Magical Drop II

Overview

Magical Drop II (known in Japan as Magical Drop 2) is a tile-matching puzzle game developed by Data East and released by SNK for arcades (using Neo Geo MVS hardware) in March 1996.

The sequel to the original Magical Drop (known outside of Japan as Chain Reaction), Magical Drop 2 refines the cutesy art style while adding a larger playfield for the single-player Puzzle mode and different stats for all characters (giving them specific advantages with certain colored balloons) in the multiplayer Versus mode. It also revamps the "special balloon" system, allowing them to match with normal balloons, and adds new balloon types (including powerful crystal blocks that can be matched with any color balloon). The Japanese version adds an additional pre-made puzzle mode, known as "Hirameki".

It was later released in Japan for the Neo Geo AES system in April 19, 1996, and received numerous ports through 1996 in Japan only. These ports include the Neo Geo CD in March 24, Super Famicom on September 20 (published by Data East), and Sega Saturn in September 27 (published by Sega). The original version was also digitally re-released worldwide for the Wii (via Virtual Console) by D4 in 2010.

The Super Famicom version was later digitally released for the Nintendo Switch in all regions on May 26, 2021 as part of the Nintendo Switch Online service. This version received a full English translation in the Western release, despite the original Super Famicom version not having one.

Characters

The game includes 7 playable characters from the start, 3 boss characters (which are playable from the start in the SFC version, and made playable with a cheat code in other versions), and 1 hidden boss character (only playable in some home versions with a cheat code). All seven characters from the original Magical Drop make a return.

Each character has a corresponding "power" level (indicated by stars) for the amount of lines they send out and a unique Item Balloon type found in their playfield. In the Saturn version's "Special" mode, the "power" level is replaced by different patterns that get sent down (similar to Puzzle Bobble 3).

Like the SFC version of the original Magical Drop, the SFC version of this game has players controlling the characters themselves, rather than a clown.

• The Fool (1-star, Red)
• The Star (2-star, Blue)
• The Chariot (3-star, Yellow)
• The High Priestess (3-star, Green)
• The Justice (4-star, Yellow & Blue) - New to the series.
• The Magician (4-star, Red & Yellow)
• The World (5-star, Green & Blue)
• The Devil (2-star, Rainbow) - Sub-boss.
• The Strength (5-star, Red & Rainbow) - Sub-boss. New to the series.
• The Empress (6-star, Rainbow x2) - Final boss. New to the series.
• B-Pierrot (6-star, Rainbow x2) - Hidden final boss. Can only be fought by defeating all other characters without using a continue. New to the series.