Even More Bloons
Do you like cake? Do you like double-decker cake? We are about to lay on you a triple-decker cake, with helium! When you eat this triple-decker cake, and then attempt to speak, your voice will sound squeaky and distorted. For lo, besoothe thee, from Ninja Kiwi—the creators of Bloons, More Bloons, and a variety of other highly addictive Flash games—comes the final installment of a trilogy that may well become a tetralogy if its popularity continues at this pace: Even More Bloons.
The gameplay still features the familiar and addictive dart toss: move the mouse to adjust the angle at which the monkey will throw a dart; press and hold down the button to select the force of the throw. Your objective hasn't changed either: Pop enough balloons with the darts you have to move on to the next, more challenging level.
This third installment introduces helium balloons and bounce pads. The helium balloons are encased in glass, which must be broken with a dart. Then the balloon begins to rise into the air until it runs into something, or else it just floats off the screen! Timing becomes important in this iteration, adding to the difficulty.
Analysis: Fans of the series will find plenty to like here, as well as interesting new design opportunities with the augmented level editor. The difficulty starts off fairly reasonable, but towards the end veers into insanity. In most tricky levels you can cheat a bit: just turn on unlimited darts and have at it. At least one level is going to stump anyone who can't plot trajectories in real-time: the one involving frozen helium balloons, a bounce pad, and a one-square high, two square deep opening. The previous two games train you to carefully adjust your shots, this game trains you to do so in-time, so as to catch rows of rising helium bloons. The offending level, however, throws a completely new kind of challenge at you with no prior experience: you must make a bounce at the right angle at the right time. The added dimension of control required multiplies the challenge involved. Craig Perko calls this "stacking distractions", which for a late level in a third incarnation of a Web game franchise, is all too likely.
Highly recommended for fans, the uninitiated should start with the original. If you've got mad dart skills, play Even More Bloons!
Walkthrough Guide
(Please allow page to fully load for spoiler tags to be functional.)
Even More Bloons Guide
In brackets next to each level is the number of balloons required.
Items/Walls
This guide refers to various objects in the game in a uniform manner. They are:
Helium balloons - multicoloured balloons initially held in glass cases that float up when hit. They stop floating if anything blocks their path.
Ice balloons - light blue balloons with a white frosting on top. These freeze nearby balloons when hit.
Frozen balloons - balloons that have been frozen by ice balloons. These have a faded version of their original colour, and a frosting on top.
Pin balloons - pink balloons containing pins. Upon being hit, they send out pins, exploding many nearby balloons, and often setting up chain reactions.
Dart balloons - purple balloons containing a dart. When hit, you receive an extra dart.
Triple-dart balloons - light blue balloons containing three darts. When hit, you will have a bonus dart that is actually three darts at once in your next shot.
Bomb balloons - red balloons containing a bomb. When hit, these explode and destroy many of the surrounding things.
Mine balloons - yellow/orange balloons containing a mine. When hit, the mine will drop down, destroying anything in its path.
Lightsaber balloons - blue balloons containing a double-ended lightsaber which will destroy any destroyable objects it touches within its time limit.
Pac-Man balloons - green balloons containing a Pac-Man. When hit, you control the Pac-Man with the arrow keys, and can eat all types of balloons, as well as brown wall pieces.
Boomerang balloons - green balloons containing a boomerang. When hit, you get a bonus 'dart' that is a boomerang.
Wall pieces:
Brown - these can be destroyed with a dart, or by being eaten by a Pac-Man.
Metal - these cannot be destroyed.
Rubber blocks & panels (black) - these cannot be destroyed, but darts bounce of them, making them useful in getting to hard-to-reach places.
Level 1 - Helium in a Jar (9)
First free all Helium balloons and use remaining darts to pop them.
Level 2 - Gather Together (24)
Free all Helium balloons and let them float up until they are stopped. Hit a Pin balloon and all balloons will be popped.
Level 3 - No Ceiling (58)
Shoot darts in arcs starting from the bottom. Always ensure that there are normal balloons above any Helium boons that are about to be freed so that you can pop them later.
Level 4 - Angles I (2)
Shoot above the metal blocks to hit the Mine balloon. This will fall down and bounce off the Rubber panel, popping the remaining balloon.
Level 5 - Angles II (12)
Shoot horizontally into the wall of Rubber panels so that your dart bounces to hit a Pin balloon, popping the rest.
Level 6 - Cascade (30)
With a full power shot you can pop all of the mine balloons. The falling mines will pop (most of) the balloons below (any remaining Mine balloons/normal balloons can be shot with your remaining darts).
Level 7 - Funnel of Fun (36)
Bounce your dart off the top end of the inside wall on the right. Your dart should bounce into both Pin balloons, popping most other balloons. Use remaining darts to clean up as required.
Level 8 - Destructfun (45)
Shoot at the Lightsaber balloon from above the leftmost Rubber panel, making all of the Mines fall. Depending on how you hit the mines on the way up, sometimes the mines won't quite get each Pin, so you may need to repeat it a few times trying to make your dart make up for this on its way down.
Level 9 - Pinball (12)
Shoot at the Mine balloon, hitting a few of the balloons on the right in the same shot. The Mine will bounce around to clear up the balloons to the left, so use your remaining shot to get as many more balloons from the right as you need.
Level 10 - Double Bounce (18)
Pop the Ice balloon to freeze one or two balloons on the top of the group. Bounce off the frozen balloon(s) into the Rubber panels to bounce into a Pin balloon, popping the surrounding balloons.
Level 11 - Bouncy Blender (6)
Shoot your dart hard enough and left enough to collect at least 4 Mine balloons. These will bounce around and, if you're lucky, clear the Brown wall pieces and pop the two normal balloons.
Level 12 - Schwing (29)
Shoot for any non-normal balloon. This will set of a chain reaction, usually doing everything for you. Depending upon which balloon you chose, you may need to manually shoot the Helium ballon as it floats away with your second dart, but if you go for a Mine or Pin first this shouldn't be necessary.
Level 13 - Boat Break (24)
Shoot a small arc to go over the Metal wall and pop the Lightsaber balloon, setting free all of the Mines. You'll receive a bonus dart from a Dart balloon, so use this to pop the remaining normal balloon.
Level 14 - Funbounce (4)
Shoot your darts very high to ensure that they will bounce around a lot, popping the balloons when you're lucky! A good method to ensure that you cover as many routes as possible is to start almost vertical, firing darts as you change the angle towards the wall.
Level 15 - Up and Over (33)
Bounce your dart off the Rubber panel, hitting one of the Pin balloons in the pack and hitting the topmost Bomb balloon on the way down. You need to explode this Bomb before the Mine reaches the ice balloon as otherwise too many balloons will be frozen to allow you to complete the level.
Level 16 - Fumble (61)
Shoot your dart in an arc, going through the top three mines below the Metal wall. The ensuing chain reaction will leave one normal balloon left and you with a Boomerang to throw. Throw it at the remaining balloon to complete the level.
Level 17 - Fall and Rise (16)
You can pop all of the Mine balloons on the left in one arc, releasing four/five Helium balloons (sometimes one gets popped). As these float up, shoot through them to pop them and also make remaining Mines fall. Rinse and repeat.
Level 18 - Tiny Tanks (12)
Aiming a little behind half way up the 2nd Rubber block from top, shoot a 2/3-power dart. This ought to bounce off the 4th Rubber block down, near the top. If you pop the Pin balloon but don't get the balloon directly behind it, your shot is either too powerful or too weak. Next, simply shoo the pin ballon in the top Metal block.
Level 19 - Spikey Ship (16)
First 'free' the four Helium balloons. Next, pop the two Ice balloons above these Helium balloons, freezing them. As these float up, pop a Bomb balloon to explode them (and the wall). You can now hit the Mine balloon which will pop the rest of the balloons.
Level 20 - Pulleys (15)
Pop the Bomb balloon to make the Mine fall. This will set a Helium ballon free (although sometimes it gets popped straight away), so wait for this to stop moving and do the same thing again (and again).
Level 21 - Simple (2)
Simply shoot your dart through the Helium balloon to free it, making sure that it bounces off the Rubber panels and falls down onto the two balloons. You need to make sure that you give the dart enough power to get high enough to hit the balloons on its way back down - hit the normal balloon on the way up and the Helium balloon will float off.
Level 22 - Helarious (13)
First free all three Helium balloons in the bottom row with a strong dart shot. Next, use an arc to free two Helium balloons from the second row, popping a few other balloons in the process. You now need to get the Triple-dart balloon, making sure you free the remaining Helium balloon on the way down. Use the remaining triple-dart shot and single dart to get all other balloons, making sure you don't let any Helium balloons float off.
Level 23 - Revolver (4)
Start by freeing the leftmost Helium balloon. When you shoot to pop it, free another Helium balloon to pop next time. Repeat this for each balloon - or, for added awesome, get two at once!
Level 24 - Champagne (3)
Shoot a dart in an arc to get one of the three balloons in the center (whichever you get will set the others off). Right after this, shoot a lower arc hitting both Mine balloons to pop the Helium balloons. Use your remaining dart to try and shoot any balloons that got away.
Level 25 - Reverse Sort (27)
Shoot a powerful dart along the row of Helium balloons to free all of them. Allow the Helium balloons to reach their positions and shoot an arc hitting two Pin balloons, popping the surrounding Bombs and balloons. Use your final dart to hit the remaining Pin balloon.
Level 26 - Frooty (30)
Shoot a dart straight through the two Helium balloons and the Ice ballon to freeze them, hitting the Mine balloon and Pin balloon on the way down. Shoot your next dart through the Lightsaber balloon, bouncing back off the Frozen Helium (at �'272.2 °C or �'458.0 °F, apparently) balloons to explode the Bomb balloon. All that remains is to hit the Pin balloon on the top right of the level to set off a chain reaction destroying what remains.
Level 27 - Getting the hand (15)
Shoot an arc to hit the Pin balloon in the center of the Helium balloons, making sure you avoid the Lightsaber balloon above. The Lightsaber balloon to the right will be set off by the Pin balloon, popping most of the Helium balloons, but for those still floating up you need to shoot the remaining Lightsaber balloon.
Level 28 - Ricochet (50)
There are many ways to do this, but it's hard to reproduce a previously successful attempt. The method that I have found works most often is too aim moderately hard at the second Rubber panel from the top on either side. Make sure that you wait until your first dart is completely finished before you use your second so that you can alter the shot to include any balloons that the first left out.
Level 29 - Wrong Shot (27)
Shoot a full-power dart so that it arcs into the rightmost Rubber panel so that it bounces into the panel at the top, back down and then to the panels on the left. This sounds difficult, but you just need to aim a bit above the rightmost panel and it should do the trick. Clean up any remaining balloons with the second dart.
Level 30 - Scooper (16)
Slightly arc your first dart into the Rubber panel on the right to make it pop the balloons in the top compartment and then fall back down to get the ones at the bottom. Don't worry if you don't manage this initially, as you have enough shots to do this twice without having to reset. A Helium balloon will be released, so shoot this. Next, shoot your dart into the Rubber panel on the left to make it hit a Pin balloon. The Mine that falls will release another Helium balloon (unless the Mine crushes it) as it clears the bottom-left of the screen, so shoot a dart to pop this too.
Level 31 - Dance with Bloon (15)
Aim your dart to hit the middle of the block in the top-middle of the screen with full power. It should bounce down to hit the blocks at the bottom, go back up to bounce off the panels and return to the blocks, from where it will bounce into a Pin balloon. You need to pick up at least three balloons along the way, as there are only 12 in the pack on the left.
Level 32 - Angyoolah (4)
This is arguably the trickiest level of all. For the lowest balloon, you can simply shoot at the Rubber panel to bounce into it. For the rest, you need to do an arc going up to fall down on the Rubber panel and bounce into the balloon. The arcs need to be quite high so that they bounce into the balloon and not the Metal wall pieces around them. The balloon to the left is trickiest, so try this one first (so that you can restart if you don't do it within the first two tries). Next go for the balloon on the right - if you miss the balloon you were actually going for you sometimes get the one second from left instead. If you haven't got it already, get the second from left and finally the bottom balloon - don't mess up the easy one!
Level 33 - Diamond Mine (15)
Use your first dart to free the 2 Helium balloons to the Lightsaber balloon's right, making sure not to accidentally hit the Lightsaber balloon, which would pop them. Leave a small gap and then fire a shot at about 1/2 strength, arcing through the Ice balloon, freezing the Helium balloons. If you got the right power and angle, the dart should bounce off the Frozen Helium (brrr...) balloons and into the Mine, which will get rid of the cluster below.
Level 34 - A pickle (30)
Use your first dart to pop the entire middle of Helium balloons. Next, pop the row of Mine balloons with one dart and use your remaining dart to pop the floating Row of Helium balloons.
Level 35 - Cold Lesson (30)
Shoot a dart in a full-power arc very high to hit one of the pin balloons at the top-right of the level. This will in turn pop a few balloons and grant you an extra dart (although it doesn't show up in the number of darts you have, the next shot you make won't deduct one). Along a similar trajectory fire a weaker dart to bounce off the top Rubber panel into a Pin balloon in the middle (you'll need to come in quite straight for the bounce to work). Next, free the Helium balloon in the bottom right. As the Helium balloon rises, fire a dart into the Rubber panel to your right so that it bounces into the Ice balloon, freezing the Helium balloon and bouncing off it into the Pin balloon at the bottom.
Level 36 - Hed Rusch (68)
With 2/5 strength fire a dart so that it goes through the top of the Pin balloon to the Bomb's left. Usually this will set off the required chain reaction, but sometimes it does not - if this happens just reset and try again. This first dart should, if fired at the right power, free a few Helium balloons in the pack. Use your remaining two darts to free more Helium balloons in the pack, trying to free the top ones especially so that the ones freed below can rise. As the chain reaction goes around to the top, the freed Helium balloons will be popped by the Pins from the Pin balloons.
Level 37 - Column of pain (12)
Use your first dart to pop the topmost Lightsaber balloon and also the Mine balloon. The Mine will fall, freeing the Helium balloons which will be popped by the Lightsaber. However, since the Lightsaber only lasts for ~3s you'll need to pop the Lightsaber below the current one just before it runs out. Do this until all balloons are popped, and you can use your spare dart in case the Lightsabers miss any.
Level 38 - Howibble (22)
Bounce your first dart off the wall of Rubber panels so that it bounces over into the balloons and frees the rightmost 3 or 4. You need to make sure that an Ice balloon is also hit, in order to freeze the balloons, so hitting the bottom panel with ~1/2 power seems to work best. You need to fire the next dart just after the Helium balloons start rising, as by the time your dart reaches them they will be higher. Your dart should bounce off the Frozen Helium balloons around the right side of the third ballon from the right, and if you've got the angle and power right it will (just) bounce into the Metal-walled area, popping the balloons. If you end up hitting the outside of the walls towards the top, you're probably using too steep an angle or hitting the ballons too far to the left. If you're getting stuck inside the wall, you're probably using too shallow an angle or hitting the balloons too far right. If you're struggling, take heart in the fact that it probably took me longer to do it the first time, and I still can't do it reliably.
Level 39 - Pipsqueak (12)
Bounce your first dart off the bottom panel of the two Rubber panels on the right, so that it falls down almost vertically on to the Helium balloon and Ice balloon. The Frozen Helium balloon will float up, and as it does you must bounce your second dart off it into the Mines to the left (remember to aim above the balloon since it rises). The ensuing carnage will secure your victory.
Level 40 - Hard Pop (44)
Working from the bottom up to ensure that the Helium balloons do not fly off, use small arcs to get as many balloons as possible. Make sure you only hit the Pin balloon when it won't cause the Helium balloons to fly away (if you can get them near enough, they'll be popped by it anyway).
Level 41 - 100 for the win (100)
Use your first dart to pop one of the Triple-dart balloons. Shoot this triple-dart in an arc that doesn't leave the block to get the most balloons possible, and do the same with the second Triple-dart balloon. With the third, use it to get as many of the remaining balloons as possible. If youd rather have 4 shots (2 triple + 2 single) instead of 3 triples, use your first shot to shoot two Triple-dart balloons instead. This can be useful if you tend to end up with isolated pockets of balloons at the end when you need to clean them up.
Level 42 - The Cage (22)
Bounce your first dart off the right side of the Rubber block above you, so that it falls down onto the two Mine balloons. These will fall and destroy the wall in front of you, giving clear access for shots. With one shot shoot all of the Helium balloons, making sure that the dart bounces off the Rubber panel to the last Helium balloons left into the Pin balloons. These will pop all but one Helium balloon, which you will need to get as it floats up with your next dart. This dart must go on to hit the Lightsaber balloon, which will cause a chain reaction clearing the other balloons to occur. You'll need to shoot this dart pretty quickly so that you don't let the Helium balloon escape you.
Level 43 - Voodude (50)
Shoot your first dart a little above horizontal into the pack so that it bounces back out off the bottom Rubber panel without popping any Ice balloons. Shoot your second dart in a high arc, popping the Mine balloon furthest away. The dart will bounce around and hit other Mine balloons. Use your last dart to pop any balloons that are not frozen.
Level 44 - Half a Beat (4)
Bounce your first dart off the bottom-left Rubber panel into the 5 balloons. Just after you do this, fire another similar shot (preferably that will go a little higher) to pop the now freed balloons. You really do need to be quick on this one, but luckily you don't need to get all of the balloons.
Level 45 - Chilly Chips 3 (67)
Shoot your first dart with full power through the pack to free 3 Helium balloons and get the Triple-Dart balloon. Shoot this towards the top of the pack, in an arc that gets as many balloons as possible without hitting any Ice balloons. It is possible to make the last of the three darts go between two Ice balloons on the way down, and if you can pull this off you will get quite a few balloons. If not, jts make sure that some balloons are popped on the far right side on the way down, without any Ice balloons getting popped. Use your remaining 2 darts to get as many balloons as possible, using arcs wherever possible. You may need to pop some Ice balloons to get more balloons, but this is rarely necessary.
Level 46 - Have a lanche (25)
Use your first dart to pop the Mine balloon enclosed in the Metal walls at the top. This can be quite tricky as it requires a steeper arc with more power than you might have thought. The Brown wall will be destroyed, so use your remaining dart to arc over the Metal blocks and pop the Pin balloon central in the pack. Since you need to bounce of the Rubber blocks (not panel) to hit into a Pin balloon, your arc will again need to be quite steep. When the dart does bounce, it will hit the pin balloon to the right, which will eventually pop the recently freed Helium balloons.
Level 47 - Get used to it (16)
The top two metal boxes can be emptied by simply bouncing a dart off the corresponding Rubber panel below. If you're facing a balloon in one of these that you can't manage to pop, you can instead do a steep arc above the boxes to pop them from above. The two boxes below require more effort. Using a slight arc with ~2/5 power, you need to shoot the dart into the panel in the middle of whichever side you are trying. It is crucial that you use an arc, as otherwise you will end up bouncing every time into the Metal wall, and if the power is incorrect the dart will not bounce correctly.
Level 48 - Pinball Pain (21)
The first shot is the trickiest - shoot your dart through the Triple-dart balloon so that it frees all 4 Helium balloons below. It needs to bounce off the top of the two Rubber panels so that it reaches the middle block of Helium balloons, which it should free, also popping 2 or 3. Your next shot will be with the triple-dart, and it requires an intricate shot to get the correct bounce. Place your cursor on the left hand side of where the Pin balloon and normal balloon below it and tap the mouse to shoot the triple dart. All balloons on the right should be popped, as should the balloons in the middle (but not the middle-top Pin balloon). Use your next shot to free all 4 Helium balloons in the bottom-left, letting them float up until they stop. Shoot the Pin balloon on the left, and quickly shoot the Helium balloon floating away. Use your final dart to shoo the Pin balloon above you, and any balloons that may be next to it.
Level 49 - Bits and Bobs (44)
Shoot your dart down and slightly to the right in order to get the 4 balloons resting on the Rubber blocks. You'll need to give enough power to make the dart bounce along, and enough angle to make it move right, but not too much to get it stuck along the way - you don't want it to touch the high Rubber block in the middle. If done successfully, you will receive a bonus dart for your troubles. Use your next dart to shoot the entire row of darts on the right of the level. A Helium balloon will be set free, and now you can make your final shot. Bounce your dart off the right of the three Rubber blocks at the top-left of the level so that it hits a pin balloon somewhere. This will set of a chain reaction ending in you popping a Pac-Man balloon, with which you can get all of the balloons in the little course (remember that you can go through Brown blocks).
Level 50 - Banana Split (40)
Bounce your first dart off the Rubber panel to your right. Hitting it with a medium power about half-way up, you can pop the Pin balloon at the top and fall back down to pop a Pin balloon in the pack (if you don't manage to get the Pin balloon in the pack, you can pop this later with a single dart if you do well enough with other darts). Use the triple-dart gained from the chain reaction to pop some balloons in the top-left pack, and do the same with the remaining single balloons (unless you missed the pack in the middle previously).Congratulations on completing Even More Bloons!
Nick Chambers (fatnickc)
Posted by: fatnickc
|
May 11, 2008 4:49 PM