Red Balloon (object)

The Red Balloon is an item found in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3. It starts off as a small balloon and Yoshi must stand on a platform which pumps it up with air. It can be filled only a certain amount, then the platform will compress on itself. After Yoshi inflates it fully, he can ride it through the sky until it runs out of air and falls off the screen. Once Yoshi lands on it, air immediately starts leaking out the end, gradually deflating the balloon. It can be ridden at any size, but jumping on it before it is fully filled could possibly jeopardize chances of a 100% score.

They appear in stages 4-3: Don't Look Back!, and 4-7: Ride Like The Wind. The balloon cannot be popped and can only be used once.