I was set to write this long, drawn-out rant about how perfectly the Magical Drop series of puzzle games would translate to the touchscreen controls of the Nintendo DS, when I discovered that Craig Grannell of Revert to Saved had beat me to it with his article Ripe for remake: Magical Drop III. Posted last July, the article explains why the time is ripe for another Magical Drop game.

It seems G-mode, current holder of the Magical Drop series licensing rights, agreed and released a Magical Drop game for Android phones on May 15. It’s unclear whether or not G-mode plans to develop and release further titles in the series as their web site reports the company is actively seeking to “license out Data East’s properties” (Magical Drop and NES classic Bad Dudes included).

I already asked my wife if I could purchase the rights to the Magical Drop series, but she thinks it might exceed our budget. Unfortunately, she’s probably right. Bummer.

I should add that I discovered the Magical Drop series through a game that features very similar gameplay: Money Idol Exchanger (known as Money Puzzle Exchanger in the US). Speaking of which: I recorded a video of Money Idol Exchanger (Playstation) gameplay earlier tonight and plan to start uploading the video to YouTube before I head to bed. I’ll make a follow-up post in the morning with an embedded video.

Update: Here‘s a link to the promised Money Idol Exchanger video.