Bloons Tower Defense
Bloons Tower Defense takes the Bloons concept—popping balloons, preferably with monkeys involved—and spins it in a new and intriguing direction. Players start with an aerial view of a winding path. At the start of each level, a stream of balloons enters from one side and, unless popped, will escape out the other end. Balloons come in red, blue, green, yellow and black flavors; blues move faster than reds, greens faster than blues, and so on. Also, increasing the complexity of the challenge, higher "ranking" balloons contain lower ranking ones inside them. So, blue balloons, when popped, reveal reds, greens contain blues which contain reds, and so on.
And what can one player do against such a mighty horde of bloons? Build towers, of course! And by "towers," I mean bombs, dart-shooting monkeys, tacks, and so on. Each type of tower has two possible upgrades, such as increased shooting radius, piercing darts, bigger bombs, etc. Each category also has significant strengths and weaknesses; one of the joys of the game is discovering the perfect combination to maximize popping potential and beat the seemingly endless flood of bloons.
Analysis: I was rather disappointed with Bloons Tower Defense. Not because it's a bad game; quite the opposite, in fact. It just, well, feels unfinished. With a little bit more work and time, the designers could have turned a fun game into a truly exceptional offering. Chief among my complaints is the lack of a save function (playing 37 levels over again becomes very, very tedious), and the absence of music. The "restart" button literally means just that; a button that could replay the previous level would make more sense and save a lot of time. As much fun as I found Bloons Tower Defense, ultimately the tedium overcame the enjoyment.
A flawed but engaging title, an amazing amount of potential fun wrapped in a frustrating presentation. And yet still likely to please die-hard Bloons fans.
Also check out NinjaKiwi's first two in the Bloons series, Bloons and More Bloons.
Walkthrough Guide
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COMPLETE WALKTHROUGH
How to finish the game without losing a single life
I'm such a sucker for a good TD game and while this one isn't terribly difficult it is a lot of fun.
First start with a Dart tower (why call them towers in this game anyway? They're monkeys!)
Place him in the middle as shown in the picture with the edge of his range just touching the path at the top
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD1.jpg
Upgrade him completely so he'll be able to shoot any bloons that try to sneak out
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD2.jpg
Always upgrade the towers as soon as you can afford to. This game doesn't have an interest factor like many TD games do so it doesn't matter when you spend your cash.
Next put another monkey in the middle of the board
Place this one so the edge of his range is just touching the edge of the lower path
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD3.jpg
When he's upgraded he'll be able to shoot bloons as they pass down there
As soon as you can afford him put a third monkey just above the first one
Now you'll have two monkeys able to shoot any bloons that happen to get all the way around the circuit
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD4.jpg
Now a fourth monkey goes just above the second one you placed
Again, upgrade all towers as soon as you can afford to do so
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD5.jpg
Bloons are coming fast and furious now - you need to thin things out a little
Time for some tack towers, or as I like to call them… Pin Cushions! :)
Place one inside that first loop but be careful to place it as FAR up and as FAR to the left as you can
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD6.jpg
Once you have that one upgraded put another one right next to it. Again be sure to crowd the first one as much as possible
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD7.jpg
Upgrade that one then put yet a third pincushion right next to the others
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD8.jpg
of course upgrade that one too
Believe it or not you're going to need to keep thinning ‘em out up there. Still more pincushions
Put the fourth pincushion just below the middle one in the row you already have. Line him up good because it's a tight squeeze in a few minutes
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD9.jpg
a fifth pincushion goes just to the left of that one - now this is tricky because it'll just BARELY fit in there but if you find just the right pixel space you can do it.
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD10.jpg
You know what's coming next right? Yep, another pincushion to the right of those
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD11.jpg
You know the drill… upgrade them as soon as you can before buying more
Bloons are still getting around by this time so you'll thin ‘em out even more with even more pincushions
This time we're going inside that hairpin corner in the lower left of the screen
I put two in there right next to each other - no need to upgrade the distance of the first one. You'll place it so tight against the path that it already covers the entire loop there.
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD12.jpg
Time for a monkey to help out toward the beginning.
Place him inside the first loop so his range just encroaches on the edge of the path
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD13.jpg
Once he's upgraded he'll cover the complete loop there
You're good to go for a while. Start accumulating some serious $ $ $... you're going to need it
As soon as you're able to afford it buy a super monkey. Stick him just above the two lower monkeys in the middle of the screen. Do NOT upgrade that one. I'll explain why a little later. Trust me on this.
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD14.jpg
Ain't that a joy to watch? That little bugger sure can deliver can't he?
Let it roll for a while and save your cash for a while again.
Buy a second super monkey when you can and place this one just below the two top monkeys in the middle of the screen. Put him as far left as you can because when you upgrade this one to epic range he'll be reaching waaaaay past the right side of the screen.
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD15.jpg
Upgrade this guy when you can and revel in the magnificent reach of that killer
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD16.jpg
You're making money pretty quickly now so save up until you have enough for the final commando
Place a third super monkey in the middle loop on the right side of the screen. Of course go as far to the left as you can. In this picture he dropped a little somehow and didn't quite get exactly where I wanted him but with these rapid fire guys does it really matter?
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD17.jpg
Upgrade him when you can
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD18.jpg
If you want you can put another pincushion in the hairpin corner at the bottom left of the screen but you won't really need it.
All you have to do now is
Just sit back and wait for this screen to come up.
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTD19.jpg
The monkeys have kind of a blind spot that is mentioned in the message after one of the levels.
This is why you don't want to upgrade that lower super monkey. When the bloons are traveling along the bottom path the monkeys can't seem to find ‘em. The super monkeys end up shooting a stream of darts off into middlespace.
Here is an example of it in action
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/AaronzDad/Bloons/BTDX.jpg
What a frustrating waste.
Now wasn't that fun?
Posted by: AaronzDad | August 21, 2007 11:59 PM