As soon as the round starts, work as quickly as you can to knock off enemies before they can pump up their own balloons and take off.
Because higher is better, it's a good idea to stick to the ceiling of the screen. However, watch that you don't bounce too low off the ceiling and make yourself vulnerable to attack. This also makes it easy to hit the enemy's parachute on their way down.
Go for the faster smarter enemies first. Take them out early on so they can't take advantage of you.
Unless it would put you in jeopardy, don't allow enemies who have landed to pump new balloons and take off again. If they weren't already white, they will become faster than before.
Enemies will take off much quicker from the start of the stage, making it more difficult to eliminate them before they leave the ground.
The time it takes a lightning spark to appear becomes much quicker. If there's only one spark, try to remain on the opposite side of the screen from it. Remember that it can't cross the screen boundary. If there are two sparks... clear the level quickly.
Try to make constructive use of bumpers. They can be useful if you need to put some distance between you and an enemy quickly. But make sure that the angle you hit the bumper from will send you in the right direction and not back in to an enemy.
Try to hover just above the pipe openings. As the balloons come out, they will weave back and forth, but generally stay in the column they appeared in.
When catching balloons that come from the first and fourth pipes, wrap around the edge of the screen to save time.
If a balloon gets too high, speed up and catch it on the way to the ceiling. Then bounce off the ceiling to get a boost back down to the ground. Make sure you are headed in the direction of the next balloon.
The screen will automatically scroll to the left. Pop every balloon and avoid every spark.
The first set of balloons and sparks appear in a set pattern. Once the pattern is complete, the balloon and spark layout are completely randomized.
If you collect 20 balloons in a row without missing any, the balloons move up to the next point value rank, up to a maximum of three ranks.
When a bubble rises out of the water, the scroll will pause briefly. Be careful when you collect the bubble, as your momentum will continue even though the screen stops moving.
Every stage is the twice the height of the screen. Above the starting visible stage is another set of ledges.
There is no automatic arm flapping button, you must press the button for every flap.
You must flap much more quickly in order to rise through the air. It is much harder to reverse your momentum if you are falling.
When you pop an enemy's balloons, they fall a small distance before the parachute deploys, making it harder to immediately pop the parachute.
Bonus bubbles weave through the stage a lot more than in the home version.
Likewise, the balloons in bonus stages weave substantially more than in the home version, making it more difficult to assume what direction to move in while collecting the balloons. The last balloon of the round has an END sign attached to it.
