Mappy-Land

Mappy-Land (マッピーランド Mappī Rando) is a Famicom/NES game developed by TOSE. It is the third game in the Mappy series, and was released in 1986.

Gameplay

The player controls Mappy, and must collect the six stolen items in each level. He has to jump up to reach them, unlike the original Mappy where they were just walked into. Each stage (excluding 4 and 6) has four floors of items, which are reached via trampolines and ladders. After collecting them, he must walk to the next level on the righthand side of the stage.

Like usual, Goro and the Meowkies appear in each stage. Touching one will make Mappy lose one life; luckily, there are many items (both stage-specific hazards and collectible 'distractions') which can distract/defeat them. They include:

• Distractions
  • Cat toys - Meowkies will get distracted and play with them. They do not effect Goro.
  • Gold coin - Goro will get distracted and play with them. They do not effect Meowkies.
  • Fish - Both Goro and Meowkies will attempt to catch it.
  • Silver vine pots - A catnip-like substance that makes Meowkies faint. It doesn't effect Goro.
• Stage-specific
  • Level 1 - Mappy rides on pulleys which defeat cats in front of him.
  • Level 2 - Mappy activates punching bags which knock cats out.
  • Level 3 - Bombs can be set off, which send cats flying.
  • Level 5 - Mappy spins around on the hanging bars, defeating anyone he touches.
  • Level 7 - Touching them from below, Mappy can defeat cats on the above floor by bumping the floorboard.
  • Level 8 - Mappy rolls cannonballs onto the enemies.

Distraction items are placed in the level by pressing A; stage-specific items are activated by pressing B (effectively jumping to hit them).

The sixth level works somewhat differently than the others. In it, Mappy is on a balloon and wielding a ghost-sucking gun. He must fly the balloon to collect keys, while sucking up "Cutie" ghosts with the gun. A Vampire Goro is blocking the exit; Mappy must go inside of a church to collect a cross, which scares Goro away.

After collecting all items in the eighth level and entering the castle door, he arrives to Mapico. He must collect all items and reach Mapico before the music ends; this will complete the World. Failing to do so has no penalty - the section is continued until done correctly, with no lives lost. Mapico is replaced with Mappy Jr. in World 4.

Bonus Round

The bonus round is rather difficult to access. It appears in certain stages, and is unlocked by jumping on a specific trampoline three times without any distraction items. Normally this would kill Mappy, but here it will send him into the clouds, with various extra items to collect (including a 1UP, which appears nowhere else in the game). They appear on levels 1-2, 1-5, 2-3, 2-7, 3-1, 3-8, 4-2, and 4-7.

Story

World 1

Mappy has gotten many slices of cheese as birthday presents for his girlfriend, Mapico. Right before her party, Goro and the Meowkies scattered the cheese all around Mappyland. Mappy sets off to retrieve the presents and arrive at Mapico's birthday.

World 2

Mappy wants to propose to Mapico. The cats hide every wedding ring in Mappyland, and Mappy must get them back.

World 3

The now-engaged mice are about to have a Christmas party; all Christmas trees are stolen by Goro, and must be collected.

World 4

Mappy Jr. is celebrating his birthday. Mappy must collect the stolen baseballs for him as gifts.

Regional Differences

When compared to the Famicom (Japanese) original, several notable changes were made to the NES (North American) version of the game, generally to make the game easier. Most notably, there are Continue and Stage Select options on the NES version's menu; these were not present in the Famicom release, though a different stage select function could be accessed via a cheat code.

Additionally, in the NES version, the final rounds at the end of each world loop endlessly until they are successfully completed. The Famicom version only grants the player one try to complete the final round, making them much harder; and making it more difficult to actually progress through the story. The NES release also adds an indicator for how many stolen items are left to collect (in the top-right corner), as well as rewriting the cutscene dialogue to be in better English.

Home Ports

• Famicom/NES (original version)
• Nintendo Switch
  • Two versions were released. The game was included in Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2, though was never made available in the Japanese "Namcot Collection" service. It would later be added to the Nintendo Switch Online service (as part of the NES app) worldwide.
  • It is assumed that a Japanese Namcot Collection release was initially planned, as a rendition of the first level's music (as well as that of Mappy Kids) can be heard in one of the collection's trailers.^[1]
• PlayStation 4 (Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2)
• Wii U (Virtual Console)
• Windows PC (Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2)
• Xbox One (Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2)

The version of Mappy-Land featured in Namco Museum Archives is based on the Japanese ROM; as such, it lacks the additional features (e.g. the level select screen) of the North American version. The Virtual Console/Nintendo Switch Online releases use the proper U.S. version, though the Taxan copyrights are blanked out.

Trivia

• The Mappy LCD Game borrows many elements from Mappy-Land.

Gallery

Screenshots

Instruction Manual (Japanese)

Artwork

Videos

References