Magical Drop - History

History

In 1995, Data East released the first game in the series as a coin operated version of this game titled Magical Drop (known in North America as Chain Reaction). Despite the arcade game being released worldwide while using the English title in North America and Europe, Data East USA gave the official English names of its successors the same names as their Japanese counterparts, while the home versions of the first game were never released outside of Japan. The series became better known for its Neo-Geo sequels, Magical Drop II and Magical Drop III, due to the popularity of the Neo-Geo platform. The last games in the series released in the United States were Magical Drop Pocket for the Neo Geo Pocket Color in 1999 and Magical Drop for the Game Boy Color in 2000.

After Data East filed for bankruptcy and became defunct in 2003, G-mode bought and currently owns the intellectual rights to the Magical Drop franchise along with several other Data East franchises and titles. While Data East declared bankruptcy in 2003, other publishers have re-released the PlayStation titles Magical Drop 3 + Wonderful and Magical Drop F. Magical Drop II and Magical Drop III are also available on the subscription service GameTap. In 2007, the Super Famicom version of the first Magical Drop title was released in Japan on the Virtual Console for the Wii by G-mode. In 2009, versions of Magical Drop Touch for Android and iPhone were released in May and September, respectively.

On May 25, 2010, Magical Drop II was released on the Virtual Console by G-mode. In 2010, Magical Drop III was included as part of Data East Arcade Classics and released on the Virtual Console in Japan on July 6, 2010. At E3 2011, UTV Ignition Entertainment announced a new sequel, Magical Drop V. Developed by French studios Arkedo and Golgoth Studio, the game is going to be released for PC on November 15, 2012. Yet, the release dates for the XBLA and PSN versions are still to be confirmed.