Hopping Mappy/Gameplay

Controls

 * Joystick: Use the 4-way joystick to direct Mappy around each garden stage.
 * Acceleration Button: Mappy can move twice as fast as the cats if you press and hold down this button while moving.
 * 1 or 2 Player Buttons: Push these buttons to begin a 1 or 2 player game.

Mappy
The protagonist of the game.

Nyamco
He always starts four squares to the right of Mappy. He goes up, left, down, left and then starts moving back to the right again once he gets to the edge. Occasionally he will fall over, and that allows you to jump on him for 100 points. But you may want to do so from behind in case he gets up. He moves 15 squares before he falls over, and after eight Mewky bounces he quits his huffing and puffing and starts moving again.

Mewkies
There may be over ten of these in any round. They move up and down or left and right with no variants. Once they reach an edge of the screen they start moving the other way.

Items
There are five different types of items. The bonus multiplier starts at 1 and increases when you either jump on the box for the second time, or pick up two identical items consecutively (the box does not count as an actual item, but picking it up gives you an extra multiplier.) The highest multiplier is 6, and your total points for a single round can thus 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 can't save the box for last. Compared to the bonus rounds which will guarantee you over 3000 points, this is really nothing and you will often do rather worse. So don't sweat getting all the items in order, and don't try to get a tricky looking multiplier unless it's a matter of pride.
 * Kitsune: 10 points
 * Maneki Neko: 20 points
 * Daruma: 30 points
 * Snowman: 40 points
 * Box: 0 first time, 50 second

If you get caught between the first and second paired items the box will still appear even with the bonus multiplier reset. But if you get caught after the box has appeared, it's gone for that round.

Powerups

 * Red diamond: Hit the button with the numbers scrolling and you get a random 3-figure number added to your score. Be ready with a move as soon as you've caught the diamond, as the game pauses obnoxiously for a bit.
 * Red heart: All enemies stay in a pattern, but they are vulnerable. This is best when you know you can clear the board pretty soon and there are lots of bad guys. Beware that knocking them off disrupts the initial formation as the Meowkies do disappear. This is good if they are all in a line, but you may have to adjust otherwise. The Meowkies are in a straight line at the start, and their bounces are synchronized, so they're more predictable. Pack them off and you may be in trouble - unless you're willing to sit on the square where they'll wind up. You get the same points for Nyamco or a Meowky. Here is a list of the scores:
 * 1st cat: 10, 10 total
 * 2nd cat: 20, 30 total
 * 3rd cat: 40, 70 total
 * 4th cat: 80, 150 total
 * 5th cat: 160, 310 total
 * 6th cat: 320, 630 total
 * 7th cat: 640, 1270 total
 * 8th cat: 765, 2035 total

You also get 765 for all cats after that.
 * Yellow diamond: Hit the button with the numbers scrolling and you get a random 2-figure number added to your score. But try to avoid this if you can - it's only one tenth as good as the red diamond.
 * Yellow heart: All Meowkies stay in a pattern, but they are vulnerable.
 * Blue ball: Nothing(?)
 * Purple ball: Nothing(?)
 * Blue hourglass: Freezes all enemies.
 * Pink hourglass: Freezes all Meowkies.
 * M-A-P-P-Y: Appears in place of the standard powerups. If you get all letters, you will receive an extra life, but only on round 3.