Cop Vs Thieves!

Namco is one of the most succeful Video game makers, their games are entertaining and very fun to play... If you don't believe me, then ask the people who has played any of their games. I'm pretty sure that they will agree with me... Since Pac-man (which is one of the most longest running video game franchises from the golden era of the Arcade games) They kept making more and more succeful games... Well, guess what? Today, I'm going to review one of these games: Ladies and Gentlemen, with us, Mappy! Which originally was originally an Arcade game made on 1983, and then ported to the MSX and Famicom (The Japanese NES). Today, I'm going to focus on the port for the Nintendo's 8-bits system. So, If you're Interested... Keep reading!

Story: Nyamco (or Goro, in the US version of the original Arcade) and his gang, the Mewkies, are the terror of the city. Just ask the people who has suffered from them. Their latest crime: Stealing all the valuables and personal objects of the city's inhabitants. Now, the only one who can retrieve the stolen items, is Mappy, a police mouse. He must enter to the Gang's mansion, get the items back to their owners, and jail the whole gang. (6/10)

Graphics: What to say about them? Well, these are pretty good! They look closer to what the graphics of the original are. We can easily notice that the makes put their effort here. About the Animations... Well, these aren't the best. But since it's an old game, and these weren't important back then... It's not very important. (7/10)
 
Sound: Pretty good, the main theme of the game is very catchy. It will get stuck in your head after a while, same goes with the Bonus stage theme. They sound very different from the original game, but, let's remind that the Famicom is pretty inferior when compared with an Arcade. So, these used to amazing to hear on a Famicom. The SFX is simple. Sounds different as well, but it's not a big change anyways. (7/10).

Addictiveness: Well, here we have the 1st. Thing that has been ported in a perfect way: The addictiveness. Mappy is an old game, right? Well, like all the games of the same style, the High-Score thing helps a lot here. Along with the nice graphics and music. (8/10)

Depth: Well, the game doesn't have a lot of depth. But it's still fun to play for some reason... Here's how you play: You guide Mappy through the mansion, which has 6 floors, the only way to move between floor and floor is with the Trampolines. Mappy must bounce on them to reach higher altitudes, and the Items stored on the different floors. Sounds easy, right? Well, not really, because Nyamco and his gang will try to catch our hero. Our hero can't jump, so, if two cats surround him, there's no escape... Unless there's a door on the current floor. Yes, a door, if you press B while looking at a door, it will close (or it will open). If we close it while any of our enemies is passing through it, we'll knock them off for a while. There are also doors that throw a wave that will swipe our enemies away. The objective of every stage is grabbing all the items. If we take too long, more of the Nyamco's minions will appear on screen, if we can't end with the level after that, a coin will appear and it will chase Mappy in a more effective way. This coin is faster than the mouse, so, it's better to finish with the level before it appears. There are also Bonus stages, on the same we must grab all the balloons on the room before the music ends. (Not as easy as it sounds!) (6/10)

Difficulty: This game isn't very hard... But it can get frustrating after a few levels, specially in where dead-end hallways appear and the "Hurry" sign appears earlier. (8/10)

Final Rating: 8

Mappy is one of those games that are worth playing over and over... Just because it's fun and very addictive! (in my opinion) So, if you have the chance... Play this game, you won't regret it!

-Eddy Out-