Developer: Tose Publisher: Taxan Release: 04/89 Genre: Platformer
Mappy-Land is a game I ignored growing up for no good reason. I played the original in the arcade briefly but did not think much of it. But by the time Mappy-Land was released in 1989 it looked old next to games like Mega Man 2 and Bionic Commando. And that is because it was. Just like Adventure Island the game was released years earlier in Japan. In this case however the years did not dull the gameplay. Mappy-Land is a brilliant reinvention of the series and still solid all these years later.
It is a bit strange that Mappy-Land is a console exclusive sequel to the arcade game but it works regardless. The goal in each level is largely the same. In each stage you must collect six target items while avoiding the Meowkies and policeman Goro. While the premise is the same the gameplay has a number of additions. Some are great while others could use a little more work.
The original Mappy had a singular focus: use the various doors to find the designated items and to also avoid the numerous enemies in hot pursuit. Mappy Land expands on the mechanics in many ways. Doors no longer exist but in their place Mappy can now jump and has different items to help ward of enemies. Meowkies will forget about you and chase cat toys when dropped. Nyamco is a sucker for money and will drop everything if you drop a gold coin. Fish will distract enemies while silver jars will make them lose control and faint. You can hold a large number of items which is handy as you will need the stockpile for later levels.
With no more doors the level design has been shaken up. The maps are no longer rigid grids and have dead ends and more elaborate layouts. They are also themed. There are eight stages and each introduces new elements to keep gameplay fresh. Western World has punching bags and a cannon to swat enemies away. In Ghost Town Mappy has a sonic gun to ward off ghosts and helium balloons to collect items. Mappy Land does not reveal all its cards initially. Although there are eight levels there are four loops. Aside from a rise in difficulty the objectives gain an additional layer. Some stages will require you to enter new areas in the background to find another item before moving on. This continues all the way to the fourth loop and it is a surprise even then to find new sub-levels in stages you previously “mastered.”
There is a lot more depth to the game but it does lose some of what made the original unique. Mappy was tightly designed like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong and required skill to achieve high scores. The various mechanics introduced make it more interesting at the expense of the level design. You have so many tools at your disposal that it makes enemies less of a threat, at least until the later loops. Not every world is a slam dunk. Jungle World attempts to make use of the new jump mechanic. But the awful physics make this stage a chore to work through. The finale of every loop in which you must collect all the items and reach Mapico before the music stops is also a chore. I respect the attempt however and it simply means the game is different, that is all.
The difficulty curve of Mappy-Land rises pretty quickly after each successive loop. The enemies become faster and more aggressive and by the third loop you cannot outrun them. Whereas before you could get away with ease you have to rely on your cache of items frequently. Even still I found the last loop nearly unbearable on certain stages. All of the extra lives you will build up in the first round will go to waste in short order as you progress. This is standard for score attack games but I feel the curve is a bit steep here. As much as I enjoy the game I struggled to make it to four loops. I cannot imagine how much worse it would get if it continued.
Mappy-Land tells a story with each of its successive loops without outright spelling it out until the end of each one. You are essentially seeing the stages of Mappy and Mapico’s relationship. The first story you are collecting cheese to give to Mapico as a present. In the next story the cheese becomes rings as Mappy wants to marry Mapico. For the third story Mappy and Mapico are now married and celebrating Christmas which is why you are collecting Christmas trees. Lastly in the fourth loop you are now collecting baseballs to give to Mappy Jr. as a birthday present. It is a simple touch but one that adds so much character to the game.
In Closing
I was not expecting to like Mappy-Land so much. Although it loses some of the flavor of the original it more than makes up for it with variety. The difficulty curve is steep but I was still able to enjoy the nuance of its gameplay long enough to stick with it through all four loops. I will admit this is not the most exciting platformer on the NES but its mechanics make it different enough to make it worthwhile even today.
