After months of waiting, it's finally here! Nitrome has just rolled out Hot Air 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the balloon physics game Hot Air. The new incarnation is bigger, better, more intricate and more stylish than the original, proving it's possible to take an already polished game idea and turn it into something even better. Plus, you get to make your own balloons!
The basic gameplay of Hot Air 2 is the same as the first game: your cursor becomes a fan and you must use gusts of wind to push the balloon around each stage, collecting stars, flipping switches, grabbing keys and so on until you reach the goal. Anything you bump into will pop the balloon (except certain safe points that let you rest), keeping you on your toes and always moving the fan around.
Veteran Hot Air players will immediately notice a difference in the sequel. Hot Air 2 has a much more involved adventure-oriented layout than the arcade-style original. Sure, there's still plenty of action to be had, but level structure has been greatly improved with scrolling stages and keys/switches that must be triggered in order to progress. The preview video shows off a number of these crafty mechanisms that simply must be experienced to be appreciated. Levels are chosen from a Super Mario World-style map, making Hot Air 2 feel like an adventure in a sprawling world of color.
One of the biggest new features in Hot Air 2 is the Balloon Maker, a separate app that lets you decorate balloons, save your creations, and use them in the game. Playing through stages unlocks additional designs that can be switched on the map screen. Balloon Maker is simple addition to the game, but I was immediately captivated by the editor and couldn't stop playing with it until I had crafted a masterpiece. Nice touch, Nitrome!
Analysis: Hot Air 2 oozes with personality and almost every pixel shows off Nitrome's creative and artistic talent. Some of the enemies and obstacles are so stunning you have to sit and stare for a few moments before starting the stage. Seeing what the team has cooked up next is half the inspiration for sticking with the game's tough levels.
The down side? Honestly, I can't find one. Hot Air 2 is extremely well-polished on all fronts. Any negative points would be a matter of not caring for the music or the way that one balloon frowns all the time. The blend of action and adventure is nothing short of delicious, and the creativity displayed in stage design and artwork rivals that of big-budget game development studios. Unless you have an aversion to hot air balloons, Hot Air 2 should be on your "play every day" list.
Woah, yeah!
great one. One question. How you got the selfmade Baloons working in your game? I dont understand that :/
Hmm... I'm just getting a load of grey boxes. Any ideas?
Kaykee - try updating your Flash Player. There's a link to do so in the left sidebar ("Get Flash").
Kaykee, I had the same problem.
Open it in a new window instead of a new tab, that worked for me
On level 15, there are moving walls, but they only seem to appear when I lose. is this supposed to happen, or is it a glitch?
Do you get anything else than a new balloon if you collect all the stars?
Also, I think the music gets a bit annoying after a while :) It's not bad, though, just a bit agressive
Okay, something is messed up here. I'm currently playing level 15, 'The Earth Moves', and the balloon I'm controlling keeps poping in midair with no reasonable explanation why. It always happens early in the level, with the timer not even beyond 980, and the balloon nowhere near either the walls or midair mines.
...And, coincidentally, it started happening not long after I created a balloon resembling a bomb. I've tried the level with other balloons and the same thing happens. Not quite sure what to do now...
Ah...good stuff. I did notice for me at least that after a few levels, the music volume increased by itself and became hideous, I'm sure it's a glitch. I got to the level with the drill destroying the level, and came to the conclusion that I needed to find a USB mouse for my MacBook. I was using a Wacom tablet and a stylus, but it's tough to control. Great game so far!
I think it's a problem with the level. When the mines stop moving you instantly lose for some reason.
ACK. We had a couple of links that weren't quite right in the review, which caused a page with nothing but grey boxes if you had clicked on one of the images.
Grey boxes problem fixed.
MUCH better difficulty curve this time :D
I'm loving this game! \o/
Oh, I forgot to mention, one of the best things about this game (other than sheer vibrantness and enemies with faces) is that it is FREEEEEEEEE.
Such quality \o/
They could totally make this into a game for the ds.
Came here expecting competition games, and instead got Hot Air 2 and the promise of competition games... Wow!
I must say, what an improvement over the original... the difficulty curve is doing me just fine, the levels seem more exciting without being much harder, and I have the feeling I could play all day. Yay!
The level 15 bug has been noted and fixed now....sorry about that!
I've just received word that the level 15 problem people were experiencing has been fixed. Please empty your browser cache and reload to get the updated version.
To me, it seems the balloon controls are much easier that in Hot Air 1. Or mabey I havent played it in a while. Who knows. Anyways, I've made a jayisgames balloon!. Except I dont know how to show it. I think its good anyways. Great game. Nitrome rocks my kizocks.
Hurray! I just beat all the main levels (have 21 stars) and a few of the unlockables!
It's great because whenever I messed up and died I actually wanted to try again, the first Hot Air made me want to break my computer ;D
Is anyone else having this problem:
I have 23 Stars but the 22 and 23 paths are not unlocked...
Nvm, it seems it doesn't unlock paths if you submit your score after getting the required number of stars...
Annnd Harukio DOMINATES the high scores <:)
The Balloon Maker is cool, but I wish there were a few more tools to work with. A paint bucket, in particular, would be much appreciated.
> Annnd Harukio DOMINATES the high scores <:)
Not anymore!
How do you post high scores? I've finished the game with a score of 55061.
There seems to be a problem with the balloon gallery. Although yay, my jig balloon is there, it's named spiderman. I made a spiderman one before that and that was the only one it asked me to name. Or maybe it was supposed to be my name and i wasnt listening? Either the namings wacky or I am :P
WOOT! I'm #1 on the high score list :D. videogamefreak wouldn't fit so its just videogamer :p. But I'm number 1 so who cares?! :D
This is amazing! Much better learning curve this time. The first Hot Air got way way way too difficult too fast.
I've been waiting for this one for a while now!
Number 7 on the highscores... =]]] for now, anyway..
And I did it with my very own Stewie Balloon hehe
btw this is my first post here =) great site
I must admit, the game is phenomenal. I have one small complain though. The balloon pops regardless of where you get hit. This is kinda annoying when the balloon itself doesn't hit a wall, but the little guy on the bottom does, and the balloon pops. Besides that, great game.
This game does not work on my computer. It's stuck on loading...
Configuration:
- Latest Mac Os X 9
- Latest FireFox 2.0.0.4
- Latest Flash 9.0.47.0
Zenon - try emptying your browser cache and reloading the game page. Perhaps something interrupted the download the first time.
This Rocks! This reminds me of Super Mario World!
NITROME ARE NINTENDO FANS!
Games with cute and colourful graphics, often putting faces on EVERYTHING = win.
It's a simple fact of friendly game design.
Also - this is a game so cool that I want to become good at it just so that I can see the later levels.
The sequel is MUCH more forgiving then the original.
I played the first Hot Air to death and couldn't finish the second-to-last level if it killed me. In Hot Air 2 the levels are much larger, the margin of error much greater and even though the little dude in the basket seems to have gotten fatter and drags along more then before, all the levels are quite easy and the finishing the game while getting all the starts is a piece of cake.
Don't get me wrong, the game is enjoyable (if a little heavy on the rehashing) but just too damn easy. Even though the first one was frustrating as hell, it kept me coming back to try just-one-more-time. I don't see Hot Air 2 on my "play every day" list. Nevertheless, this is a damn fine game.
P.S. Easiest. Bosses. Evar.
I'm kinda stuck at The Earth Moved. Can anyone give me some hints?
P.S Where's the ballon creator?
P.s.s I found a glitch. If you hit something at tremendous speeds upwards, the basket will float to the sky. Odd but hilarious!
Of course, having written the previous comment, I've loaded Hot Air 1 and finished it.
Perhaps Hot Air 2 isn't THAT easy, but I just got too skilled driving the balloon by playing the crap out of Hot Air.
The level "drill bill" is driving me nuts!!
it's seeming to be impossible to me to pass the level 28 "dental practice". the balloon goes very slowly in this level.. anyone have a trick to pass?
Any hints on how to get that middle star in King of the castle (level 4)?
Level 30 is driving me nuts...
My balloon pops every time I hit the button top of Big Daddy's head... Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?
That music was so terrible I quit before I even got through the intro animation. Ouch.
Khaustic,
You're probably trying to land on his head while he is doing his stomping attack. You have to do it while he's floating left-right.
completed!
really great game! liked the first one, but 2 is miles ahead. awesome.
and the balloon maker is a great addition.
attention! shameless self-plug coming!
check out my designs, you can find them on my myspace profile. :D
Please, no shameful plugs.
If you have a website you're free to put it in the space provided on the comment form when posting your feedback. Doing so will automatically create a clickable link on your commenter name. Any other off-topic links are considered SPAM and are generally handled as such (we have a waste bucket specifically for that purpose).
Otherwise, the quality of the commenting here would be seriously diminished because people would be doing that more than commenting on the games.
Thank you for your anticipated understanding and cooperation. =)
I've collected 15 star bonuses yet the locked level is still locked. Any help?
And I may just be slow today but how do you submit your score?
Level 05: How do I get to the final platform?! There's a spiky green thing near it... I've tried to fly through on a diagonal, and I pop... I've tried flying through reeeeal slowly, and I pop.... I've tried heading directly to the right, and I pop.
lgmb_0t1: The spiky green vine on level 5 is part of the background. It won't hurt your balloon.
I've collected 29 stars, but still can't access Level 30. I tried submitting my score, but this didn't help. Any advice?
level 20 (blimp) boss!
WAAAAH
Hot Air 2 is sure better than the first one, and a lot easier (in Hot Air 1, I got stuck at level 7). Getting all of the bonuses isn't really hard, it's 80% a steady hand and 20% a good mouse.
Likephilshead - your best plan is to start by getting the portcullis all the way to the top, then use really big gusts on your balloon. That way, you can concentrate on the windmills whilst your balloon is traveling under its own momentum. I go top left; middle column from top to bottom, then top right.
This is definitely easier than Hot Air 1 - that took me weeks as a student, and I finished this in a couple of days at work! My only gripe is that the bosses are a little easy. Perhaps those levels could be untimed so they could be made a little harder?
does anyone have any tips for Baron Von Blimp? I don't even know where to begin!
Oh, I've figured out von blimp
use the fan to blow drills back at him
I think I'm now stuck in second place. I don't know how that guy does it... At least I was in first place half of the time. ^_^ Nitrome needs to clean up the scoreboards and remove all non-best scores for individuals. The vast majority of the scoreboard is take up by only 3 people lol. ^_^
can somebody please help me?
I cant seem to load any nitrome games on their website- I always download them from miniclip.com.
Unfourtunatly, they dont have hot air 2 or hot air ballon maker on their website. Ive done everything to get it to load, including, waiting for aaaages for it to load (about 2 hours or so- and it should never take that long) updating my flash player, ect.
Can this website allow you to download straight from the site?
Thanks heaps, and very much appreciated,
SahBeh
Fiddlesticks, I cannot improve anymore!!
Look for me down at 20th place- yes, the weird balloon.
I think there's something I'm not getting here. I can't understand what I'm supposed to do in the 1st level. You can't get past the 1st screen without touching the big rotating ball thing, but if I touch any aprt of it (green or red), I die instantly. Help!
Hydra or Burak, if you can hear me, can you post some of your scores, so that I know what to improve on?
I mean as in:
Fire Escape, 1950
Dragon Breath, 1945
Keep it Down, 1934
And so on.
Just got on after a while. Wow, Dav, I don't know how you did that! :-O Do you think you could show me some of your scores? That's simply amazing! I should start by working on the ones you already mentioned though.
yay hotair2 has come to miniclip.com! I downloaded It and finished it with all stars. Now all I have to do is wait until the Balloon Maker comes there as well...
soo does anyone have any idea why the games wont load on the nitrome site?
Er, those were examples :)
But what I really scored was:
Fire Escape, 1927
Dragon Breath, 1944
Keep it down, 1932
I'm stuck on level 30. How do you kill "Big Daddy" anyway?
To kill Big Daddy, go under him to make him fall, then when he goes up, wait til he stops ascending, then land on the platform on him.
My scores for those levels are:
Fire Escape: 1920
Dragon Breath: 1936
Keep it Down: 1930
So your scores are quite a bit better than mine.
The key to a good score is TACTICS. Using my newly-found tactics, I achieved: 63 more for 'Big Daddy', 38 for 'Dental Practice', 30 or so for 'A tight squeeze', 30 or so for 'Octopuss Garden', and another 30 or so for 'Off the walls'. Oh, and about 30 for 'Some like it hot', 20 or so for 'Great balls of fire', AND 50 or so for'I married axe murderer'.Oh yes, and 25+ for 'The earth moved', 10-20 for 'Come together' and 30 or so for 'Stamped out'and loads for Levels 23, 24, and 25.
Mind you, all this was discovered over time.
Now I'm working on a possible tactic for 'Balls of Steel'- ten points, here I come!
I do come up with somewhat fast routes, but it's probably largely due to me not having quite enough control over my balloon. I keep getting levels where one by one I don't think I can improve my score (example, Dental Practice is 1979). Do you ever have trouble, when you're just moving your balloon along, and suddenly it snaps and your balloon hits a wall a screen away from your basket? That drives me nuts. @_@ I think I'm going to leave my score the way it is. I got this far because it was fun playing it as an amateur, but much more and there'd be no point because it'd be no longer fun. At least I was in first for a while. ^_^ I once jokingly guessed that the high score might reach 58000. Didn't realize it'd actually get so close, and might happen yet. >_> 53 on the score board lol. In a few months I'm sure to off the score board at this rate.
Nowadays, 80% of my attempts go wrong- lucky breaks come every so often, but there can't be too much more I can muster.
Poor Burak, he used to be first for a while.
Yeah, I do feel kinda sorry for him. But if Burak acts the way he usually does, his current score is a lot higher than it shows and he's just waiting for it to get higher. He typically doesn't post scores until he's in first.
how do i beat 2nd boss? he drops drills that follow me sometimes and i cant find anything to beat him
You use your fan to blow the drills at the boss. You can just sit on your pad while you do this to make it easy.
i cant beat the lv 30 flying rock guy, it took me hours th get to hom, now i dont know what to do....HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
Right, Big Daddy (final boss):
Swoop under him first- after a few seconds he will then crash down on the ground. Then he will slowly ascend, then start movind left and right again. Now, swoop under him a second time- he should be very cracked by now. When he finishes his ascent, land on the red pad on his head. This should finish him off.
Oh dear, that was a silly explanation. Here's the PROPER one without missing any bits:
Swoop under him first- after a few seconds he will crash down on the ground. Then he will slowly ascend until he is high enough, then he will start moving left/right. He should NOT be cracked at all at this stage. Now do the same as before (swoop etc.) then land on that red pad. Repeat all this 3 times :)
I thought something sounded strange about that first explanation lol.
Oh, btw, congrats on getting the high score again! ^_^ Now I'm not on the scoreboard anymore rofl! >_> Oh well, it was doomed to happen eventually. I wonder what the final high score is going to end at.
Oh, BIG time-saving tactic for Big Daddy.
Here it is:
When you get a chance to land on the pad, DON'T just land on it once. Land on it three times in quick succession- this will work.
(If you already knew this, I apologise).
hey,how do u beat level 12 i can't beat it PLEAZ HELP!
Lvl 12: Fire Escape? Well:
If you haven't figured it out yet, try blowing the fires a little bit. Just a couple of clicks with the mouse, they will then disappear with a flourish. After about ten seconds they will appear again. Make sure you pass them quickly!
Hope that helps.
hey thnks for the help last time :) (dav) i was just wonderin if you could help me on the last level thnx!
kelseyxo
Wow, I didn't know that about Big Daddy! ^_^ Thanks!
If anyone needs help with the last level, look 7 posts up.
Im stuck on Dental Practice .
Any Help Hints Are Good
Dental Practice- there are two methods.
One:
Go right (as in direction) as fast as you can- I got 1980 points doing this. But if you're not quick enough, go for...
Two:
stopping in the gaps between the teeth. You wait for the teeth to rise up, then go to the next gap, and stay there until next chance.
Now I've counted how many times you asked for help on Yin Yang:
4 times, some of which I answered :)
I like to be helpful!
Dav, How do you get the stars then if you go at a really high speed? If you get the stars then get the other star in the second guy's mouth you cant get back for some reason cause the timing is then different when the mouths open and close and I keep popping trying to get back.
Please help me Dav!!!
P.S
I also gave out helpful hints for Yin Yang.
Dav you can also help me on
Hot Air
with level
seven7
For Dental Practice, you can get all the stars if you rush through at very high speeds. It might take some practice though. I don't know a fast way to do the flying platform one though. I just get the stars and hope for the best.
Hydra are you Dav's friend??
OK yeah about that for Dental Practice I only got inside the second mouth once.
I went so fast sideways that the mouth closed but I was sideways so I didn't die but I didn't get the first three stars. I died trying to beat the level.
Here are my scores for every level so far:
Big Mouth Strikes Again 1917
Shut Your Trap 807
So I Married An Axe Murderer 573
King Of The Castle 1542
Keep It Down 838
Stamped Out 1816
Winging It 1897
Drill Bill 896
Balls Of Steel 877
Octoboss 1809
Ball And Chain 1838
Fire Escape 841
Some Like It Hot 788
Great Balls Of Fire 875
The Earth Moved 1761
Dragon Breath 1905
Come Together 818
Biting The Bullet 1844
Cooking On Gas 1598
Baron Von Blimp 1802
Mine All Mine 599
Octopus's Garden 1716
The Worm That Turned 1810
Follow The Leader 1746
Number One Fan 1893
A Tight Squeeze 1797
Caged Up 1660
Dental Practice ????
Off The Walls 1905
Big Daddy ????
Yeah I know my scores suck.But Dental Practice is is is is
SOOOOOOOOO HAAAAARRRRRDDD!!!!!!!!!!
so Dav & Hydra please post a video on www.youtube.com and give me the link so I know how to do IT!!
Dav and Hydra explain this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Jnsn4wpJ1gs
that is the URL for the trailer
now when you watch it pause it where the person is at the map it says 0 stars even though it beat everyvy level
???????????
I don't know Dav anywhere else but here, but earlier we were both swapping first place with each other (and Burak too) until I got kicked off the board entirely.
For the video that you posted, Nitrome, having made the game, doesn't have to earn all the stars to make that video, it can just be unlocked entirely.
I'll see if I can get a video up. I've never tried before though lol.
Ok, here's my vid of Dental Practice:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ih-pjAKFgac
I hope this helps. ^_^
I cant do your video. my computer is really slow. And did you make that balloon that you play on Dental Practice.
Yeah, I did make that balloon. It's Nayru's pearl from The Wind Waker.
And sorry if the video isn't showing well on your computer.
Hydra thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!
I finnaly beat the whole game!!!!!
Thank you too Dav!
Big Mouth Strikes Again 1917
Shut Your Trap 807
So I Married An Axe Murderer 573
King Of The Castle 1542
Keep It Down 838
Stamped Out 1816
Winging It 1897
Drill Bill 896
Balls Of Steel 877
Octoboss 1809
Ball And Chain 1838
Fire Escape 841
Some Like It Hot 788
Great Balls Of Fire 875
The Earth Moved 1761
Dragon Breath 1905
Come Together 818
Biting The Bullet 1844
Cooking On Gas 1598
Baron Von Blimp 1802
Mine All Mine 599
Octopus's Garden 1716
The Worm That Turned 1810
Follow The Leader 1746
Number One Fan 1893
A Tight Squeeze 1797
Caged Up 1660
Dental Practice 1919
Off The Walls 1905
Big Daddy 1760
Hiscore 46145!
Thank you to all those helped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Especially you Hydra and Dav!but I've never seen Burak post here before I dont know who he is though.
Burak was the scoreboard leader for a while, but he's fallen off since then. For a while Burak, Dav, and I were competing and replacing each others scores, but Dav's times became too much for me and I no longer have a place on the board.
Hydra are you really 16 and live in the U.S.A??
And if you want to respond please respond on the Hot Air walkthrough at Jayisgames
Here I'll give you the link:https://jayisgames.com/archives/2005/12/hot_air.php
JAY IS AWESOME
plus SPOILER
i beat this and im only
6
jays walkthroughs are awesome and you
guys
how do you beat the ocoboss?
Just fly around and land on all of the orange pads you see. It will shoot bullets and hopefully hit the octo.
THIS GAME ROCKS!
I LOVE IT.
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HA HA HA!
NOW IT IS... not loading.
Well it was fun while it lasted!
[Edit: Try emptying your cache and reload, or try reinstalling Flash Player. The game is loading just fine. -Jay]
I beat it in 45 minutes!
How do you beat level 8 please help
WHOOO!!! i luv this game so much!!! i just finished the it.
I don't understand you guys! This is one of Nitrome's absolute weakest games, and I can't believe so many people like it or even find it enjoyable...
Just like the first one, "Hot Air 2" is ridiculously difficult, overly frustrating, and downright annoying, making it a hassle to play and an impossibility to get through. Not a good one.
i've got the highest score ever in this game!
58,183!!!!how'z that?
Well done Sarvan!!!! I thought nobody would topple my scores, since I set them a year ago.
But really, I'm at a loss how you improved 120+ points on mine. Oh well.
Good job.
I eventually got to the point where I could beat the game in less than an hour getting all the stars in every level. This is an excellent game. Keep up the good games, Nitrome! Thanks for reviewing it, JohnB.
It's official, I suck at this game. I can't even get past level 3!
i cant do drill bill. its impassable.
Iv compleated hot air balloon before and it was soooooo hard
uh, the balloon maker is gone. is that supposed to happen? i was looking for it the other day and i felt like ripping my hair out!
Hello, this is your everyday anonymous commenter.
Wondering- how do I make an account? When I hit submit my info, the screen reads "No enter ID"
HELP! Please?
[Edit: Please send a screenshot of the entire form when you get that error to our contact address found at the bottom of the page. Thank you. -Jay]
this game is difficult... can anyone help me get past the first level? ^^;
i love the :) balloon thats yellow unlocked in lvl 29 I believe i just like it i call him smilly the smile balloon
Update