Balloon Bomb
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The Balloon Bomb is an item, first appearing in Kirby's Return to Dream Land which, when carried, will periodically grow in size until it explodes or is thrown.
The Bomb itself is perfectly spherical, with a black base adorned with faint yellow stars. Plastered on opposite sides are two skull insignia, marking it as a dangerous object.
The Balloon Bomb can be picked up, carried, and thrown like many other items in the game. Similarly, the character holding the Bomb can only make one jump and cannot use any attack but the Sliding Kick. As mentioned earlier, the Bomb will periodically increase in size while it is held. It does this in eight stages, with stage 1 being the initial size, and stage 8 being the maximum size it can be before exploding. During the first four stages, throwing or dropping the Balloon Bomb will not cause it to detonate, and instead only deal minor collision damage to enemies. From stage 5 onward, however, it starts to emanate red sparks, which indicates that throwing or dropping it will cause it to explode. Additionally, the character holding it will grow frantic at this point.
The damage output and range of the Balloon Bomb depends on which stage it is in. At maximum, the Bomb is capable of defeating a Mid-Boss in one hit, on par with a Super Ability. Additionally, the Bomb is capable at any volatile stage of destroying large yellow crystalline blocks that often block passageways and items, sharing this trait only with the Stomper Boot and the Fuse Cannon.
Effective use of the Balloon Bomb is required to obtain certain collectibles, including several Energy Spheres.
