Hopping Mappy
| Hopping Mappy | |
|---|---|
 Arcade flyer | |
| Developer(s) | Game Studio |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Mobile Phone (i Appli/V Appli/BREW), Wii (Virtual Console) |
| Release date(s) | Arcade
i Appli
|
| Genre(s) | Action |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Cabinet | Upright, cabaret, and cocktail |
| Arcade system | Namco System 86 |
| CPU | 2x Motorola M6809 @ 1.536 MHz, 1x Hitachi HD63701 @ 1.536 MHz |
| Sound | 1x Yamaha YM2151 @ 3.57958 MHz, 1x Namco CUS30 @ 96 kHz |
| Display | Horizontal orientation, Raster, 288 x 224 resolution |
Hopping Mappy (ホッピングマッピー Hoppingu Mappī) is an arcade game which was released by Namco in 1986. It runs on Namco System 86 hardware, and, as the name suggests, it is the sequel to Mappy, which was released three years earlier. It is also the first game from Namco to allow scores not ending in "0"; others are Bakutotsu Kijūtei, Metal Hawk, Golly! Ghost!, Bubble Trouble: Golly! Ghost! 2, Cosmo Gang the Puzzle, and Emeraldia. Phelios also gives the illusion of allowing these types of scores, but doesn't. The game was ported to the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on June 2, 2009.
Gameplay
In Hopping Mappy players control the Micro Police mouse, Mappy, as he bounces on a pogo stick to run circles around pink cats, called Meowkies, who patrol either vertically or horizontally. There is also Nyamco, a cat who patrols in a zigzag pattern, but he needs to take occasional breaks. There are eight treasures that a player must grab to complete a round, except on the bonus round where the player will just want to collect all the balloons that he can. The main intrigue here is getting past a blockade of Meowkies. The player controls are simple - he can bounce in any of the four directions, the only places he can land are the centres of the checkerboard squares (making for very few locations overall), and he will move at the same speed as the cats. If the player pushes the accelerator button and runs around, he will go twice as fast. When the cats have sped up (after a "Hurry Up" warning has appeared) they will match Mappy's accelerated speed.
Characters
- Mappy: This Micro Police mouse is the protagonist of the game. He starts in the bottom-left corner of each garden, and must recover all the items that were stolen by Nyamco and his Meowky henchmen before he can proceed to the next. He must avoid contact with any of the cats unless they are flashing after grabbing a red or yellow heart, along with the Gosenzo if he takes too long over a round after the "Hurry Up" warning has appeared. If they catch him, he will be knocked off his pogo stick and lose one life.
- Nyamco: This fat red cat always starts four squares to the right of Mappy in each garden. He will bounce up to the top of the garden, then to the left, then down to the bottom of the garden, then to the left again before bouncing back to the right again once he has reached the edge of the garden. Occasionally he will fall over, which will allow the player to jump on him for 100 extra points - but he may wish to do this from behind in case he is deciding to get up. He will bounce fifteen squares before he falls over, and after eight Meowky bounces he will start bouncing again.
- Meowkies: There may be up to fifteen of these small pink cats in any garden. They will bounce either vertically or horizontally across the gardens, and will start bouncing the other way once they have reached the edge of a garden. When they regenerate after being killed by Mappy when he has grabbed a red or yellow heart, their original pattern for that round will be disrupted.
- Gosenzo: As in the original game, this fearsome ancestral cat-coin (which, again, bears the image of Nyamco's face, but is now coloured blue instead of green) will appear if the player takes too long over a round after the "Hurry Up" warning has appeared. It cannot be killed, even after Mappy has collected a red or yellow heart.
Treasures
As in the original Mappy, there are five different types of treasures: Fox masks (Kitsune) (10 points), Lucky Cat Statues (Maneki Neko) (20 points), Daruma (30 points), Snowmen (40 points), and Box (0 points first time, 50 points second time). The player gets a multiplier that starts at 1 and increases when he either jumps on the box that appears for the second time or he picks up two of the same treasure consecutively (the box does not count as an actual treasure, but picking it up gives the player an extra multiplier). The best multiplier is 6, and the player's total points can thus be 10 + 10 x 2 + 20 + 20 x 3 + 30 + 30 x 4 + 50 x 5 + 40 + 40 x 6 = 790. The last is switched, because the player cannot save the box for last. If the player gets killed before he collects the pair of items required to make the box appear, it will still appear even with multipliers reset (Round 1 and every fourth round thereafter - Kitsune, Round 2 and every fourth round thereafter - Maneki Neko and Round 3 and every fourth round thereafter - Daruma). But, if the box should appear and the player is unfortunate enough to get caught, it will disappear for that round.
What's in the Box
- Red diamond: When the player presses the acceleration button while the numbers are scrolling, he will get a random three-figure value added to his score.
- Red heart: All the cats on the round will start flashing to indicate that they are vulnerable for a short period of time. The player will get the same amount of points for killing Nyamco or a Moewky. The first cat is worth 10 points, the second cat is worth 20 points, the third cat is worth 40 points, the fourth cat is worth 80 points, the fifth cat is 160 points, the sixth cat is worth 320 points, the seventh cat is worth 640 points and all cats after that are worth 765 (Namco's goroawase number) points. They will then regenerate.
- Yellow diamond: When the player presses the acceleration button while the numbers are scrolling, he will get a random two-figure value added to his score.
- Yellow heart: All the Mewkies on the round will start flashing to indicate that they are vulnerable for a short period of time (it does not affect Nyamco).
- Blue ball: This one will slow down all the cats on the round for a short period of time.
- Purple ball: This one will slow down all the Mewkies on the round for a short period of time (again, it does not affect Nyamco).
- Blue hourglass: This one will freeze all the cats on the round for a short period of time. Mappy can safely pass through them, and they'll flash blue when the effect is about to wear off.
- Pink hourglass: This one will freeze all the Mewkies on the round for a short period of time. Mappy can safely pass through them, and they'll flash blue when effect is about to wear off (once again, it does not affect Nyamco).
- M-A-P-P-Y: These letters will appear instead of the standard powerups on the third round. If the player manages to collect them all, he will receive an extra life (for the only time in the game).
Bonus round points
Round 4 and every fourth round thereafter are bonus rounds - where the player will have to continuously bounce to the right while holding down the acceleration button (so that he does not scroll off the screen, which will immediately end the round). He will receive 11 points for every red balloon he collects and 500 for every blue (Nyamco) balloon he collects. Once the music ends, the points will be tabulated.
External links
- Hopping Mappy at the Killer List of Videogames
- Hopping Mappy at the Arcade History database
- Hopping Mappy guide at StrategyWiki
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