Rodland

STORY/GAMEPLAY:
Tam and Rit are two cutesy little fairies whose mom has been kidnapped by a demon and taken atop a tower. Armed only with magic rods the two little heroes set out to rescue. This involves trekking through forty-odd single-screen levels infested with platform, ladders and nasties, all of which have been painted with the same sickly-sweet brush as the heroes. Each level is considered complete when all the nasties are destroyed, which is accomplished by using the magic rods to capture them and smash them on the floor. Bonuses such as smart bombs or missiles can be found when some certain enemies destroyed. However, if Tam and Rit manage to collect all the flowers on a level before they start killing the baddies, then they'll leave behind letter icons. Collect enough letters to spell "BONUS" and the heroes earn an extra life. The magic rod isn't Tam and Rit's only exciting piece of equipment, but each of them also has a pair of cunningly fashioned rainbow boots which allow them to create a ladder between platforms. There are time limits too, if you don't clear a level in time, the nasties switch into "attack mode" making even faster and more aggressive (same as with Bubble Bobble).
Note that, the Amiga version has "hidden features and bonuses" that are absent in the arcade version, revealed by entering certain codes. As with the Amiga version, the ST version also corrects several glitches present in the arcade version (like, the enemies getting stuck at the top of ladders).
Although not technically amazing or particularly innovative, Rodland was one of the most addictive and enjoyable platform games back then. There's not really much to the action but it's all great fun and highly compulsive, especially in manic two-player games featuring that strange, but magical combination of cooperation and competition.

GRAPHICS/SOUND:
RodLand has a graphical simplicity reminiscent of the classic Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands. Although limited to only 16 colors on screen, the Atari ST conversion offers delightful graphics and plenty of awkward platform patterns. The game offers 43 screens to go through. The fairies and the nasties are nicely drawn and everything works together well.
The funny music and the sound FX are exactly the same as the coin-op version, matching to the game's arcade-platform atmosphere.