You bet we are. Goin' in hard. Stage 4 is the belly of a whale. That's apparently full of spikes and other fish. Makes sense. The scrolling speed pulls back to the slower pace seen in earlier stages this time, but don't take that to mean things are getting easier- 90% of the roof here is spikes, so you're really not able to float up too high, and there are also loose spikes that rattle a bit, like the giant pinecnoes in Stage 2. The difference here is they'll kill you instantly if they get you. To be honest, the enemies- including jumping fish, squids that get stunned if you bump into them, and horizontally-flying fish- aren't your biggest concern here, but instead the spikes and torchlights (!) are far more likely to end Alice's adventure. On the plus side, to make up for the missing Bonus Stage last time, there's two here- look out for one after a series of moving platforms, and another telegraphed by some arrows.

This stage is interesting for one other thing though, the fact that it actually has a kinda sinister atmosphere to it. It seems like a minor thing, but to me this is a big part of Balloon Kid's charm, though- the vast majority of it is fairly cutesy and non-threatening, but then you get a stage like this inside a whale's guts that's full of sharp, horrible-looking spikes and fleshy platforms... There's something of a mean streak about it, you know? We'll be seeing more of this later in the game, too.



Anyway, after a long stretch over water, we get our next boss fight!



This time, it's a giant fish. Inside a giant whale. There's only two platforms this time, as the fish leaps out of the water between the two, slowing down as it reaches the top and giving you your opportunity to strike. Technically, the easiest way is to ditch your balloons and just jump on the fish when you get the chance... But this is a lot riskier, because if you don't have the right momentum, you won't make it back to the platform. A slightly fiddlier method is to divebomb the fish- drop your balloons when you're above it and, hopefully, you'll grab the balloons on your way back up. Don't let go too close to the roof though, as it'll pop the balloons and then you're really in trouble. In any case, three bumps on the noggin and you'll sort this fish out.



Stage 5 is a bit of a retread of Stage 3, in a way- after leaving the whale (via its mouth, you'll be pleased to hear) it's back outside by the ocean, the scrolling is sped up again, and many enemies from there return including the crabs and Balloon Fighters- but this time, it's in the middle of a storm so there's new hazards about. In the first half, you'll mostly be pestered by rainclouds- get stuck under these and you'll be violently pushed downward. If you've got two balloons in tow, then you can just barely fight against the rain if you tap Jump very quickly, but if you're not up for that or you're down to one balloon, then zip past the rain as fast as you can, otherwise you'll either get dropped into the sea or get eaten by a Floppy Fish!



Just as you're getting used to those, the next hazard shows up- stormclouds that generate electric sparks, similar to the ones seen in the original Balloon Fight, which bounce off the walls until they float away. These don't faff about- touch one and you're dead. The final section uses these sparks to create some makeshift gates, with moving sparks moving between stationary ones. There's just about enough room but don't dawdle, and watch out for the final raincloud that shows up and the last Balloon Fighters of the game. Anyway, no boss here, so just get to the end post and we're done here.



Stage 6 is... I'm really sorry about this, but it's the ice world. It's also one of the more complicated stages in the game with several sections where you must jettison your balloons and hoof it. The ice is a bit more slippery than most stages, but Alice is kidna slippery anyway so you won't notice that much. Two new enemies show up, the penguins that fly directly at you, and the walruses that kill with one touch, but your main nemesis here is going to be just navigating platforms. The first section, for instance, kettles you into tiny rooms with tiny corridors where you get accosted by walking flames, so jump carefully over them so you don't bounce off the walls into them, and then you have a full-screen jump to make, shown in the left screenshot. Yikes! Later on, you've got floating ice platforms to navigate that are accompanied by tiny platforms that float over the ocean and under the platforms- you might not think it's worth bothering with, but get on the first one you see and it'll lead to an extra life and a Power Balloon that'll spawn when you grab a balloon between platforms. Just stay alert and give the walruses a wide berth, and you'll be fine.



One last tip- jump on top of the bumper you see early on to get launched to a hidden Bonus Stage!



Anyway, gotta fight a boss at the end here, as always. This one's a snowman with the traditional ice buket on its head.



There's no water to fall in this time, so for once the boss can actually hurt you... Although not by running into you. That'd be silly. Instead, it'll shuffle about for a bit, then the bucket on its head will start rolling around- it's gonna fire it, and it'll aim directly at your last position. This is when it's vulnerable, you've got to bop it on the head while the bucket's gone. Much like the other bosses, you can approach this by dive-bombing from the air, but it might be easier to avoid the bucket and hit your target on the ground- make sure there's a decent gap between you and the snowman, then jump when the bucket makes its way over. Three hits like that and the snowman's seen its last winter. How cruel of you, Alice!



Stage 7 is a cave, and a bit of an odd one, as unlike most of the others, there's no visual lead-in in the stage before. Like, at the end of Stage 1 you see the forest of Stage 2, you see the whale at the end of Stage 3, and so on. This time, it's not very obvious and you're just sorta dumped into this weird cave. It's a stage that almost feels like it was cobbled together at the last minute, as a lot of its elements have been seen before- enemies like the spiders from Stage 2 and the octopi from Stage 4 are back, as are the spike roof and dropping spikes. The blocks that drop and splinter into four spikes are new, but that's about it.

What does make this stage stand out is that it's probably the game's biggest test of your control over flight, to an extent even more than the actual final stage. There aren't that many places to land to get an extra balloon if you lose one, and a lot of the caverns twist and turn with spikes both on the floor and ceiling. If you haven't mastered the balloon controls yet, you will by the time you're done here! Like the last stage, the Bonus Stage is craftily hidden- the final stretch always spawns an extra life, so be sure to grab it if you lost a lot of lives here... And when I replayed this I was a bit rusty, so yeah I lost a lot of lives. It also maintains that mean streak from Stage 4, but not as much as the place we're going to next!

No boss though. That's in the final area, which is...



Stage 8, the factory, is not necessarily the toughest stage from a balloon-flight-skills point of view, but its combination of fairly tough ballooning sections and very tough walking sections makes it the hardest overall. If you haven't used a continue up to this point, you're gonna use one here, I promise you. To give an example, the gloves are off fron the very beginning as your first obstacle is a pillar of fire that slowly rises then shrinks, which you'd think you can sail over, but the roof is a lot lower than normal, so you can easily bounce off it and get scorched. That's the sort of thing this whole stage is made up of, and it makes it the most intricate stage design-wise. There's winding corridors you have to make your way through on foot, a section with moving crushers, conveyor belts everywhere, faulty lightbulbs that generate sparks if you brush up against them, moving walls of sparks, exploding barrels that scatter spikes... Basically, it's the absolute last place a small child like Alice should be playing in by herself. It's also the best example of the game's 'mean streak'- this isn't the kinda thing you expect in a cute game like this!

The main advice I have for you is to practice. If you've mastered the previous seven stages, then you should be able to reach here with a stockpile of extra lives and all your earned continues under your belt. That's penty to play around with and plough your way through this tough, tough stage! I'll give you a few pointers, though- for a start, try to hug the roof when you can, as while you will bounce off if you touch it, timing your flaps correctly will let you sneak past some of the obstacles here, especially the fires at the start and the moving spark-walls later. Additionally, never try to get too far ahead- some obstacles can blindside you if you're too close to the edge of the screen, especially for the moving spark walls near the end. Finally, a tip with more limited use, but the electrified floor isn't instant death- if you jump the instant you touch it, you can get out. Don't rely on it, but if you are caught short, it's a last-ditch escape.

After all that, Alice finally reaches the end of her journey. The final enemy still stands in her way though...



... A weird robot.



As some pretty ill-fitting music plays, this... Robot... Thing... Starts the battle by unhinging his jaw (ouch, that's nasty) and releasing sparks all over the place- one almost straight-up, one almost straight-across, and two inbetween the two. The catch is these sparks bounce off the walls, and this is an enclosed space so they can get all up in your business faster than you think. Bopping the robot on the head will destroy all the sparks, but then he'll spit 'em out again, with them moving faster and faster each time he's bopped (he takes 5 hits to defeat, unlike the other bosses). If you're playing it fair and square, wait until the sparks are behind you and far away, which should create a safe opening for you to bop the robot. However, you can cheese it! The robot always releases the sparks in your direction, but there's a small window of opportunity after he opens his mouth but before he releases the sparks that, if you can make it, allows you to jump over him so the sparks are all on the opposite end of the screen, allowing for an easy bopping.

See, Alice is a smart kid. She figured this out before you did.



Once the robot's been sent to the trash heap, follow Jim into the final room to see the ending.

Alright, Jimbob, or whatever your name is, let's go home.