Magical Drop III is an excellent Data East puzzle game featuring Tarot characters. The mechanic of picking up and throwing colored bubbles is addictive and precise. Excellent competitive versus gameplay. An arcade puzzle classic on PS1, accessible and deep.
Your verdict
Category
Puzzle2 players3+
Description
European sequel to Magical Drop with expanded roster, a competitive puzzle where the player pulls and stacks colored balls to clear them in chains. Created by Data East, released in 1998 in Europe under the Magical Drop III title with Magical Drop +1 versions. Over fifteen characters including Tarot arcana, two-player versus mode, fast pace and arcade soundtrack. European edition with Magical Drop III and Magical Drop +1 versions.
Magical Drop III review
3/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Polished"
3/5
Music
★★★★★
"Memorable"
4/5
Story
★★★★★
"Captivating"
Magical Drop III wraps its competitive puzzle in a charming narrative dressing, staging characters inspired by the Tarot arcana. Each fighter, from the Sun to the Moon to the Star, has her own personality and mood, weaving a light, colorful thread over the bubble battles. This gallery of allegorical figures gives the game a unique character, halfway between arcade duel and symbolic tale. A mischievous, original narrative frame.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Sucking up then spitting out columns of balls to build alignments imposes a frenzied pace where the slightest hesitation costs you. The handling, instant and precise, turns the counter-attack into an art and the versus quickly becomes a battle of nerves. Colourful and a touch kitsch, the dressing has aged, but this reflex frenzy stays one of the most gleeful in competitive puzzling.
A brisk versus puzzler by Data East, praised for its frantic pace and a cast drawn from tarot arcana, offered here with a content variant specific to the European edition. Still common, its interest lies in this competitive playability and colorful characters rather than scarcity. An affordable piece for fans of reflex puzzlers from the genre's golden age.
Better with friends
A lightning puzzler where you pull and stack colored beads to bury your opponent under an avalanche, in a duel of wild liveliness. The competition rewards quick hands and chain anticipation, with every second able to swing it all. Immediate and snappy, it puts everyone on equal footing from the first game and triggers shouts and fits of laughter by the bucketload.
Is Magical Drop III still worth playing in 2026?
Magical Drop III is an excellent Data East puzzle game with Tarot characters. The mechanic of grabbing and throwing colour bubbles is addictive and precise, the competitive gameplay excellent with brisk pacing demanding real-time thinking. Kawaii anime art direction is endearing, the soundtrack sticky. An absolute classic today.
