This is one of the best puzzle games on the Neo Geo. The basic idea is that you have to pull balloons down from the top of the screen down and then fire them back up, so that you make a line of three or more balloons of the same colour, which makes them disappear. The bubbles move down the screen every few seconds and if they reach the bottom its game over.
Gameplay:
You get to pick from a selection of characters that are (mostly) based on Tarot cards (The Fool, Death, etc.). There are two modes of play; Puzzle Mode and Vs CPU mode. In puzzle mode you simply have to keep bursting all the bubbles on screen. The bubbles start to move down the screen faster and faster the longer you keep going, so you have to try and stay alive for as long as you can and get the highest score possible. Vs CPU mode is just that; the screen is split in two and you have to work quickly, because the more bubbles you burst, the more get put onto your opponents screen which makes it harder for them to cope. The pattern that they appear in on your opponents screen depends on the character you chose. Again, you lose if the bubbles reach the bottom of your screen. In Vs CPU mode, you have to beat all the other characters and also a few bosses to complete the game. Apart from the normal bubbles, there are some special ones as well that destroy all the balloons of the same colour when burst.
Graphics & Sound:
I can't really fault this game in terms of presentation. The anime style artwork on all the characters is quite cool. In the background on each stage you can see your character and there are different animation's depending on whether you are winning/losing or bursting lots of bubbles. Overall this game is very pleasant to look at. The sound is nice too. Although there are one or two bits of music that can be a little annoying after a while, on the whole it is reasonably good. There is some speech that you get every time you score points, which can get on your nerves after a while though.
Overall:
If you are a fan of puzzle games, then you should definitely get this game. It can be very hard at times, but if you become good at setting up combos where you destroy lots of bubbles in one go, then you will find yourself winning matches with ease. If you do get stuck on a particular stage, it is yet another one of those puzzle games where you just can't stop playing until you get past it!
Definitely recommended, although it is somewhat overshadowed by it's superior sequel, Magical Drop 3.
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 7/10
Game play: 8/10
Replay Value: 8/10
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