Timber's Balloon Pop

Timber's Balloon Pop
Title screen
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Browser
Genre	Action
Rating(s)	N/A
Mode(s)	Single-player
Media	Adobe Flash
Input	Mouse

Diddy Kong Racing DS -- Timber's Balloon Pop was an online Adobe Flash game based on Diddy Kong Racing DS. It was listed along with other Nintendo-related web advergames in the Nintendo Arcade section of Nintendo's official website, and it was also playable on the official Diddy Kong Racing DS website.

A mugshot of Wizpig is used as the game's icon in the Nintendo Arcade, although he does not appear in Timber's Balloon Pop.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot

The player takes control of Timber, who has to pilot his plane between an endless series of bubbles, small and large in size. The player can move Timber around using the mouse. There is a score which increases regularly with 10 points as the player advances. Along the way, Timber can collect a variety of items, the most common being red balloons. Numbered balloons are also common items, and if Timber pops them in numerical order, he becomes temporarily invincible, allowing him to pass bubbles without getting harmed. There is no penalty for collecting blue balloons in the wrong order, though they are not worth any points. Less common items are keys, which turn all bubbles on-screen into red balloons, and coins, which make bubbles disappear.

Bubbles differ slightly in size and gradually come in larger numbers, making the game increasingly difficult. Touching a bubble results in a loss and will redirect the player to a screen that shows both the score of the playthrough and the highest score achieved overall. At the bottom-right corner is a button allowing the player to restart the game.

The music theme that plays throughout is Hot Top Volcano from Diddy Kong Racing DS.

Items

Sprite	Name	Description
	Coin	Collecting one causes all bubbles on-screen to disappear.
	Key	Collecting one turns all bubbles on-screen into red balloons. They share an appearance with Dragon Forest's Wish Key from Diddy Kong Racing DS
	Numbered balloon	These balloons are numbered 1 to 4, and if Timber collects them in the specified order, he becomes temporarily invincible, allowing him to harmlessly pass through bubbles.
	Red balloon	These appear the most frequently. Collecting a red balloon adds 200 points to the player's score.

In-game instructions

First screen

Pop red balloons to earn points!

Hitting a bubble will end your game, so avoid them!

Collect a key to turn all the balloons on the screen into red Baloons^[sic].

Second screen

Collect a coin to make all the bubbles on screen disappear.

Pop four numbered balloons in a row & collect bonus points.

Gallery

• 

  Nintendo.com icon

Sprites

• 

  Timber (reuses his Diddy Kong Racing DS artwork)

• 

  Small bubble

• 

  Large bubble

Screenshots

• 

  Introductory screen, featuring Diddy Kong

• 

  The game prompts the player to click on Timber to begin the gameplay

• 

  While invincible, Timber glows yellow and can safely pass bubbles

• 

  The end results screen showing the player's score from the playthrough and their best one overall