is a 1988 isometric platform arcade game developed by N.H. System and published by Namco. Controlling a young girl named Alice, the player must complete each of the game's nine stages while avoiding enemies and falling off ledges. Alice can blow powerful bubbles at enemies to knock them back, and can hit them enough times to send them off the platform. It is the first Japanese video game adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and ran on the Namco System 1 arcade board. Development was handled by N.H. System, a short-lived subsidiary of Namco, with character design by famed anime director Katsuhiko Nishijima. It is Namco's second game to feature a female protagonist, following Wonder Momo. The word Märchen ( ) is the German word for "fairy tale". A PC-Engine version was released in 1990, which replaced the isometric view with an overhead one, followed by a 1991 Sharp X68000 port. Märchen Maze received mixed reviews; although its visuals and controls were praised, critics disliked the sharp rise in difficulty and mediocre boss fights. It was digitally re-released for the Japanese Wii Virtual Console in 2009. Gameplay The player must take control of Alice, as she makes her way through nine isometric stages. Alice is able to blow bubbles at enemies to knock them off the platforms and she can collect various powerups along the way. Holding the fire button down generates bigger bubbles, but if it is held down for too long, it will burst and she will start blowing a new one. The enemies retaliate by shooting marbles at her (which can cause her to fall over the edge of the platforms unless they are avoided or jumped over). The seventh, eighth and ninth stages are palette-swapped versions of the second, fourth and first ones respectively, but they feature different enemy types and bosses. Plot One night, Alice falls asleep while reading a fairy tale picture book and is awaken by a call from within a wall mirror. A rabbit appears in the mirror and tells her that his country and eight other lands has been conquered by an evil witch known as the Queen of Darkness and Alice is the only child who has love and courage to restore peace. The girl is pulled inside the mirror world and given a magic straw to attack with soap bubbles. After the Queen is defeated, Alice wakes