| Hot Air Balloon | |
 Hot Air Balloon's artwork from the game Donkey Kong Country 2. | |
| User(s) | Kong Family, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong |
| Purpose(s) | Serving as transportation for traversing over lava pits |
| Game(s) | Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Donkey Kong Land 2 |
| First Appearance | Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (for SNES) (1995) |
| Latest Appearance | Donkey Kong Country 2 (for GBA) (2004) |
Hot Air Balloons are mobile platforms used by the Kongs to traverse pits in the games Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Land 2.
Overview
In the stages of both games where they are found, Hot Air Balloons are the only means of transportation over lava pits, and the player usually must use multiple balloons to traverse these sections between solid ground. In Donkey Kong Country 2, they only appear in the stage Red-Hot Ride of the world Crocodile Cauldron. In Donkey Kong Land 2, Hot Air Balloons are found in the stages Redhot Ride of the world Krem Cauldron, and Fiery Furnace of the Lost World.
Hot Air Balloons are only found floating in the air inside lava stages of both games. In Donkey Kong Country 2, they are blue balloons and will usually stay right above the steam streams over lava pits. As soon as the primates land on a Hot Air Balloon, the player can control the platform movement by using the "Left" and "Right" buttons. But these balloons will descend slowly when outside the steam range, forcing the player to advance quickly before the platforms sink in the lava pits, taking down the heroes too. Also in Donkey Kong Country 2, if another steam streams are found, the same balloons can be elevated again by the player using the streams to float upwards. However, in Donkey Kong Land 2, there are no steam streams, being impossible to elevate these balloons again. As soon as the Kongs ride on the Hot Air Balloons in the same game, they will just descend.
Gallery
