Mappy

Mappy[lower-alpha 1] is an arcade game by Namco, introduced in 1983 and distributed in the United States by Bally/Midway. A side-scrolling platform game featuring a mouse protagonist and cat antagonists, it runs on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware modified to support horizontal scrolling. The name "Mappy" is likely derived from mappō (まっぽう), a slightly pejorative Japanese slang term for policeman. The game has been re-released in several Namco arcade compilations. It spawned a handful of sequels and a 2013 animated web series developed by cartoonists Scott Kurtz and Kris Straub.

For other uses, see Mappy (disambiguation).
Mappy
North American flyer
Developer(s)Namco
Publisher(s)
Composer(s)Nobuyuki Ohnogi
SeriesMappy
Platform(s)Arcade, MSX, Family Computer, Super Cassette Vision, X1, Game Gear, Mobile phone, FM-7, PC-88, X68000, Mobile phone, iOS,
Release
  • JP: March 1983
  • NA: June 1983
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay
Mappy launches a push wave at a pair of Meowkies (arcade version).

The player guides Mappy the police mouse through the mansion of the cats called Meowkies (Mewkies in Japan) 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 hallways (four or five in some other versions) in which the stolen items are stashed. Mappy and the cats move between floors by bouncing on trampolines at various places in the house. Both Mappy and the cats can land on a floor on the way up, but not on the way down. When Mappy passes cats in the air, Mappy is unharmed, but if Mappy runs into a cat anywhere else, he will lose a life. The trampolines break when Mappy bounces on them four times in a row, and the trampolines change color depending on how many times Mappy has used them without a rest. In addition to the Meowkies, the boss cat Goro (Nyamco in Japanese) also roams around. He is faster but less aggressive than the Meowkies. Throughout the levels, Goro hides behind the different recoverable objects. If Mappy recovers an item which Goro is hiding behind, the player receives 1000 points in addition to the score for the item.

Opening and closing doors is an important feature of the game. Doors only open towards their doorknobs. Opening a door when a cat is near it will score 50 points and stun the cat (knocking a Meowkie down or Goro backwards) Meowkies and Goro can open doors if the door opens away from them (doorknobs away), or walk through opened doors. They cannot open blue doors. Blue doors, when opened, blast a slow moving "microwave" in the direction of the doorknob that will trap any cats it touches and remove them from the board when the wave reaches the edge of the screen. The more cats caught, the more points gained. If Goro is trapped by a wave, the score is doubled. Cats removed in this way return shortly from above.

A round is completed when all the loot is retrieved. If the player takes longer than usual to clear a round, a "Hurry" message appears after which the music speeds up and the cats move quickly and aggressively, and more Meowkies are added (two will appear ready to drop as the Meowkies normally do immediately following the "Hurry" message, and more Meowkies can arrive later on). If the player takes much longer after this, a green disc with Goro's face on it named the "Gosenzo Coin" will drop onto the top-middle platform and chase Mappy more effectively than the Meowkies as it can kill him while jumping. The Gosenzo can open doors and cannot be stopped by microwave doors or any objects.

The third round and every fourth round after is a bonus round. Mappy, unbothered by the cats, must bounce across a series of trampolines, popping fifteen different suspended red balloons (200 pts), with a "Goro" (2000 points) along the way. A bonus (5000 pts) is awarded if all the balloons are popped before the music ends. After every bonus round, a new feature is added to the gameplay, such as bells that freeze cats. The "Hurry" message will also appear sooner. There are 256 levels.

Ports and sequels
  • A Japan-only port of the game was initially released for the Famicom (Japanese version of the NES) and MSX in 1984, followed by a later port to the Sega Game Gear in 1991.
  • 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 re-released as part of Microsoft Revenge of Arcade for the PC.
  • Mappy also had several Japan-only sequels, including
  • There is also a version called Mappy Arrangement which was released in 1995 as part of Namco Classic Collection Vol. 1 in 1995 for the arcades.
  • 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 the 1996 Game Boy compilation Namco Gallery Vol. 1
  • Mappy was also re-released as part of the Pac-Man's Arcade Party arcade machine in 2010.
  • Mappy is playable in the PlayStation Portable version of Namco Museum Battle Collection.
  • Mappy was included as a Dot-S set.
  • It is also one of the first arcade titles to have been released on the Virtual Console.
  • In 2002, it was released in Japan as a pachinko under the title of Mappy Park.
  • In 2003, two mobile games were released in Japan with the titles Teku-Teku Mappy (テクテクマッピー) and Mappy De Puzzle (マッピーDEパズル).[1]
  • In 2007, Mappy appeared as a playable character in the PSP racing game Pac-Man World Rally.[2]
  • in 2009 titled MAPPY trampoline puzzle (MAPPYトランポリンパズル).
  • the September 2011, the new mobile game titled Mappy World (マッピーワールド).[3]
  • Bandai Namco Games was bringing back to series titled Mappī taiketsu! Neonyāmuko-dan (マッピー 対決！ネオニャームコ団, Mappy showdown! Neonyamuko Orchestra) for iOS on 2015 in Japan.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Mappy on their June 1, 1983 issue as being the third most-successful table arcade unit of the year.[8]

Legacy

As part of Bandai Namco's ShiftyLook initiative, an animated Mappy web series, titled Mappy: The Beat, was announced in 2012.[9] The series was written and directed by Scott Kurtz and Kris Straub, who also performed all of the character voices, and presented by using limited animation in the style of their Blamimations series. The story follows Mappy, now working a thankless job as a security guard for his former foe Goro's company Nyamco. He is accompanied by his friends and fellow Nyamco employees, the laid-back digging-obsessed Dig Dug and the dim but good-natured Sky Kid, along with other Bandai Namco characters working at the office.[10] Mappy: The Beat premiered on ShiftyLook's YouTube channel on July 22, 2013 and ran for 13 episodes, each roughly eight minutes in length, with the final episode released on January 20, 2014. Kurtz also made a guest appearance as Mappy on the concurrent Bravoman animated series, with Bravoman in turn appearing in the final story arc of Mappy, portrayed by guest voice Dax Gordine. Following the closure of ShiftyLook, their channel was removed from YouTube, making the episodes no longer officially available.

Notes
  1. Japanese: マッピー, Hepburn: Mappī

References
  1. "ナムコ、iモード「マッピーDEパズル」を配信開始". game.watch.impress.co.jp.
  2. https://www.denofgeek.com/games/mappy-namcos-forgotten-follow-up-to-pac-man/
  3. "ナムコ・ゲームス - バンダイナムコエンターテインメント公式サイト". www.bandainamcogames.co.jp.
  4. Brett Alan Weiss (1998). "Mappy - Review". Allgame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  5. Whitehead, Dan (April 12, 2009). "Virtual Console Roundup". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  6. M. Thomas, Lucas (April 1, 2009). "Mappy Review". IGN. Archived from the original on April 29, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  7. van Duyn, Marcel (March 26, 2009). "Mappy Review (VC Arcade)". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on April 29, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  8. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 213. Amusement Press. 1 June 1983. p. 29.
  9. Johnston, Rich (2012-07-14). "ShiftyLook Moves Into Cartoons – Bravoman, Jim Zub, Scott Kurtz And More". Bleeding Cool.
  10. http://www.siliconera.com/2013/06/24/theres-a-cartoon-parody-of-namco-characters-working-at-namco-bandai
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