The Fairyland Story is a arcade platform game released by Taito in July 1985. The game was ported to the MSX and X68000 computers, and later was included in Taito Memories and Taito Legends 2 for the PlayStation 2 for the Xbox and the PC.
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I have recently made a friend who is a big Bubble Bobble fan, so I decided to play Bubble Bobble. However, you obviously can't play Bubble Bobble without first playing The Fairyland Story, Taito's game from one year prior that directly influenced Bubble Bobble, so I did. I will preface this by saying I do not have that much experience with 80s arcade games besides the absolute classics.
This game is pretty good, the graphics are very cute as are the character and monster designs, the mechanics are simple at first but you have to really understand and master them to get through the later stages. Talking about that, the later stages are brutal, because they require you to do stuff that feels like exploiting the mechanics. What do you mean I have to use an enemy as a platform while it moves (enemies that kill you on touch if you dont land on them properly or if they decide to jump at just that moment) and then I have to jump so I can just barely poke my head through the unreachable platform and shoot magic at that dragon guy that is completely impossible to reach in any other way, and then I have to repeat that like 16 times to finally kill that son of a bitch? What the hell. What do you mean I HAVE to manipulate the enemy AI by going to a corner and jumping repeatedly so that it maybe escapes that little cage of platforms it's trapped in and comes to me? How was anyone supposed to figure this shit out in a real arcade where you pay to play. Also the movement is very slow and clunky and the jumping is that even more, having ghost n goblins style jumps where you can't turn in midair. Pretty good game.
Recientemente hice un amigo que es fan de Bubble Bobble, así que decidí jugar a Bubble Bobble. Sin embargo, obviamente no podés jugar a Bubble Bobble sin antes jugar a The Fairyland Story, el juego de Taito de un año antes que influenció directamente a Bubble Bobble, así que lo hice. Primero que nada, aclaro que no tengo mucha experiencia con juegos de arcade de los 80s aparte de los clásicos mas conocidos.
El juego es bastante bueno, los gráficos son muy bonitos al igual que los diseños de los personajes y los monstruos, las mecánicas son sencillas al principio pero tenés que entenderlas y dominarlas para superar los niveles mas avanzados. Hablando de eso, los niveles tirando para el final son brutales, principalmente porque requieren que hagas cosas que no se sienten como parte intencional del diseño del juego. ¿Cómo que tengo que usar a un enemigo como plataforma mientras se mueve (enemigos que te matan al toque si no los tocas justo por arriba o si se les ocurre saltar justo en ese momento) y después tengo que saltar para poder asomar la cabeza a través la plataforma inalcanzable para pegarle a ese enemigo que es completamente imposible de alcanzar de ninguna otra forma, y después tengo que repetir eso como 16 veces para finalmente matar a ese hijo de puta? No puede ser. ¿Cómo que TENGO que manipular la IA de los enemigos yendo a una esquina y saltando repetidamente para que quizás el bicho ese se escape de esa prisión de plataformas en la que está atrapado y venga hacia mí?
¿Cómo se supone que a alguien se le ocurriría esto en un fichín real donde pagas por jugar? También el movimiento es muy lento y clonky y el salto lo es todavía más, teniendo un salto tipo ghosts n goblins donde no se puede girar en el aire. En conclusión, bastante buen juego.
I have recently made a friend who is a big Bubble Bobble fan, so I decided to play Bubble Bobble. However, you obviously can't play Bubble Bobble without first playing The Fairyland Story, Taito's game from one year prior that directly influenced Bubble Bobble, so I did. I will preface this by saying I do not have that much experience with 80s arcade games besides the absolute classics.
This game is pretty good, the graphics are very cute as are the character and monster designs, the mechanics are simple at first but you have to really understand and master them to get through the later stages. Talking about that, the later stages are brutal, because they require you to do stuff that feels like exploiting the mechanics. What do you mean I have to use an enemy as a platform while it moves (enemies that kill you on touch if you dont land on them properly or if they decide to jump at just that moment) and then I have to jump so I can just barely poke my head through the unreachable platform and shoot magic at that dragon guy that is completely impossible to reach in any other way, and then I have to repeat that like 16 times to finally kill that son of a bitch? What the hell. What do you mean I HAVE to manipulate the enemy AI by going to a corner and jumping repeatedly so that it maybe escapes that little cage of platforms it's trapped in and comes to me? How was anyone supposed to figure this shit out in a real arcade where you pay to play. Also the movement is very slow and clunky and the jumping is that even more, having ghost n goblins style jumps where you can't turn in midair. Pretty good game.
Recientemente hice un amigo que es fan de Bubble Bobble, así que decidí jugar a Bubble Bobble. Sin embargo, obviamente no podés jugar a Bubble Bobble sin antes jugar a The Fairyland Story, el juego de Taito de un año antes que influenció directamente a Bubble Bobble, así que lo hice. Primero que nada, aclaro que no tengo mucha experiencia con juegos de arcade de los 80s aparte de los clásicos mas conocidos.
El juego es bastante bueno, los gráficos son muy bonitos al igual que los diseños de los personajes y los monstruos, las mecánicas son sencillas al principio pero tenés que entenderlas y dominarlas para superar los niveles mas avanzados. Hablando de eso, los niveles tirando para el final son brutales, principalmente porque requieren que hagas cosas que no se sienten como parte intencional del diseño del juego. ¿Cómo que tengo que usar a un enemigo como plataforma mientras se mueve (enemigos que te matan al toque si no los tocas justo por arriba o si se les ocurre saltar justo en ese momento) y después tengo que saltar para poder asomar la cabeza a través la plataforma inalcanzable para pegarle a ese enemigo que es completamente imposible de alcanzar de ninguna otra forma, y después tengo que repetir eso como 16 veces para finalmente matar a ese hijo de puta? No puede ser. ¿Cómo que TENGO que manipular la IA de los enemigos yendo a una esquina y saltando repetidamente para que quizás el bicho ese se escape de esa prisión de plataformas en la que está atrapado y venga hacia mí?
¿Cómo se supone que a alguien se le ocurriría esto en un fichín real donde pagas por jugar? También el movimiento es muy lento y clonky y el salto lo es todavía más, teniendo un salto tipo ghosts n goblins donde no se puede girar en el aire. En conclusión, bastante buen juego.
Cutesy platformer where you turn enemies into cakes and drop them on other enemies to clear each stage.
Cute and deeper than expected, really enjoyed the enemy variety and the ability to combo multiple kills if you set up the patterns correctly. Probably the most fun single screen platformer I’ve played.
This is a game that was long overdue for me to play. I've always thought this game looked really cute and wanted to give it a go before I ever looked at the Bubble Bobble series as they were both made by Taito.
This is a really fun single screen game where you defeat any enemies with your magic or any items that can come by. Hitting enemies will turn them into cake and the fun with it is dropping it on enemies to start combos. This really adds a lot of strategy to how to score points. The items though help alleviate any repetitiveness the game could have.
The game has 101 stages and by the end you'll need to think really hard on some of the later ones as they can leave you basically dead until the red devil comes in to defeat you. Most of the levels aren't too long and it doesn't feel too annoying to deal with anything. It can feel a blast to go through a bunch levels and just enjoy the journey. There is a boss at the very end though he's the only one.
If there is one thing I should mention is, if you get to stage 95, don't worry you can't be screwed. You can actually do a shorter jump if you tap jump and immediately tap a direction. So use that to get through the short gap to get to the top.
The game looks nice for the time and it's got a cute style. There's a lot of funny death animations too which is nice to see from a game this early on. The music is also quite nice, I especially love the first half BGM. The song that also plays when you start a level is always catchy.
This truly is a great game, just lots of fun and never got boring for me. It's one I never really see much talked about. If you liked Bubble Bobble, you really should give it a try but only if you're into this kind of game. Shame it never got a sequel though.
This is a really fun single screen game where you defeat any enemies with your magic or any items that can come by. Hitting enemies will turn them into cake and the fun with it is dropping it on enemies to start combos. This really adds a lot of strategy to how to score points. The items though help alleviate any repetitiveness the game could have.
The game has 101 stages and by the end you'll need to think really hard on some of the later ones as they can leave you basically dead until the red devil comes in to defeat you. Most of the levels aren't too long and it doesn't feel too annoying to deal with anything. It can feel a blast to go through a bunch levels and just enjoy the journey. There is a boss at the very end though he's the only one.
If there is one thing I should mention is, if you get to stage 95, don't worry you can't be screwed. You can actually do a shorter jump if you tap jump and immediately tap a direction. So use that to get through the short gap to get to the top.
The game looks nice for the time and it's got a cute style. There's a lot of funny death animations too which is nice to see from a game this early on. The music is also quite nice, I especially love the first half BGM. The song that also plays when you start a level is always catchy.
This truly is a great game, just lots of fun and never got boring for me. It's one I never really see much talked about. If you liked Bubble Bobble, you really should give it a try but only if you're into this kind of game. Shame it never got a sequel though.
Um puzzle platformer no estilo de Bubble Bobble (mas anterior a ele) fofinho e divertido, mas também com pouca diversidade e demasiado longo. Fazer 101 níveis disso aqui exigiu uma boa dose de paciência.
aw hell nah tahlemmeme really turned dat pig into a cake
But seriously though, I unironically like this a lot more than OG Bubble Bobble (which people unfortunately usually draw unfavorable comparisons to, even though this came out a year before that), so much so I'd say it's one of my favorite video games, and is one of the games that made me look into Taito so much deeper beyond their surface level classics such as Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble. It's the bloody source of my profile picture and username for crying out loud. Extremely underrated.
It's a very nearly perfect blend of puzzles, platforming, enemy-killing, and risk-taking all wrapped up in a very cute package. Also surprisingly has a lot of attention to detail for an 1985 arcade game, particularly in the graphics and sound design. While there are some weird blips in difficulty here and there, and feels almost unapproachable at first for a game like this, I still love it for what it sets out to do, especially for the time, and succeeding in most of it. Also, you can't go wrong with a funny witch, and Ptolemy is very much one of those.
I'd also advise at least playing the Arcade Archives version, or even better, the Sharp X68000 port since those allow you to save your progress when playing it through like a normal game, without as much of the weirdness of early arcade game design the arcade version has. It feels a lot better that way.
But seriously though, I unironically like this a lot more than OG Bubble Bobble (which people unfortunately usually draw unfavorable comparisons to, even though this came out a year before that), so much so I'd say it's one of my favorite video games, and is one of the games that made me look into Taito so much deeper beyond their surface level classics such as Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble. It's the bloody source of my profile picture and username for crying out loud. Extremely underrated.
It's a very nearly perfect blend of puzzles, platforming, enemy-killing, and risk-taking all wrapped up in a very cute package. Also surprisingly has a lot of attention to detail for an 1985 arcade game, particularly in the graphics and sound design. While there are some weird blips in difficulty here and there, and feels almost unapproachable at first for a game like this, I still love it for what it sets out to do, especially for the time, and succeeding in most of it. Also, you can't go wrong with a funny witch, and Ptolemy is very much one of those.
I'd also advise at least playing the Arcade Archives version, or even better, the Sharp X68000 port since those allow you to save your progress when playing it through like a normal game, without as much of the weirdness of early arcade game design the arcade version has. It feels a lot better that way.