Red Balloon

Red Balloons,  also known as Life Balloons, 1-Up Balloons, or simply Balloons, are recurring items that grant extra lives to the Kongs in the Donkey Kong Country series and Donkey Kong Land series.

Donkey Kong Country trilogy
In the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy, the Red Balloons give only one more life. The less frequent Green Balloons and Blue Balloons provide two and three extra lives, respectively, and the three variants are collectively referred to as Donkey Kong Balloons, 1-up Balloons, or Extra Life Balloons (also spelled Extra-Life Balloons  or extra lives balloons ). By collecting an Extra Life Balloon, it floats to the life counter in the upper right corner of the screen. If the Kongs lose a life, the life counter appears onscreen, and its balloon icon pops and decreases by one.

Extra Life Balloons first appear in Donkey Kong Country, where they are in the shape of Donkey Kong's head. An Extra Life Balloon is often rewarded for completing a Bonus Area, but a few appear in the level itself, such as on the treetops of Jungle Hijinxs. They can also be rarely found when certain areas are hand-slapped (in place of Banana Bunches). Some Extra Life Balloons float up in the air and must be quickly collected before floating offscreen.

In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, the Extra Life Balloons are changed into the shape of Diddy Kong's head, likely owing to him as the new main protagonist. Extra Life Balloons rarely appear within Bonus Areas, which feature Kremkoins as the main reward instead. The main method for obtaining Extra Life Balloons is by completing the quizzes at Swanky's Bonus Bonanza, where the type of Life Balloon rewarded corresponds to the number of Banana Coins the Kongs must pay to participate in a quiz. Some of the hints at Kong Kollege and the Monkey Museum provide hints on where the Kongs can find an Extra Life Balloon within a level. Some No Animal Signs reward an Extra Life Balloon if the Kongs cross with an Animal Friend. Red Extra Life Balloons can also be found as one of the possible prizes on some End of Level Targets.

A few of the later levels feature black Klobbers, who cause Diddy and Dixie Kong to lose an Extra Life Balloon whenever it bumps into them. As the Extra Life Balloon(s) float(s) upward, the Kongs have a few seconds to recollect the Extra Life Balloon(s) before it/they disappear.

In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, Extra Life Balloons have the same main purpose as in the previous two games, and their overall role is more similar to that of Donkey Kong Country 2. In the game, Extra Life Balloons are redesigned in the shape of the head of Dixie, the main protagonist of the game. Like in Donkey Kong Country 2, some No Animal Signs still reward an Extra Life Balloon to the Kongs if they pass the signs as an Animal Friend or with Parry the Parallel Bird. In one instance in Rocket Barrel Ride, if Dixie and Kiddy pass the No Animal Sign with Parry, they are rewarded with a blue Extra Life Balloon. At Swanky's Sideshow, Swanky Kong may reward an Extra Life Balloon, among other items, to Dixie and Kiddy if they perform well against Cranky Kong.

In the Game Boy Advance remakes, an Extra Life Balloon often appears among the rewards for completing the Kong family's respective minigames.

Donkey Kong Land trilogy
In the Donkey Kong Land trilogy, every Extra Life Balloon grants only one life, and the balloons represent the Red Balloons from the Donkey Kong Country games. The monochromatic Game Boy screen cannot distinguish between the differently colored Extra Life Balloons. When the active Kong obtains an Extra Life Balloon, a Life Heart (which represents an extra life) appears on the HUD at the bottom.

In Donkey Kong Land and Donkey Kong Land 2, the Extra Life Balloons have the same shape as their Donkey Kong Country counterparts. In Donkey Kong Land III, which recycles many of its sprites directly from Donkey Kong Land 2, the Life Balloons are still in the shape of Diddy's head despite him not appearing in the game. In the Game Boy Color port of Donkey Kong Land III, the Extra Life Balloon sprites are red, which affirms them representing Red Balloons.

Donkey Kong Country Returns
In Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, Red Balloons are redesigned with the appearance of a normal balloon. Red Balloons are the only Balloons that return in the Wii version. In the Nintendo 3DS version, a Green Balloon can be bought from Cranky Kong's Shop in every world, allowing the Kongs to recover from a pitfall without losing a life.

If Donkey Kong loses a life, he is shown floating from a Balloon out of the top of the screen; during this, the life counter displays in the center and decreases by one life. In single-player mode, after this occurs, Donkey Kong floats back to the level while holding on to a Balloon. He returns either to the start or to a checkpoint, based on his level progress. Once he reaches the ground or the player presses a button, the Balloon pops, and Donkey Kong can continue moving through the level.

In two-player mode, both players share their extra lives. If either player loses a life, they can float back onscreen in a DK Barrel hanging from a Balloon after pressing if the Wii Remote is held sideways, or  if the Nunchuk is attached to the remote. This is similar to how players float around in bubbles in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. If both Kongs simultaneously lose a life, often from falling down a pit, they lose two lives in total. Like in single-player mode, if both Kongs lose a life or if one of them loses a life while the other is missing, they must restart the level or from the last checkpoint.

The Kongs can purchase some Life Balloons via Cranky Kong's Shop in groups of either one, three, or seven (priced at 3, 7, and 15 Banana Coins, respectively). If the player selects a save file where the Kongs are low on lives, Cranky provides them with some extra balloons. There are also three balloons (one red, one yellow, and one blue) on the roof of Cranky Kong's Shop, the latter two of which do not have an in-game role.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
In Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and its Nintendo Switch port, Red Balloons act the same as in its predecessor. However, Funky's Fly 'n' Buy sells only single life-giving Red Balloons. Performing a Kong POW with Diddy also turns all onscreen enemies into Red Balloons. Green Balloons also return from the prior game's 3DS remake. Blue Balloons appear as well, now giving the Kongs more air underwater.

Super Mario-kun
An Extra Life Balloon makes a small appearance in Super Mario-kun as a small drawing at the end of Issue 14 on page 127.

Donkey Kong Country

 * Wii U Virtual Console manual bio: "Collect to get an extra life."

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

 * Wii U Virtual Console manual bio: "There are three differently colored Extra Life Balloons. The different colors are worth different numbers of lives."

Trivia

 * Dixie Kong's Extra Life Balloons from Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! are the only ones where the eyes are visibly white, as opposed to colored over like Donkey Kong's and Diddy Kong's Extra Life Balloons from Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, respectively. This does not apply for the Game Boy Advance remake, however.
 * For the icons with the remaining lives in the upper right-hand corner of the game screen in each of the first three games, Donkey Kong's in Donkey Kong Country is shaped like an Extra Life Balloon but in his real colors and animated. However, Diddy Kong's and Dixie Kong's icons in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, respectively, are simply heads and are non-animated.
 * Even though Dixie Kong's Extra Life Balloons lack her trademark ponytail, her icon displaying the number of lives has her ponytail.