Developed by
Maxwell Technology Ltd.
Released
1987
Also For
Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64
Published by
Virgin Games, Ltd.

Genre
Action
Gameplay
Arcade, Shooter
Vehicular
Flight / Aviation
Perspective
Side view
Visual
Fixed / Flip-screen
Misc
Licensed

Description

In 1987 billionaire and entrepreneur Richard Branson attempted to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a hot air balloon. In the game you have been challenged to a race across the ocean in a hot air balloon with the winner the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean. You can play against a friend or the computer but instead of controlling the balloon you control an eagle with laser sights who controls the balloon. It must defend it as well from the other competitors eagle or a biplane dropping various objects on the balloon. Children also float around carried by balloons and points can be gained for touching them or points lost for killing them.

The screen is split into two with your balloon shown on the top half while your competitor is in the bottom half. Your half is split into two with the main playing area as well as a map and gauges. The map shows a straight line showing the shortest route with your balloon shown as a white square. Your gauges are the eagles calories, your altitude and your fuel. On the main playing area where you view the balloons from the side, you have four icons. An icon to allow your eagle to switch to the competitors half of the screen to cause damage to the balloon, two icons let you steer the balloon left or right and the final icon is to control your altitude. As your eagle is controlling and defending the balloon it loses calories as well as being hit by the other eagle. To keep your calories topped up you can sit on top of the balloon but be careful as this loses you height. If your eagle loses it's calories then you lose one of three lives.

From Mobygames.com. Original Entry