove the flickering (in the same way as they can remove the 4-sprite per line limitation), but I am surprised of the lack of flickering in real hardware. I have 0 knowledge of the power graph, so, I have no idea, but could it be that it composes each two frames to just produce a high-res image (at half the framerate)?

By Manel46

Paladin (680)

08-11-2023, 18:22

Thanks gdx for the explanations.

santiontanon wrote:

I I am surprised of the lack of flickering in real hardware.

I think that in the V9990, this flickering problem is solved. If not, at least the VDP is faster.

By Briqunullus

Paladin (860)

11-11-2023, 13:30

Manel46 wrote:

I think that in the V9990, this flickering problem is solved. If not, at least the VDP is faster.

Don't think of interlacing as a problem that needs to be solved. Both v99x8 and v9990 have the same screen frequencies. They cannot show any more vertical lines than they already do.

Interlacing is a technique that utilizes the way CRT screens work. It achieves double the amount of vertical lines at the expense of flickering. Basically the VDP is alternating between 2 images.

Modern scanline converting devices may capture and recombine these alternating images. Thus eliminating flickering. This has nothing to do with the VDP however.

That said, it's a wonderful game that's a lot harder than it actually looks. I could not complete the first level and I definitely have to try another time!

By Manel46

Paladin (680)

11-11-2023, 14:37

Briqunullus,
Thanks for your explanations, about interlacing.
Thanks also for the comment. Pac, as a beta tester, has completed everything. If you get to the STAFF screen, wait a while... There is a surprise.

By Manel46

Paladin (680)

29-11-2023, 19:36

https://www.file-hunter.com/Homebrew/?id=mrballoonremake

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