1996 Banpresto

Oh, this needs a remake.

Bang Bang Ball is a physics-based puzzler that puts you in the middle of the action as a vulnerable bob (player-controlled sprite, the avatar that represents your actions in the game world – why doesn't anyone use this term anymore? I kinda feel like a dusty old academic). As in most puzzle games, a chain of several like-coloured balls must be connected in order to eliminate them from play. These balls are constantly drifting around, so you can move your bob (in this case, a skateboarding mouse) around freely inside the play area in order to attack from various angles by shooting balls at the cluster.

Sounds interesting enough already, but herein lies the rub – if a ball hits your mouse from any angle other than head-on, your mouse will take damage. If it hits the ball that your mouse is carrying, it'll bounce off. It's kinda like playing a cross between Asteroids and Puzzle Bobble, as hard as that might be to imagine.

Magical Drop III is a fast-paced puzzle game that will hurt your wrists unless you're using European-style joysticks with a nice short throw. That reminds me – perhaps I should do a MAME controller roundup sometime soon. Anyway, on to the review.

Well, “Neratte” means “Aim,” and “Chu” means, from what I can tell, either a kissing sound, insect, mouse, loyalty, middle, or corporal/capital punishment. I'm guessing in this context, it means “Mouse.” I thought “Neratte Chu” meant “Rat Kiss.”

This is kind of like Snake, mixed with any generic puzzle game. It's as interesting as it sounds, but not quite as fun – the learning curve is very steep, making this better for two-player games.

Let me get one thing very clear right from the beginning – there is no Puzzle Fighter. There is no Puzzle Fighter II. There is no Super Puzzle Fighter II. It's Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo or nothing. Hats off to Capcom for the self-parody, and hats off again for making such a fantastic puzzle game!