Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love
A Tingle adventure of romance and puzzles in a picture-book world.
Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love is an adventure game released in 2009 for the Nintendo DS. It was developed by Vanpool and published by Nintendo, but only came out in Japan. The game is a sequel to Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland and a spin-off of The Legend of Zelda series.
The story begins with an ordinary 35-year-old man who sees a direct sales program on TV and orders a book that promises to make him popular with women. When he opens the book, he is pulled into a picture book world, where he becomes Tingle, dressed in a green costume. There he meets three companions who help him escape: Kakashi the scarecrow, Buriki the tin robot woman, and Lion the lion. These characters are based on the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Players solve puzzles using the unique abilities of Tingle's partners. Kakashi is unintelligent but small, so he can fit into tight spaces. Buriki is very smart but lacks a heart, allowing her to solve puzzles the others cannot. Lion is the strongest but is cowardly. Most actions are performed with the stylus. Another key gameplay element involves romantic interactions with five female characters. Players must choose the right words during conversations and give the women suitable items to win their favor, which is required to advance. To finish the game, Tingle must build a relationship with all five girls. Unlike its predecessor, this game is entirely touch screen controlled, except for a small dungeon mini-game segment where a control pad can be purchased.
Vanpool, the same company that made Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, developed the game. A hint first appeared in the June 2009 issue of Famitsu magazine, which showed a tiny picture of Tingle with the text "Yōsei?" (meaning "Fairy?"). Nintendo opened a teaser website on June 12, hinting at an upcoming Tingle DS game. A later Famitsu issue revealed that two Tingle titles were teased: the DSiWare app Dekisugi Tingle Pack and this game, which was released in Japan on August 6.
An English fan translation patch became available on January 1, 2018, after five years of work.
Famitsu gave the game a score of 34 out of 40. During its release week, it was the ninth best-selling game in Japan, selling 33,498 units. The next week it placed ninth again with 17,956 copies.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Vanpool
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Director
- Jun Tsuda
- Producer
- Kensuke Tanabe
- Composer
- Masanori Adachi, Tomoko Sano, Kiyoshi Hazemoto
- Series
- The Legend of Zelda
- Platforms
- Nintendo DS
- Released
- August 6, 2009 (JP)
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The game's storyline begins with an ordinary 35-year-old man who watches a direct sales program on television and orders a book said to make its readers popular among women. When the man opens the book, he gets sucked into a picture book world, where he becomes Tingle, wearing a green costume. Tingle meets three characters that accompany him on his journey to escape the world: Kakashi the scarecrow, Buriki the tin robot woman, and Lion the lion. These characters are inspired by the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, respectively.
The player solves many puzzles that require use of the different abilities of Tingle's three partners. Kakashi lacks intelligence but is small and able to get into small places. Buriki is very intelligent but heartless, and can cleverly solve puzzles Tingle's other partners cannot. Lion is more powerful than the other two partners but cowardly. Many actions are performed via the stylus. Another central gameplay element is romantic interaction with five different female characters. The player must find the right words during dialogues and give Tingle's love interests the best fitting items to win their favor, which is necessary for continuing the adventure. To complete the game, Tingle must have some degree of a relationship with all of the girls. Unlike its predecessor, the game is completely touch screen controlled, except for a small dungeon mini-game segment in which a control pad may be purchased.
Reader's Guide
Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love was developed by Vanpool, the company that also created Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland. A first hint at the game appeared in an issue of the Japanese magazine Famitsu published in June 2009, containing a teaser advertisement depicting a tiny picture of Tingle along with a line of text saying 'Yōsei?' (lit. 'Fairy?'). Nintendo opened a teaser website on June 12, hinting at an upcoming Nintendo DS game starring Tingle. Another issue of Famitsu published in late June revealed that two Tingle-centric titles were teased: the DSiWare application Dekisugi Tingle Pack and the Nintendo DS game Irodzuki Tingle no Koi no Balloon Trip. The latter game was released on August 6 in Japan.
An English fan translation patch for the game was released on January 1, 2018 after five years of development. Famitsu awarded the game a score of 34 out of 40. It was the 9th best-selling game in Japan during the week of its release, selling 33,498 units. The following week it placed 9th again with 17,956 copies sold. In August 2009, the game sold 70,544 units in total, placing 10th in the Japanese sales charts for that month.
Did You Know?
- The game's three partners are inspired by characters from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
- The game sold 70,544 units in Japan during August 2009.
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