Hopping Mappy/Gameplay

Controls

 * Joystick: Use the 4-way joystick to direct Mappy around each garden stage on his pogo stick. He cannot bounce off the left edge of the garden and reappear on the right or vice versa.
 * Acceleration Button: Press and hold down this button to make Mappy bounce twice as fast as the cats while he is moving. When the cats sped up, they match his accelerated speed.
 * 1 or 2 Player Buttons: Push these buttons to begin a 1 or 2 player game.

Mappy
This Micro Police mouse is the protagonist of the game. He starts in the bottom-left corner of each garden, and must recover all the items that were stolen by Nyamco and his Mewky henchmen before he can proceed to the next. He must avoid any contact with any of the cats unless they are flashing after grabbing a red or yellow heart, along with the Gosenzo if he takes too long over a round after the "Hurry Up" warning has appeared. If they catch him, he will be knocked off his pogo stick Pac-Land-style and lose one life, so do not let this happen.

Nyamco
This fat red cat always starts four squares to the right of Mappy in each garden. He will bounce up to the top of the garden, then to left, then down to the bottom of the garden, then to left again before bouncing back to the right again once he has reached the edge of the garden. Occasionally he will fall over, which will allow you to jump on him for 100 extra points - but you may wish to do this from behind in case he is deciding to get up. He will bounce fifteen squares before he falls over, and after eight Mewky bounces he will start bouncing again.

Mewkies
There may be up to fifteen of these small pink cats in any garden. They will bounce either vertically or horizontally across the gardens, and will start bouncing the other way once they have reached the edge of a garden. When they regenerate after being killed by Mappy when he has grabbed a red or yellow heart, their original pattern for that round will be disrupted.

Gosenzo
As in the original game, this fearsome ancestral cat-coin (which, once again, bears the image of Nyamco's face, but is now coloured blue instead of green) will appear if you take too long over a round after the "Hurry Up" warning has appeared, and the main theme has increased in tempo. Again, it cannot be killed, even after you've collected a red or yellow heart.

Items
The bonus multiplier starts at 1, and increases whenever you collect a pair of items in succession or the box (the box does not count as an actual item, but collecting it gives you an extra multiplier). The highest bonus multiplier you can have is 6, and your total points for a single round can therefore be 10 + 10 x 2 + 20 + 20 x 3 + 30 + 30 x 4 + 50 x 5 + 40 + 40 x 6 = 790. The last one is switched because you cannot save the box for the end of the round. If you get killed before you collect the pair of items required to make the box appear, it will still appear even with a multipliers reset (Round 1 and every fourth round thereafter: Kitsune, Round 2 and every fourth round thereafter: Maneki Neko, Round 3 and every fourth round thereafter: Daruma).

Powerups

 * Red diamond: When you have grabbed this one, press the acceleration button while the numbers are scrolling and you will get a random three-figure value added to your score. You should also be ready with a move as soon as you've pressed the button, as the game pauses obnoxiously for a bit - and it is a disappointment if you are unlucky enough to get "000".
 * Red heart: When you have grabbed this one, all the cats on the round will start flashing to indicate that they are vulnerable for a short period of time. You will get the same amount of points for killing Nyamco or a Mewky. The first cat is worth 10 points, the second cat is worth 20 points, the third cat is worth 40 points, the fourth cat is worth 80 points, the fifth cat is 160 points, the sixth cat is worth 320 points, the seventh cat is worth 640 points and all cats after that are worth 765 (Namco's goroawase number) points. They will then regenerate.
 * Yellow diamond: When you have grabbed this one, press the acceleration button while the numbers are scrolling and you will get a random two-figure value added to your score - but you should try to avoid it if you can, because it is only one tenth as good as the red diamond. Once again, it will be a disappointment if you are unlucky enough to get "00" with this one.
 * Yellow heart: When you have grabbed this one, all the Mewkies on the round will start flashing to indicate that they are vulnerable for a short period of time (it does not affect Nyamco).
 * Blue ball: This one will slow down all the cats on the round for a short period of time. The effect is not immediately noticeable, but it is when you have to make a slow vertical bounce...
 * Purple ball: This one will slow down all the Mewkies on the round for a short period of time. The effect is not immediately noticeable, but when you have to make slow vertical bounce...
 * Blue hourglass: This one will freeze all the cats on the round, for a short period of time. Mappy can safely pass through them, and they'll flash blue when the effect is about to wear off.
 * Pink hourglass: This one will freeze all the Mewkies on the round for a short period of time. Mappy can safely pass through them, and they'll flash blue when effect is about to wear off.
 * M-A-P-P-Y: These letters will appear instead of the standard powerups on the third round. If you manage to collect them all, you will receive an extra life (for the only time in the game).