Mappy

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Wikipedia

Mappy
North American arcade flyer
Developer(s)Namco
Publisher(s)
Artist(s)Hiroshi Ono[3]
Composer(s)Nobuyuki Ohnogi
SeriesMappy
Platform(s)Arcade, MSX, Famicom, Super Cassette Vision, Sharp X1, Game Gear, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, FM-7, MZ-700/MZ-1500, PC-88, X68000, Mobile phone
Release
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Mappy[a] is a 1983 platform video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. It runs on Namco's Super Pac-Man hardware modified to support horizontal scrolling. The name "Mappy" is likely derived from mappo (マッポ), 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.

Gameplay

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

Controls consist of a two-position joystick and a button. The player assumes the role of Mappy, a police mouse tasked with recovering stolen items from a mansion that serves as a hideout for a gang of thieving cats. Goro (Nyamco in Japanese), large and red, is the leader, while the smaller blue Meowky cats (Mewky in Japanese) are his underlings.

The mansion contains horizontal passages closed off by doors and broken up with gaps bridged by trampolines. If a character runs off the edge of a platform, he will fall into a gap and bounce on a trampoline if one is there. Both Mappy and the cats can veer to either side and land on a platform while traveling upward, but not while falling. A trampoline will break if Mappy bounces on it four consecutive times, changing color after each bounce to indicate its status. Once Mappy lands on a platform, the trampoline reverts to its original status. Mappy cannot be hurt by any cats while bouncing either up or down, and the cats can bounce on trampolines without breaking them.

The goal of each round is to collect all 10 stolen items, which form five pairs such as stereos, computers, and safes. Bonus points can be scored in two ways:

  • Collecting an item behind which Goro is hiding, which briefly stuns him.
  • Collecting both items in a pair consecutively, which multiplies the value of the second one. The multiplier starts at two on each new round or life, and increases by one for each additional pair of consecutive items, to a maximum of six.

Doors can be opened or closed by both Mappy and the cats, and always open toward their knobs. To open or close a door, the player must stand near it and press the button. Any character standing near a door will be briefly knocked back and stunned if it opens toward him. Flashing doors release a burst of microwaves when opened, which travels horizontally in the opening direction and will sweep away any cats caught in it for extra points. After a short delay, these cats return to play from the top edge of the screen. Only Mappy can open a microwave door, after which it reverts to an ordinary one that any character can open or close.

The round ends once all 10 items have been collected. If the player takes too long, a hurry-up warning sounds, more Meowky cats enter the mansion, and all enemies speed up. After enough time passes, a large "Gosenzo" coin with Goro's face enters the screen; it is immune to microwaves and can kill Mappy even in midair.

At intervals, a bonus level is played in which the goal is to score extra points by popping as many balloons as possible in a short time, while bouncing on trampolines and veering left/right through a set of vertical passages.

As the game progresses, difficulty features are added that include:

  • More Meowky cats, moving at a faster speed.
  • The ability to enter the mansion's attic and move within it.
  • Bells hung above trampolines, which Mappy can knock loose while bouncing and drop on cats to stun them.
  • Flashing sections of floor that briefly vanish after Mappy steps on them. Any cat that falls through the resulting hole will be stunned, awarding bonus points.

One life is lost whenever Mappy touches an un-stunned cat while moving left/right, falls to the bottom of the screen without hitting a trampoline (except in a bonus round), or touches a Gosenzo at any time. When all lives are lost, the game ends.

Ports and sequels

  • Hopping Mappy is a direct sequel, released to arcades in 1986.
  • Mappy-Land is a console-only sequel.
  • Mappy was featured as one of the games in Namco Gallery Vol. 1, which was a collection of classic Namco arcade games released for the Game Boy.
  • 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).[5]
  • Mappy was re-released in 2004 for Game Boy Advance as part of the Famicom Mini line of re-releases.[6]
  • Mappy is a playable character in the PSP racing game Pac-Man World Rally (2007).[7]
  • In September 2011, the mobile game Mappy World (マッピーワールド) was released.[8]
  • In 2021, Mappy was released online by Hamster Corporation under the Arcade Archives brand for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.[9]
  • In 2022, Hopping Mappy was released for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 as part of the Arcade Archives series.[10]

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Mappy in its June 1, 1983 issue as the third most-successful table arcade unit of the month.[15] It also topped the Game Machine chart for new table arcade cabinets in June 1983.[16] In 2015, Hardcore Gamer included Mappy on its 200 Best Video Games of All Time.[17]

Legacy

As part of Bandai Namco's ShiftyLook initiative, an animated Mappy web series, titled Mappy: The Beat was made.[18] The series was written and directed by Scott Kurtz and Kris Straub, who also performed all of the character voices, and was designed with limited animation in the style of Kurtz and Straub's 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.[19] 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.

A costume based on Mappy is in LittleBigPlanet 3 in the Namco Classics DLC.

A medley of tracks from Mappy is in the Pac-Land stage in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and in one of Pac-Man's taunts.

A theme based on Mappy, featuring the game's characters, were available as downloadable content in Pac-Man 99 during the game's lifetime.

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: マッピー, Hepburn: Mappī

References

  1. 1 2 Akagi, Masumi (October 13, 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971–2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971–2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 125. ISBN 978-4990251215.
  2. 1 2 "Video Game Flyers: Change Lanes / Mappy / Battle Cruiser M-12, Orion (Germany)". The Arcade Flyer Archive. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  3. ↑ Scullion, Chris (October 18, 2021). "Legendary Namco pixel artist Hiroshi 'Mr Dotman' Ono has died". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Mappy (Registration Number PA0000216647)". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  5. ↑ "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.
  6. ↑ "Famicom Mini". IGN. March 1, 2004. Archived from the original on June 11, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  7. ↑ Mappy: Namco's Forgotten Follow-Up to Pac-Man
  8. ↑ "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. Archived from the original on December 4, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Namco's Mappy is back, and this time, he's Hopping Mad". Destructoid. January 22, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Arcade Archives | HAMSTER Corporation".
  11. ↑ Brett Alan Weiss (1998). "Mappy - Review". Allgame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  12. ↑ Whitehead, Dan (April 12, 2009). "Virtual Console Roundup". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  13. ↑ M. Thomas, Lucas (April 1, 2009). "Mappy Review". IGN. Archived from the original on April 29, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ "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. June 1, 1983. p. 29.
  16. ↑ "Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 214. Amusement Press. June 15, 1983. p. 27.
  17. ↑ Kalata, Kurt. "HG101 Presents: The 200 Best Video Games of All Time – Hardcore Gaming 101". Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  18. ↑ Johnston, Rich (July 14, 2012). "ShiftyLook Moves Into Cartoons – Bravoman, Jim Zub, Scott Kurtz And More". Bleeding Cool.
  19. ↑ "There's A Cartoon Parody Of Namco Characters Working At Namco Bandai | Siliconera". Archived from the original on June 28, 2013.