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Hey, vizzed members! I’m Pac and today I am reviewing Mappy for the Sega Game Gear. My last review lacked an original title but this time, I have one so the review will be 3 times better. What, why are you laughing? It is a fool-proof plan. You’re still laughing? Just… read the review…

GRAPHICS

7/10

I rated this a 7 because the graphics being so zoomed in isn’t an advantage. I’ll talk about what that means for me in the difficulty section, but this is a disadvantage for Sega as well. Zooming in the graphics makes them look bad because some of the graphics look ugly zoomed in so much. The main example is the doors when they’re open. They look like the inside of a 3 Musketeers bar. But the thing is, the 3 Musketeers bar looks better than that. Plus, you can’t eat a door and neither can Mappy.

The cats are too dark of a pink color but their boss, Goro, looks fine. Mappy looks great and he’s what looks better zoomed in. .I really like the Game Over screen because it shows a big picture of Mappy frustrated that he lost.
We don’t talk about those weird-looking items in the 2nd game. At least they’re visible, I guess.

ANIMATIONS

4/10

I rated this a 4 because just about everything is too slow. Mappy falling, bouncing (especially to the left or right), Goro hiding behind an item, it’s all slower than it should be. I like Mappy because it’s a fast-paced game, but this version isn’t. The color doors opening and blasting the cats happens like 3 times as fast as everything else, which is unfair to the player.

Other than the speed, some of the animations are well-done though, like Mappy falling which you have to watch a lot in the 2nd game because the levels are bigger/taller. My favorite one is Mappy spinning out of control and losing a life. Seeing his eyes bounce is hilariously good!

MUSIC

7/10

I rated this a 7 because it does OK matching up with the original game. However, most of it is the wrong pitch. The main theme is too high, the bonus round “announcement” theme is too low, etc. Also, Mappy’s dying music is very off-key. The music is also slow, but that’s alright because so is the game.

SOUND EFFECTS

8/10

I rated this an 8 because the sound effects match up well with the original game. Some are the wrong pitch like the music, but they don’t sound bad. The bell sound effect is lame but the trampoline bouncing sound is nice. I really like how the color-door-opening sounds in this version.

ADDICTIVENESS

6/10

I rated this a 6 because it has 2 modes, which I’ll bring up in the depth section. The first mode is the original game, which isn’t so addicting because it doesn’t have the same fast-paced feel it should have. The 2nd mode is addicting because the levels are different and I want to play it more to get used to it.

STORY

N0pe/10

A mouse cop being pursued by the criminals is a great story, but it isn’t supposed to be a story. Just play the game for fun, folks!

DEPTH

9/10

I rated this a 9 because not only does it have the original Mappy, it also has a Sega version with very different levels! The levels are massive in that one so it should take you longer to beat the game.

DIFFICULTY

7/10

I rated this a 7 for multiple reasons, one of them being that the item hitboxes are awful. What I mean is that instead of grabbing an item right when you touch it, you have to pretty much go into the item to grab it, making the game unnecessarily hard.

Also, the levels are zoomed in a lot which adds to the unnecessary difficulty. You should be able to see the pink cats coming sometimes, but here you just have to figure out what works and try not to die on the first level. I struggle not to do that and I’m great at Mappy!

The 2nd Mappy game is the reason this isn’t a 9 or 10. It’s much easier since the levels are so large and there’s less room for error.

OVERALL (not counting story)

6.9/10

This definitely isn’t one of the better versions of Mappy I’ve played. I’d recommend the original Mappy on this game to people who complain that the original was too easy, which I doubt anyone does. I’d recommend the Sega version of Mappy on this game to those who thought the original Mappy was too hard, which is understandable.

Thank you for reading my review and have a great day!