Magical Drop II

So you've made it this far...

Developer: Data East

Platforms:Arcade, SNES, Sega Saturn

First Release Date: March 21, 1996 (Arcade, JP)

Magical Drop II might be the game that got me really started on my puzzle games kick. It's a very fast-paced game- setting up big combos is definitely possible, but there’s more focus on making matches quickly. Making a lot of quick two chains in a row can be as effective as one big chain. You have to hurry to manage your drops picking them up and putting them down to get what you need, while making sure none of them are too close to getting over the edge. It's very frantic, and values quick management of your board over strategic building. I listed this game as my favorite instead of Magical Drop III, which I'm not sure if I'll actually stand by forever- two is the game that I'm more familiar with, but three is basically “Magical Drop II, but more of it”. Two might win out for me purely because it’s what I played first. They're both definitely worth your time though!

A lot of Magical Drop’s strength comes from its characters, who are all semi-faithfully based on one of the Major Arcana from tarot. The first Magical Drop has a very cute style in its own right, but the sequel goes for a new style. The sprites are colorful and have some particularly zany slapstick anime qualities that I love. As the intro shows, there’s only a few new characters, but they’re a good bunch. There are the new villains Empress and Strength, who make a trio with Devil from the first game. There's also cool sword girl Justice, who I always forget debuts in this game and not the first, since she gets promoted to the lead character in Magical Drop F. Also, the Fool returns, but is actually the brother of the Fool from the first game. The new Fool has a runny nose and a cat, and would persist into all of the future games. Characters are intentionally unbalanced with the special items they get and their attack patterns, an odd trait that persists through the series. It's not a dealbreaker, but keep it in find if you're going for a run as the Fool...

The plot of this game is that your character must defeat the evil Empress in her castle, and then get to make a wish with the Magical Drops. You fight the rest of the cast on your way there. You beat the game after a tough battle against Empress, but using no continues reveals that an inexplicable devilish little clown called Black Pierrot was manipulating Empress! He resembles the little clowns you move around during gameplay (in the arcade version, at least), but I love how out of place he is with every other arcana card character. Whether you fight Black Pierrot or not, Empress is restored to her tarot-accurate good self, which will definitely last. You also get your character’s unique ending. There’s a lot of goofy fun in these, from High Priestess going to space, to Fool reuniting with the first game's Fool, to Strength getting a lot of cats.

Connie’s Collaborations: Had enough of Black Pierrot? I've got the obscure special edition of Magical Drop II for you! The Bunka Hōsō Special Version replaces the secret boss with the JOQR Team, a group of radio personalities on Nippon Cultural Broadcasting. I love tie-ins like this. Credit to TCRF for these images.

There are some significant version differences for this game. First, in the SNES version, the clowns are replaced with adorable little versions of the characters you play. A reasonable trade-off. Second, the puzzle mode is oddly absent from the non-Japanese arcade versions. Third, the board is a column smaller on the SNES. Fourth, the SNES versions have dialogue between rounds. The (actually previously unreleased) English version on the Nintendo Switch online service replaces those with generic quotes, but leaves ending text intact. There's another translation I haven't checked out myself though, if you're interested. Finally, characters are fully voiced in the Japanese versions, given a range of voices shared between characters in the European release, and replaced with one very enthusiastic announcer in the North American releases. And... I don't know about the Saturn version. I'll look into it...

Connie’s Codes: You can unlock characters in each version with a similar set of inputs.
-Unlock Devil, Strength, and Empress for Arcade: Press Down on the following characters in increasing Tarot number order: Fool, Magician, High Priestess, Chariot, Justice, Star, World.
-Unlock Black Pierrot for SNES: Press Down on the following characters in the order they're fought: Fool, Star, Devil, Chariot, High Priestess, Justice, Magician, World, Strength, and then press Up on Empress. I love the dramatic effects for Pierrot's arrival.

I think I've made up a lot of stuff about Magical Drop in my mind. I'm an honest woman: this game gets a lot of points from me because the Empress is my favorite. I'm so endeared by the concept of a sexy dominatrix character who’s also kind of pathetic. Most of her slapstick moments come from the next game, where she does nothing but commit comic mischief, and all the characters torment her in the board game mode. In my head there's an entire rivalry and dynamic between World and Empress that absolutely does not actually exist, but they do love putting them together in intros and key art. I’ll make a comic about this one day. Maybe. Anyway, that's why she gets to be plastered all over the website. Good video game!

Thank you for reading!

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