The player(s) control one or two fairies called Tam and Rit armed with a magic wand (rod). Following the concept of Taito's Bubble Bobble, the rod doesn't kill the monsters directly, but only leaves them immobilized, crying. To kill them, the rod can grasp them in a magic force-field and the player can smash them down over her head until they disappear and leave a power-up behind. Each level is only one small screen composed of monsters, platforms, ladders and, later, tunnels. Unlike other games of the genre, the players can never jump, but have to use ladders. They can conjure one custom ladder above or below them in order to go to the appropriate platform. There can be only one such 'custom' ladder; therefore if the fairy summons it again, it will disappear from its previous position in order to appear again next to the fairy. This can be beneficial for the player, if a monster is climbing that ladder to approach her. The fairies' quest is to rescue their mother, trapped in a tower. In the sequel (part of the original arcade machine) they must venture into a pyramid, to stop an evil demon that is building a mobile fortress. The spirit of their departed father "guides" them at a couple of points. The ending implies that the demon in the pyramid was somehow responsible for their father's death.
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It's cuter, has more responsive controls and a better gimmick. Your character's ability to build and eliminate their own ladder to get around the board is a creative double edged sword. On one hand, you'll be able to get goodies you otherwise couldn't but you can also fuck yourself over since the enemies can also use ladders. Fortunately this game isn't overly punishing even if you only get one continue (on Amiga anyways...the NES version gives you a handful of credits), and it's easy to rack up extends once you figure out how to manipulate the rotating orbs during the "EXTRA game" segments.
The only real downside of this game is that it's missing the second quest from the arcade version. Other than that, it's great and fully worth your time if you need a dose of squee-adorable puzzle platforming.