Mappy

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 8:35 am

Bought this the other night.

Had to move Moon Patrol into the spare room. I guess I gotta sell a game for space and sanity reasons.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 8:55 am

WOW! That thing looks fantastic!

Mappy is a game that I always feel like I should be better at. Like, I'm okay at it, but I feel like with a little work I could be better. Maybe learning some of the patterns or something.

Isn't Mappy on the 48-in-1 board? Are there major differences between the original and the emulated version?

I know the pictures I took of my games were always very forgiving, but that cab looks pretty sharp.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:24 am

The side art is better if you imagine the red guy saying "Look at that crazy fucker!"

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 1:45 pm

Flack wrote:WOW! That thing looks fantastic!

Yeah, I got stung a bit on the price, but it is pretty flawless. Plus, I have never seen one for sale through normal channels. My pal Jon said he wanted to go from 60 games down to "about 10" in IRC, so I immediately pounced on his Mappy like so many mice on smaller mice.

Mappy is a game that I always feel like I should be better at. Like, I'm okay at it, but I feel like with a little work I could be better. Maybe learning some of the patterns or something.

I didn't even know that doors opened in both directions until the Milker did just that to them two nights ago. Erf.

Isn't Mappy on the 48-in-1 board? Are there major differences between the original and the emulated version?

Not in gameplay - the joystick the real Mappy happens to have is like liquid sex and butter, however. It is smooth, and also something I would want to have sex with. It's got a soft ... "throw"? Is that the right word?

The joystick I have on the 48-in-1 has microswitches and a short throw. I am pretty sure they configured Mappy to only allow you to go left and right, like, I don't think the joystick goes up or down at all. That being said, I am not so good at it that it would affect my scores: see the bit where I didn't know how the doors could be opened.

I know the pictures I took of my games were always very forgiving, but that cab looks pretty sharp.

I am stunned that one came out so nicely. I used the setting on my new camera that has a picture of a guy running. I guess that's the way to go!

Roody_Yogurt · Post by **Roody_Yogurt** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 2:17 pm

I somehow managed to miss Mappy during my early years. It wasn't until some family gathering where some of my cousin's kids had one of those joysticks you hook up directly to a tv that I got a chance to play it. Still, even in a shabby environment like that, I was impressed with the gameplay. Fun game.

Tdarcos · Post by **Tdarcos** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 3:04 pm

Wikipedia has an article on the game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mappy ,it reminds me of Elevator Action in that you're traveling from floor to floor through an opening and levels have doors on them. It says you die if you bounce on a trampoline 4 times in a row, and you're a police mouse chasing cats with stolen merch, but the article doesn't seem to indicate - other than if you take too long a coin will start chasing you - if there are other ways you get killed. I'm wondering, are the cats like the ghosts in Pac Man, you can't touch them, or is it you can? The game sounds familiar although Wikipedia says it's 29 years old.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 3:19 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:I am stunned that one came out so nicely. I used the setting on my new camera that has a picture of a guy running. I guess that's the way to go!

Look again. That's not a man running, that's a mouse.

"And from that day forward, that camera setting became known as Mappy Mode."

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:14 pm

Pinback thinks Mappy has a weight problem.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 4:11 am

How did a mouse get to be a police mouse and chase cats? I would think that a police mouse would get no respect from perpetrator cats.

I have never played Mappy in my life. Scary, huh. I was thinking it was

Mousetrap.

But I am in error here.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 5:51 am

Tdarcos wrote:Wikipedia has an article on the game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mappy ,it reminds me of Elevator Action in that you're traveling from floor to floor through an opening and levels have doors on them. It says you die if you bounce on a trampoline 4 times in a row, and you're a police mouse chasing cats with stolen merch, but the article doesn't seem to indicate - other than if you take too long a coin will start chasing you - if there are other ways you get killed. I'm wondering, are the cats like the ghosts in Pac Man, you can't touch them, or is it you can? The game sounds familiar although Wikipedia says it's 29 years old.

The game is nothing like Elevator Action, other than the fact that it is a two dimensional game with multiple platforms, in which case it's also like Donkey Kong, Keystone Capers, Mario Bros. and 8 billion other games.

If Wikipedia says you die when you jump on a trampoline four times, it's wrong. You die when you fall through an opening in the floor, which the trampolines cover. On many levels there are trampolines underneath other trampolines, so bouncing on the top one four times does not kill you. In fact it's required.

There are lots of things that sound familiar that are 29 years old or older. Abraham Lincoln sounds familiar to lots of people.

Yes the cats kill you. There are 50 videos of Mappy on Youtube that show how the game works.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 5:53 am

AArdvark wrote:How did a mouse get to be a police mouse and chase cats? I would think that a police mouse would get no respect from perpetrator cats.

I have never played Mappy in my life. Scary, huh. I was thinking it was Mousetrap.

But I am in error here.

I think Mappy's a better game than both Mouse Trap and Make Trax. I don't know for a fact but I think that super duper huge marquee helped it stand out in arcades and gain a following back in the day.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 12:08 pm

Mouse Trap always bugged me for some reason. I felt I was being pandered to. Like it was designed by a housewife at Exidy, and three guys in suits.

"Eh, this Pac-Man game is good. Let's put a maze in. Who runs in mazes? MICE. Who are their enemies? CATS. Who is the enemy of a cat? A DOG."

"How do we get a dog in, si--"

"You BECOME the dog."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Oh Christ, whatever."

And I hate, hate, hate the rectangle buttons on the control panel to manipulate the maze.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 12:42 pm

Whatever points the game loses for having square buttons, it regains by having its own theme song.

[youtube][/youtube]

Mu-mu-mu-Mouse trap, mouse trap, cheese was the bait ...

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 1:15 pm

Flack, on a scale of 1-100, with ALL VIDEO GAMES in play - from Pong to Halo 4 ... What rating do you give Mouse Trap?

I give it a 37. I feel we have known each other long enough that if you truly like the game you will rate it accordingly and tell me there's 37 of something I can suck in a row.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 1:17 pm

OK, that's a great song. I give Mouse Trap a 40% because of that song.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 1:45 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:Pinback thinks Mappy has a weight problem.

Mappy is a fat fucker who hasn't seen his mouse feet in three years and the monsters just point and laugh (see again: side art).

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 3:18 pm

Good news! jrok made a high score save.

Good news! The affected chips SEEM to be socketed:

http://arcarc.xmission.com/Web%20Archiv ... _part3.jpg

Good news! The RAM that needs to be replaced also seems to be socketed.

Bad news! I don't have a ROM burner.

Good news! I think I am gonna place an order through hobbyroms this weekend.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 4:13 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:Flack, on a scale of 1-100, with ALL VIDEO GAMES in play - from Pong to Halo 4 ... What rating do you give Mouse Trap?

I give it a 37. I feel we have known each other long enough that if you truly like the game you will rate it accordingly and tell me there's 37 of something I can suck in a row.

Right off the bat I start off at 50 because of those shitty mono-colored sprites. It looks like a ZX Spectrum game. Then it gets -25 for being a Pac-Man maze clone, so we're down to 25. I like bring able to interact with the maze so that's +10, but the buttons being square is -10. i guess it gets +5 for the digitized samples and +5 for the Buckner and Garcia song. That puts us at 35, but I'd take 5 away for the terrible side art and marquee. So, eh, 30.

If I saw this sitting next to Mappy and had half a dozen quarters, I'd play Mappy six times and not feel bad about it.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:01 am

We did a lot of good work in this thread, chiefly garbage daying Mouse Trap. Flack is right - it does look like a Spectrum game.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:24 am

Wow, this is sad. I just watched some gameplay videos of Mappy and am unsure of the objectives, let alone the motives. Can you enlighten?

THE
MOUSE TELEVISION
TRAMPOLINE CAT
THING
AARDVARK