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Mappy

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For other uses, see Mappy (disambiguation).
Mappy
File:Mappy.png
Developer(s)Namco
Publisher(s)Namco, Bally/Midway
Platform(s)Arcade, Famicom, Virtual Console
Release1983
Genre(s)Platformer
Mode(s)Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Arcade systemNamco Super Pac-Man

Mappy is a 1983 arcade game by Namco. In the U.S., it was manufactured and distributed by Bally/Midway. Mappy is a side-scrolling platformer that features cartoony characters, primarily cats and mice. The game's star character itself is a mouse. Mappy runs on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware, modified to support horizontal scrolling.

Game play

The player guides Mappy the police mouse through the mansion of the cats called Mewkies (Meowky in the U.S. version) to retrieve stolen goods. The player uses a left-right joystick to move Mappy and a single button to operate doors.

The mansion has six floors of long hallways in which the stolen items are stashed. The items are:

  • Radio (100pts)
  • Television (200pts)
  • Computer (300pts)
  • Painting (400pts)
  • Safe (500pts).

The items come in pairs; should Mappy get paired items one right after another, the points value of the second matching item gets a multiplier. The more the player retrieves matching items without dying, the bigger the multiplier gets. Therefore, ideally a player will start with the lowest value item (100 + 100 × 2) and proceed to the highest value items (500 + 500 × 6) in order to get the highest value items with the biggest multiplier, for a total of 8500pts. The second item of a pair will blink if retrieving it will yield a multiplier.

In addition to Mewkies, the boss cat Nyamco (Goro in the U.S. version) also roams around. He is faster, but less aggressive, than the Mewkies. Should Mappy recover an item which Nyamco is hiding behind, the player gets a bonus of 1000 points for having caught Nyamco in the act. He only hides behind an object for three seconds, though.

A level is completed when all the loot is retrieved. If Mappy tarries too long, a "Hurry" sign appears after which the music and the cats speed up, and more Mewkies are added. If the player waits too long after this, the "Gosenzo" coin (a disk shape with Nyamco's face on it) will drop onto the top-middle platform and chase Mappy in a manner similar to the Mewkies, but more effectively.

Mappy and the cats move between the floors by bouncing on trampolines at various places in the house. Mappy can land on a floor on the way up, but not on the way down. When they pass in the air, Mappy is unharmed by the cats, but should Mappy run into a cat anywhere else, he will lose a life.

The trampolines will break if Mappy bounces on them four times in a row. The trampolines change color depending on how many times Mappy has used them without a rest: green (zero bounces), blue (one bounce), yellow (two bounces), red (three bounces). A red trampoline will break if Mappy attempts it again. If a trampoline breaks and there is another trampoline below, Mappy will live. If there is either nothing or a floor under the broken trampoline, Mappy will lose a life. To reset a trampoline, Mappy must touch a floor. Bouncing on a trampoline is worth 10pts.

Many of the hallways have doors which Mappy can slam open or shut to temporarily knock out the Mewkies or Nyamco. Some of these are special "microwave doors" which release a wave which sweeps away any cat in its path off the edge of the screen and out of the house. Every Mewky is 200 points; Nyamco counts as a Mewky plus a multiplier of two. Any cat that is swept away reappears after a short while, jumping from the top center opening in the roof.

The third level and every fourth level after that is a bonus round. Mappy, unbothered by the cats, must bounce across a series of trampolines, popping suspended balloons along the way. A bonus is awarded if all the balloons are popped before the music ends. It is possible to pop the Nyamco balloon even if there is one balloon above him, because Nyamco will break any trampoline and will grab one balloon above him for Mappy.

The eighth to tenth levels have bells, which Mappy can hit so that it temporarily freezes any cats below, for 1000pts each. Starting from these stages, the "Hurry" sign will also appear earlier, and there are more Mewkies.

Ports and sequels

A Japan-only port of the game was released for the Famicom (Japanese version of the NES) and MSX in 1984. This was followed by a video game console-only sequel called Mappy-Land in 1986 (released in the United States by Taxan). In 1998, it was released as part of Microsoft Revenge of Arcade for the PC. Also, Mappy had several Japan-only sequels, including Hopping Mappy in 1986 for the arcades and Mappy Kids for the Famicom in the late-1980s. There is also a version called Mappy Arrangement which was released in 1995 as part of Namco Classics Collection Volume 1 for the arcade. The Famicom version of the original Mappy was re-released in Japan as part of the Famicom Mini Series in 2004. Mappy is included on the Ms. Pac-Man collection manufactured by Jakks Pacific. It is also featured in Namco Museum 50th Anniversary Collection, released on Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, PC, and PlayStation 2 in 2005 (did not appear on the Game Boy Advance version), and also appears on Namco Museum DS.

Trivia

  • "Mappy" is likely derived from mappo, a Japanese slang term (slightly insulting) for a policeman.
  • "Nyamco", besides being a play on "Namco", comes from nyanko, the Japanese equivalent of "kitty cat". Nyamco was renamed "Goro" in the U.S. release.
  • Mappy's hat is an equippable item in Namco × Capcom
  • In Ridge Racer, there are two cars that share the racing team name of this game. The blue car is named "RT Blue Mappy" while the pink car is named "RT Pink Mappy". They were used in Ridge Racer, Ridge Racer 2, Rave Racer, Ridge Racer Revolution, and Ridge Racer 64.
  • In R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, there is a racing team that uses this game's name, and in Ridge Racer 64 there is a car that shares this game sponsor used in R4: Ridge Racer Type 4. In R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, "Micro Mouse Mappy" is a racing team that can be selected from the get-go, but Ridge Racer 64 requires that you win Stage 4 (the novice "EXTRA" courses) and beat the car in a Car Attack on Ridge Racer Novice EXTRA.
  • Mappy is featured as a cameo in the North American version of QuickSpot.
  • There is a Mappy game for the Palm OS, by NI.
  • One of the collectible objects is a painting highly similar to the Mona Lisa.
  • There are 256 rounds, like in Pac-Man as well as most 8-bit arcade games.
  • The last round's play is normal, but harder than usual. When you are done and have completed this round, which is also known as "round 0," the first round appears again.
  • Mappy was included as an Dot-S set.
  • There is also an alternate version of the game where someone looking like a character from Nuts and Milk, instead of Mappy, plays.


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