Hopping Mappy
Although it was released only in Japan (1986), Mappy did get an arcade sequel of sorts in "Hopping Mappy." Here, Mappy dons a pogo stick to collect Glass Menagerie-type treasures scattered across a checkerboard field. Unlike the Americanized Mappy Land (below), Hopping Mappy retains the original style of artwork and music, if not the trampoline-based gameplay. Hopping Mappy is actually pretty fun... and it is available in rom format for MAME versions 0.36 and above.
Mappy Land
An obnoxious piece of Mappy lore: Mappy Land (1988). This game for the original 8-bit Nintendo system thrusts a redesigned ("cuter") Mappy into various themed lands, followed by chubby Meowkies ("Muky") and an appropriately dressed Goro ("Nyamco" again, his Eastern name). The game uses the familiar trampoline system to move, but the interfering backgrounds make it a chore to play.
Each "story" consists of 8 areas (same 8 areas in each story), and Mappy must collect items throughout each level. Each story ends in a party of sorts... first Mappy must collect cheese for girlfriend Mapico, then a wedding ring, then a Christmas tree... and in story 4 you must get a ball for Mappy Jr's birthday party.
Mappy Kids
"Mappy Kids" ...a Japanese NES game from 1989. I don't read Japanese, so I may have some of this wrong, but here's what I've figured out: Mappy collects money during the side-scrolling parts, which he must then fight to keep during various Goro-referreed mini-games. In the side-scrolling bits, Mappy has a kick attack (which is also used for opening treasure boxes) and a jump you can turn into a brief hover, a la Yoshi's flutter kick. Between levels, you wager your earnings in Goro's mini-games. If you win the mini-games, you can spend your money in a shop run by an elephant. It reminds me of a single-player archaic Mario Party. There's some strange figures in white hoods in the game (note the screenshot bottom left) which may have something to do with why Namco never did an english version. But check out the audience stands in the screenshot bottom right... in addition to some Mappy relations, there's Pac-Man, some Ghosts, and Pooka from Dig-Dug!
Mappy Arrangement
A two-player Mappy? Yes, brother, it exists. It's called Mappy Arrangement and it features advanced graphics, remixed music, 2 player simultaneous play and boss levels. This ultra-rare version of Mappy comes on a do-it-yourself arcade board called "Namco Classics #1," comprised of single and dual-player versions of Galaga, Xevious and Mappy. You can check your local arcade game retailer for availability... but you'll likely be building this one yourself. (I have seen several DIY uprights of these go for $500+ on eBay .) Or just MAME it.
Basic gameplay is identical to the original Mappy, just with two mice in the same house. You can pick up each other's pair bonus, and slap each other around with the doors (or the new vertical door.) A new sunglasses-wearing Meowky appears in later rounds. The boss level stars a giant bouncing robot Goro, who you attack with rechargeable microwave doors. Bonus levels are also simultaneous, and are much more difficult than the original.
New Mappy (Namco Nostalgia)
In 2006, Namco and Bandai released a series of 4-game plug-and-play units in Japan, called Let's! TV Play Classic. What separates these from the now-typical retro-plug-and-play stuff is that each mini-controller features two classic games and two new games based on those classics! So what you're seeing here are the screens to an all-new Mappy game!
At the moment, we know nothing about this New Mappy, other than what we can speculate from these screenshots. It looks like the game features Goro, perhaps doing his Arkanoid impersonation. (Website here: Tamashii Web)
Namco Museum Volume 2 (1996)
Namco Museum 50th Anniversary (2005)
Namco Museum Battle Collection (2005)
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Emulated on Namco Museum Volume 2 (PlayStation, 1996), Mappy appears with five other classic Namco arcade games. Mappy himself appears several times on the case and inside the manual, serving as Volume 2's mascot. A giant bouncing, animated Mappy serves as the loading screen, and a falling Mappy appears as the memory card icon. Mappy appears in frightening three dimensions in the disk's opening full motion video, piloting a starship to save Pac-Man. The Mappy section of the Museum has pics of Mappy artwork and magazine covers, and a wonderful 3D lounge with a jazzy version of the Mappy theme. The game and its characters enjoyed an interesting popularity in his homeland of Japan, much greater than his appearances in the States. Serious Mappy fanatics should check out this disk for a treasure trove of Japanese Mappy paraphernalia. (Mappy cookies and candy! Mappy magazines!) Click the screenshots to the right for a closer look.
Several other Namco Museum editions have been released over the years, but only in 2005 has Mappy been included on them: Namco Museum 50th Anniversary (PS2, GameCube, Xbox, PC) and Namco Museum Battle Collection (PSP).
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screenshots from Namco Museum Volume 2:
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Mappy goes 3D. |
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Mappy's wing of the museum. |
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The Mappy gaming lounge. |
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Mappy on PlayStation (horizontally). |
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Detail of Mappy and Mapico on cover of Namco magazine. |
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Other, even more obscure Mappy releases can be found at the Mappy Maniac page.
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