Collection essentials #611: Irozuki Tingle no Koi no Balloon Trip / Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love (DS)

I actually wrote a full-length review for this game on gamefaqs.com when I played through it back in 2020. Because of that review, this post might be a bit shorter than normal since I pretty much said what I have to say about the game in that review. You can read it here.


Tingle’s Balloon Trip of Love certainly looks like a follow-up to Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland, with similar logos and the same basic graphical style. However, this is not simply “more of the same”, as this game ditches pretty much all the mechanics from its predecessor and offers a completely different type of experience. The story isn’t even connected, with only a few little cameos being the binding threads between the two games. 


What we have here is a game that’s a little closer to what you would consider a “point and click adventure” game. And the biggest appeal of the game is definitely its quirky and bizarre sense of humor, which it delivers in spades. This time, Tingle is looking for love, as he reads a book about a handsome man who meets beautiful women on his travels…but then, Tingle gets sucked into the book and must live out the story himself!


The other element that kinda comes out of left field is the fact that the game is loosely a parody of “The Wizard of Oz”, as he finds a yellow brick road and meets a trio of companions who are loosely based on the three who accompanied Dorothy in her trip to the land of Oz. 


Gameplay involves solving puzzles and figuring out what exactly Tingle needs to do and who he needs to talk to in order to progress. However, different chapters of the game shake things up in various ways (I won’t spoil anything), so you never really know what to expect next. As you might expect from the story premise, eventually Tingle has to make a habit of winning over various women in order to progress, which he needs to do by acquiring and offering the correct gifts which will tickle their fancy. 


The biggest problem with this game is that it necessitates “grinding” for money, as you’ll never earn enough to progress through story events. You’ll have to go through an optional dungeon over and over again just to get the amount of dough that you need. And sometimes the pacing slows down to a crawl and/or gives you busywork, making the game feel rather padded. There’s also a lack of “quality of life” features, such as few save points or less “fast travel” options than you’d expect, and this certainly doesn’t help.


Sadly, not even Europe got a localization of Tingle’s adventure this time around, leaving it stuck in Japan. I was aware of the game’s existence for years, but being so text-heavy, there didn’t seem to be much point in actually playing it for a long time. But eventually, in the late 2010s, some dedicated fans released a complete English patch! I played through it in the early days of the COVID pandemic in 2020.


Unfortunately I wouldn’t call this a truly great game, as its flaws really hold it back a great deal. But I found it most certainly worth playing. There were some bizarre and amusing scenes that just made me sit back and say laughing to myself, “THIS is technically a Legend of Zelda game!” You probably only need to see a little bit of footage of this game to have a sense of whether it’s “for you”, and if you think that it is, definitely give it a shot! It’s not an all-timer, but a unique little game like this with a lot of personality certainly gets a spot as an essential in my collection.

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