
This causes a disjunction of colors that may make it more difficult for the other player to clear their stack.

The columns of the opponent's stack will descend at different rates relative to each other depending on the character chosen. Different characters have different attack patterns. There are 24 characters, all but the Black Pierrot being named after a tarot card (with the Strength card covering two characters).

The game is normally played with two players (one may be a computer opponent), and chains cause the opponent's stack to descend faster. "Chains" are formed either when a single drop caused a chain reaction, or when more than one group of bubbles is destroyed in quick succession. Bubbles can be picked up and dropped by the player's "clown" at the bottom, and are destroyed when three or more of the same color are put together on a single column. Magical Drop is played in a Tetris-style box a "stack" of random colored bubbles descend from the top, and a player is defeated when a bubble hits the bottom. The games are notable for being extremely fast-paced. The latest major game in the series, Magical Drop III, was released in 1997. In 1995, Data East released a coin operated version of this game, called Chain Reaction. Magical Drop is a series of puzzle games, primarily for the Neo-Geo and Super Famicom, developed by Data East.
