Mappy Kids

Mappy Kids
Developer	Namco
Publisher	Namco
Game system(s)	Famicom
Genres	Platformer
Release date(s)	JP: December 22, 1989
Number of players	1 or 2 players

Mappy Kids (マッピーキッズ Mappi Kizzu) is a Famicom game released in 1989 by Namco. It is the fourth game in the Mappy series, and the final one to appear on home consoles.

Story

Happy (otherwise known as Mappy Jr.) has become an adult, and wants to marry a mouse named Picky. However, he does not have a house, and his bride will decline his marriage unless he has one. Under Mappy's encouragement, Happy travels through Mappyland to collect money and other valuables, which he will spend on building supplies, before proposing to his future wife with his newly-built house.

In the two-player mode, a strange alteration to the story is made; Happy must compete against his twin brother, Rappy, to win the heart of Picky. Whichever player has the most valuables in their house by the end of the game will marry the bride.

Gameplay

The player controls Happy, and must get to the end of each stage. He has the ability to jump (without the usage of trampolines), and can flutter in the air by repeatedly pressing A; he also has a kick attack.

Along the way are many coins and treasure chests, which can be collected to earn money. Sometimes treasure chests will have rollerskates inside, which speed up Happy's movement. Other valuables and power-ups can be found hidden inside kick-able bricks.

Many enemies and obstacles appear in each level. Touching them will make Happy dizzy, and a moneybag will fall out of him; luckily, the bag can be recollected.

Slots

Slot machine

After completing a level, Goro appears in front of a slot machine. Happy pulls the lever, and whichever prize is selected is what the minigame (see below) is bet upon. Another slot appears immediately afterward, which decides who the minigame opponent will be (Mewta, Mewchi, or Mew-Mew).

Minigames

There are three minigames total, which alternate after each stage. In them, Happy is put against a Meowky; whoever wins the minigame will claim the prize previously selected on the slot machine. Losing the game will cause Happy to lose a lot of money, regardless of what the slot prize is. The minigames are:

• Flags - The flags must be raised according to Goro's commands. It is nearly impossible to play without knowing Japanese (even in the fan-made English translation). Mewta is the best at this game.
• Push Off - Happy and the Meowky are facing back-to-back, and must attempt to push each other to the ground. This is done by repeatedly mashing A, while controlling the direction of the push via the d-pad. If the Meowky is winning, briefly hold down B to stand straight again. Mewchi is the toughest opponent.
• Spot the Difference - The opponents take turns spotting the differences between the two pictures. The first to find five differences is declared the winner. Mew-Mew excels in this game.

Shop

Shop

The player is finally taken to the shop after the minigame is played. This is where the house-building items are bought, in addition to decorations, plants, etc. After leaving the shop, the next level begins and the process repeats until the end of the game.

Home Ports

Up until 2019, there were no re-releases of Mappy Kids since its origin. This is presumed to be due to it running on the Namco 163 mapper, a very complex Famicom cartridge board which is not supported by Nintendo in any of their official emulators. The game can technically work on Famiclone hardware, but some graphics appear glitched, and the audio doesn't play correctly.

The Evercade handheld system, released in 2020, launched with Mappy Kids as part of Namco Museum Collection 1. It marked the first ever re-release of the game, as well as the first release outside of Japan. It is fully translated into English, including a more logical translation of the Flags minigame (using the phrase "I lied!" instead of the Japanese characters).

It is believed that Mappy Kids was planned to be released as DLC for the Japanese "Namcot Collection" service (available on the Nintendo Switch); however, the game was never released. This is evident by a rendition of the first level's music (as well as that of Mappy-Land) appearing in one of the collection's trailers.

Trivia

• There are many cameos from other Namco characters in Mappy Kids. These include Pac-Man and the Ghosts, Pooka from Dig Dug, Ki from The Tower of Druaga, and several Rolling Thunder enemies.
• In level 2, what looks worryingly like a KKK mask appears on a drying board. This is actually an incorrectly colored Masker from the aforementioned Rolling Thunder (which are usually red).
  • In the Evercade version, the eye holes are removed, making it look more like a tall hat.

Gallery

Screenshots (Famicom)

Title screen

Introduction

Map screen

Gameplay

Gameplay

Gameplay

Flags

Push Off

Spot the Difference

Screenshots (Evercade)

Introduction