Magical Drop V
- November 15, 2012
- Golgoth Studio
Magical Drop V is a fantasy arcade game that offers both single-player and multiplayer options, including co-op. Developed by Golgoth, this sixth entry in the series features modern visuals and online gameplay modes, although it has fewer characters, omits items, and removes Puzzle Mode. Additionally, it introduces three characters from the cancelled Data East puzzle game Ghostlop who use Ghostlop gameplay mechanics.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features fantastic animations and a nostalgic feel that brings back memories from childhood.
- It's a fun and competitive puzzle game that offers great replay value, making it perfect for short gaming sessions.
- The music and art style are enjoyable, adding to the overall charm of the game.
- The game is plagued with bugs, crashes frequently, and lacks essential features like mouse support and a proper save system.
- Many players find the controls clunky and unresponsive, making the gameplay frustrating and less enjoyable compared to previous titles in the series.
- The online multiplayer is broken or nearly non-existent, and the developers have abandoned the game, leaving many issues unresolved.
- gameplay33 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some praising its core mechanics and fun multiplayer aspects, while others criticize it for being buggy, incomplete, and frustratingly slow due to delays in actions. Many players noted that the game lacks essential features from previous installments, such as a marathon mode, and the overall experience is marred by poor audio and design choices. Despite some enjoyable elements, the gameplay is often described as broken or unsatisfying, leading to disappointment among fans of the series.
“Gameplay is pretty simple: grab and pop bubbles of the same color to fill a quota to move on to the next round, kinda like Astropop from PopCap.”
“The gameplay is solid; the art and music are passable, but the gameplay makes up for all of it.”
“If you play as Bruce, you get a mix of Puzzle Bobble mechanics and some new twists, which make it really enjoyable. His playstyle is harder to explain but is a lot of fun in action.”
“Reading the discussion boards regarding how buggy it is, very low number of characters, no marathon mode, and the gameplay is outright annoying.”
“Major important mechanics of the original games are just missing.”
“Quota is also an incredibly stupid game mechanic that's completely at odds with the notion of trying to set up big chains to win by filling your opponent's screen, so you have two victory conditions that are opposed to one another and it's stupid and it reflects a badly designed game.”
- story25 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it lacking in depth and originality, often describing it as generic and poorly integrated. While some appreciate the humor and character backstories, the overall narrative is criticized for being short and repetitive, with a frustrating AI difficulty and technical issues such as missing subtitles. Overall, the story mode is seen as a basic framework that fails to engage players beyond a few matches.
“I love every character's story in the gallery so much.”
“If you finish the story mode, you would be very happy.”
“A short conversation between two characters followed by a duel, but each story mode is a decent length (about 12 levels) and has pretty good difficulty progression.”
“The online is dead (and barely worked when people did play, apparently), single player is only five short stages, the story is terrible and achievements are broken.”
“There's not a lot beyond versus and story mode, where in the latter you'll run into some frustrating difficulty where the AI will smack you around far too easily.”
“Here you have either the story mode, which contains little to no story, just vs. CPU matches - and online play.”
- music15 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it catchy and enjoyable, while others criticize it as bland or overwhelming, leading them to mute it. Many note that the music is more polished than other aspects of the game, but there are complaints about the overall sound design and the lack of variety in character voices. Overall, while the music has its fans, it is often overshadowed by gameplay and technical issues.
“Great music, great gameplay, great design, great multiplayer.”
“The music is catchy as hell.”
“The music, and voice acting are confusingly lightyears more polished than the rest of the gameplay & art.”
“It makes you wait forever to play snippets of the game against a headache-inducing soundtrack and might at any time crash and wipe your data anyhow.”
“And I'm sure this game has decent music, but I'll never know because after 2 minutes of playing, I muted the game because of every character screaming/complaining.”
“Grammatical errors abound, uninteresting characters (in both personality and design), and cheesy, bland music.”
- graphics15 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game have received mixed reviews, with some praising the updated animations and colorful art style, while others criticize the overall aesthetic as less charming than the originals. Although the graphics are polished, issues like lag and loading times detract from the experience, leading some players to find them distracting rather than appealing. Overall, while the visuals are decent and have a cute quality, they do not consistently meet the expectations set by previous entries in the series.
“The art style was cute.”
“Although not quite as good as the fantastic Magical Drop III and the original Ghostlop, Magical Drop V manages to combine the styles of both games nicely in a modern package that adds a graphical overhaul; it's not quite as charming as the classic sprite look of the originals but still manages to display a pleasant aesthetic.”
“The new colorful graphics, and the cheesy text brought back into this one with good voice acting once again!”
“The graphics are somehow worse than the original, even with the HD update.”
“It's an ok game... it doesn't have anything special about it, and the graphics/sound end up being distracting rather than cute and alluring.”
“The art styles change dramatically between the original and the crap they tried to shove in there.”
- stability15 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 7 % neutral mentions
- 93 % negative mentions
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, crashes, and unplayable conditions, leading many to label it a "glitchy mess." Users express frustration over the lack of updates or fixes from the developers, indicating that the game has been abandoned and remains in a problematic state for years. Overall, the consensus is that the game suffers from significant stability issues that detract from the overall experience.
“Unfortunately buggy in places and lacks the charm of previous games in the series.”
“This game will never be fixed and will probably remain in its buggy state, since the dev hasn't touched it in 3 years and probably never plans to.”
“No matter what troubleshooting I did, I couldn't get the issue resolved, and from what I can gather (based on the game's forums), the game is a steamy, glitchy mess.”
- humor7 mentions
- 86 % positive mentions
- -29 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is generally well-received, with players appreciating the funny dialogue and adorable characters that enhance the experience. However, some criticize the frequent loading screens filled with unfunny non-hints, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. While the humor adds replay value, the inconsistent AI difficulty can undermine the comedic elements.
“The story was funny.”
“The characters are adorable and the dialogue is hilarious.”
“And, of course, loading screens for that hilarious banter are forever.”
“To 'entertain' you, the game's frequent loading screens will be adorned with unfunny game non-hints (e.g., 'My English translations are hilarious!').”
“The attempts at humor feel forced and often fall flat, making the experience more cringeworthy than enjoyable.”
“I found the jokes to be outdated and lacking in creativity, which detracted from the overall experience.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game receives mixed reviews; while some players report smooth performance even on lower-end hardware, others experience significant issues, including low frame rates and poor overall optimization on higher-end systems. Overall, the game's performance seems inconsistent, with some users unable to play effectively regardless of their hardware capabilities.
“I played it for a while and did not notice anything out of the ordinary. My video card is not even a GeForce 8800, but rather a mobile GeForce 8400M GS with a 2.4 GHz processor and 4 GB RAM, and it runs smoothly.”
“Poorly optimized, barely working.”
“I don't recommend this game because it's poorly optimized and it runs at 10 fps on a really good computer.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious and unengaging, often resorting to frustrating methods to unlock characters, which are further complicated by glitches and frequent crashes. Overall, the experience is marred by a lack of enjoyment and cumbersome controls.
“I did the un-fun, tedious method to unlock a certain character, but it doesn't work for me at all thanks to the glitch.”
“It's boring; the controls are tedious, and the game crashed a lot during the tutorial.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the game enjoyable and appreciate its replayability, particularly as a quick and entertaining option to fit between tasks. Its short game experiences make it a convenient choice for casual play.
“Funny with replay value, awesome for those who want a short gaming experience between tasks or jobs. You can launch some games and go your way; it's quite nice.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized as a heartfelt homage to a classic title, resonating deeply with players and evoking strong feelings throughout the experience.
“A heartfelt attempt at a classic title.”
