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NES box art for Mappy Land, the cover of NEStalgia episode 178

178 · Mappy Land

▶ Game info
VerdictSkip it
GenreArcade
ReleasedApril 1989
SeasonSeason 5
DeveloperTOSE
PublisherTaxan
July 9, 2021 · 31 min · transcript available

Mappy, the police mouse, has prepared all kinds of wonderful birthday  presents for his girlfriend, Mapico. But the big cheese in the feline  world, Nyamco , has ordered his clowder to hide the presents throughout  Mappyland.

SHOW NOTES

NES Longplay

Mappy in Smash

Mappy Arcade Game

Hopping Mappy

Mappy Kids

Bubsy 3D

UP Intro

Our verdict: Skip it

TOSE made this for Taxan in 1989, a cat-and-mouse arcade platformer and the sequel to the arcade game Mappy. Mike, Sean, Joe and Sam were all here. We liked it more than we expected, and nobody argued for the Essential Games List.

What works

  • Settings that matter a little. The layouts change how you reach the trampolines and where the prizes sit. We agreed that is more interesting than a world of ladders and platforms.
  • Surprising variety. There are vines, a balloon level where you fly and shoot ghosts, and a cannon. The vines were the moment it felt like a step up from the original.
  • Cartoon-style defenses. A punching bag that hits nearby cats, a bar for front flips, a toy that distracts the cats so they dance around it. There is something funny about how Mappy handles them, and we felt a Tom and Jerry streak.
  • A story. Play it four times and it goes from a birthday to the wedding to a Christmas ball, then Mappy Junior's birthday, in slightly odd translation. The ghost area has headstones for his wife and child.
  • It held our attention. Sean played an hour or two, long for an arcade game, partly because it is easy and partly because it was fun.

What doesn't

  • Three ideas stretched thin. The levels are short and the ideas shallow. Vines, then flying, and then we move on before anything builds on them.
  • Too easy. The cats, called Meowkies, are simple to avoid, and you can't be hurt on a trampoline. With enough fish you can spam them and never touch the level traps.
  • Optional power-ups. You start with nothing, and one host played most of the game without using one. They are not necessary for most levels. The cartoon angle could have gone further, with anvils, pianos or more cat-and-mouse systems.
  • Hidden stuff. The bonus level is only reachable from the right trampoline on the right stage, and the ghost level never tells you to switch from keys to the church.

Worth knowing

The trampolines vanish after three bounces. We were told Pac-Man's up B in Smash Bros. is based on that, a connection nobody had made while playing.

We also covered the Famicom sequel Mappy Kids, which swaps in a slot machine, and the arcade Hopping Mappy, with a pogo stick.

The bottom line

Skip it. Nobody voted it onto the Essential Games List. We called it notable and cute, with some creative moments, but there just isn't enough there. Everything it set out to do works, and it isn't terrible. Sam's pitch: if you like Lode Runner, give it a shot for something new.

Written from our conversation in this episode.

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