A round of Mappy on the NES, anyone?

After a few rounds of Mappy—yes, the 1983 arcade game by Namco—on the Nintendo Entertainment System, I can safely say that I thoroughly suck at the whole cat and mouse game.

For those of you who are confused and thinking that I’m really into the pest extermination business, let me explain. You see, Mappy is a side-scrolling video game that features cartoon-like characters, mostly cats and mice. The game’s star, of course, is the nimble Mappy, who is a … no, not a cat, you ninny … a mouse!

In the game, you control Mappy the police mouse, making him run around a mansion full of cutpurses cats to retrieve stolen goods, which include a radio, a television, a computer, a painting, and a safe. The cats, or mewkies as they are known in the game, are not alone, though. Mappy needs to be on the lookout for the boss cat Goro. Bonus points for players who catch Goro hiding behind the stolen items.

Oh, I’ve almost forgotten to mention the trampolines. What trampolines? Why those thin color-changing lines attached between the floors of the mansion. These trampolines are very fragile. If Mappy bounces on any of these four times in a row, it will break and send the little blue mouse crashing to his virtual death—unless, of course, there’s another trampoline under the one that breaks.

Don’t worry too much about the mewkies as doors on each floor can help Mappy fend them off. Many of these doors can temporarily knock out mewkies or Goro if Mappy opens or shuts them at the right time.

Yikes! I better run. I see my daughter prepping up the NES and she’s not about to beat me to mastering Mappy.