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             Magical Drop Translation Guide

                          Version 1.0
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~*~Legal Information: Please Read ~*~

This Translation Guide is Copyright (c) 2002 Alyson Carey
<[email protected]>.
All rights reserved. Reproduction of this guide is allowed by permission only.
Any modification is strictly prohibited.
"Magical Drop" is copyright (c) 1995 Data East Corporation.

~*~ Introduction ~*~

This is my first attempt at a game guide wich is why I picked a fairly small
project.  I noticed a lack of information about this adorable game on the net
so I figured it was a perfect place to start.
Magical Drop was created by Data East.  The version I am covering is for the
SNES console.  To the best of my knowledge there have been 3 Magical Drop games
released to date on various platforms including a Game Boy Color and NeoGeo
Pocket version.  I believe the GB and NGP versions are as of yet the only
domesticated copies.  If I'm wrong about this, feel free to let me know.  It is
a puzzle game similar to Bubble Bobble 2.  You pick characters who are based on
Tarot cards and have to match up colored balloons.  Please note that my
translations of this game are my interpritations of the language.  I'm sure
there are other possible substitutes for the words that I made.  If you can
think of something better feel free to let me know, but I did try to keep the
translation as close to the original Japanese version as possible.

~*~ The Story ~*~

I am still in the process of translating the SNES version of the story, but so
far it is pretty much the same as the Game Boy and Neo Geo Pocket English
versions.
The Magical Drop is a precious and mystical item hidden somewhere in the world
these strange Tarot card people live in.  The drop has the power to grant
wishes.  It will either let someone live happily ever after, or help them get
revenge on their enimy.  The characters in the game are competing against
eachother in a mad race to find the magical drop.


~*~ How To Play ~*~

The object of the game is simple.  Match 3 or more of the same colored balloons
to make them dissapear.
Use the directional pad to move your character left and right.  The 'B' button
will pick up a balloon.  'A' will throw it back into play.  You can carry as
many balloons of the same color as you wish and move them around the board.
You play a character based on a Tarot card.  There are 6 to choose from: The
Fool, The Star, The Chariot, The Devil, The Magician, and The Priestess.  Each
character has a special balloon that will cause various effects when used (some
do have more then 1 special, The Star for example).  Special balloons come in
various colors and when matched with a group of 3 or more of its color, it
causes all balloons of that color to dissapear.  The gameplay is pretty easy to
get a hang of and in my opinion doesn't really require much more explaining
then that.  With that said, on to the translation.

~*~ Opening Menu ~*~

After hitting the Start button a menu with 6 options will come up.  We will
call this the main menu from now on.  It reads in order from top to bottom:
Select Mode
Story Mode
Versus Mode
Single Mode
Puzzle Mode
Options

To get to Select mode you must hit up and press A.  This mode lets you pick the
difficulty level of Story mode.  If you choose story alone the dificulty will
be set to normal (3) by default.  The Select mode menu is almost entirely in
english so no worries here.  The difficulty (game level) can be set from 1 to
5.  1 being easy 5 being hardest.

In Story mode you will battle it out against the computer following a short
story.

Versus mode is two player mode.  That should be self explanitory.

Single mode is a lot like Tetris.  You play alone with only the clock against
you.  The longer you play the harder it gets.  The level you are at determines
how fast the lines fall.

Puzzle mode will let you select between 30 different balloon puzzles.  You have
a certain number of moves to clear the board.

Last on the list is Options.  This should need no explanation as to what you do
here.

~*~ Options Menu ~*~

When you select Options a new screen will appear.  You can customize your game
here by using the up and down keys along with the 'A' button.  The text here
reads as:
Sound    Stereo  Mono
Balloon
Button
    Pick up
    Drop
Background   Light    Dark
Exit

Most of this should be easy to figure out even without knowing what it says.
On a personal note I find the game easier to play with the marble type balloons
selected, I have no idea why though.


~*~ Puzzle Mode ~*~

Selecting Puzzle mode will lead you to the character select screen, followed by
the puzzle select screen.  Most of this is fairly straightforward as well.
There are bubbles numbered 1 through 30, moving the curser over these will show
you the different puzzles you can select from.
Below that it tells you how many moves you have in order to clear the board.
(In  # Moves)
Finally, the last line tells us we can quit (redo) the puzzle we have started
by hitting Select.  If you do this it will bring up another menu, one that you
will see throughout the game.  It sports 2 options, Continue on the top and
Quit on the bottom.

~*~ Single Mode ~*~

Single, Story, and VS. mode pretty much play the same.  Choose your character
and jump right into the game  (with the exception of story wich gives
you..well.. a story before you start play).
The menu on the right hand side of the playing board reads as follows:
High Score
Score
Chain
Largest Chain
Time

A chain is when, after clearing a set of colored balloons, it causes another
set to clear as well.  IE some balloons fall on some others because of the set
you just cleared.

~*~ Versus Mode ~*~

After selecting your characters you will be brought to the handicap menu.  It
looks like your characters standing on a set of stairs.  Here you can choose
the handicap from 1(easy) to 5 (hard)  for each player.  In the center of the
two stairs you will get a prompt this is asking you how many rounds you want to
play.  You can choose 1,3 or 5 rounds.

~*~ Story Mode ~*~

Nothing new here actually.  The playing board has no text on it so nothing to
worry about.


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I hope this guide has helped you to better understand and enjoy this wonderful
game.  Please don't hesitate to send me any questions or comments,
[email protected].  Any contributions to this guide will be credited.

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