Sweatin' the oldies: Mappy Land & Dance Aerobics

Sweatin' the oldies: Mappy Land & Dance Aerobics | NES Works 116

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8 ай бұрын

This is one of those "pleasant surprise" episodes where I went in expecting nothing and came out impressed by both titles under the microscope.
Namco's Mappy-Land (published by Taxan for whatever reason) definitely shows its age, but despite being a 1986 release muddling its way onto NES in 1989, it has strong enough central gameplay and smooth enough controls that it holds up well. The City Connection of ’89, if you will. Although the latter portions of the game do hint at a superior experience that could have been....
And Dance Aerobics, well. It didn't quite invent the rhythm genre, but it certainly prefigured the format. Not especially my cup of chai, but it has a lot more going for it than you might expect from the box art.
Production notes:
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NES footage captured from Analogue Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 720 with xRGB Mini Framemeister. "Before the Storm" courtesy of Jacob Le.

Пікірлер: 122

@stopmikeandjim3196 8 ай бұрын

6:12 wow, the graphics on Track And Field II were way better than I remembered!

@Only3Penguins 8 ай бұрын

Damn, you beat me to it

@thrillhouse_vanhouten 8 ай бұрын

me too @@Only3Penguins

@goranisacson2502 8 ай бұрын

I really liked the part where armored rhinocerus charged into the hurdles, really peak visual storytelling there.

@fooblesFire 8 ай бұрын

Wow, those cats playing with the toys when you distract them are some of the cutest things ive seen on NES!

@ChristopherSobieniak 8 ай бұрын

"Yay, I got a toy, yay!"

@alex_-yz9to 8 ай бұрын

6:11 i dont remember track and field 2 having a pillage museum stage... maybe it was after the Gun segment that definetely exists!

@JeremyParish 8 ай бұрын

The U.S. only dominates the Olympics during the years when Wakanda boycotts

@Tryphen 8 ай бұрын

Can't wait for The Guardian Legend next time. One of my all time favorites.

@RoseWaltz 8 ай бұрын

yeah, i really wish that game got remixed like Zelda does

@safetinspector2 8 ай бұрын

@@RoseWaltz I always felt Guardian Legend was to Zanac as Mappy Land was to Mappy

@chepin74 8 ай бұрын

Damn, Mappy Land has more uncensored Christian crosses than the NES Castlevanias put together.

@JazGalaxy 8 ай бұрын

This episode’s script is sassy above normal levels, which is entertaining.

@bluebogle 8 ай бұрын

I come for the great retrospectives, but stay for the sass.

@tempanon8672 8 ай бұрын

Mappy is a good buy and doesn't deserve this amount of sass. >|3

@highscores8593 8 ай бұрын

I love mappy land. My aunt owned a video store and when she closed it in the early 90s we were gifted this game. My mom and I used to play it a lot. On further loops of the game more places open up in the stages like the church in the first loops ghost stage. I didn't know for 30 years though that there is secret bonus "rooms" in this game. Causing mappy to soar up into the clouds for a chance to get a 1up icon.

@XanthinZarda 8 ай бұрын

The bizzare thing about Dance Aerobics is that it doesn't use the A side, which you think would be suited to...dance aerobics.

@jbanks979 8 ай бұрын

I’ve mentioned before, but it’s always fascinating seeing what a hodgepodge the NES release schedule ended up being when something like this, very much from the design school of 1986, gets released the same year as Megaman 2. It makes actual sense in retrospect knowing how many were long delayed famicom ports. Always regretted not getting something else to supplement the power pad (like many my family had world class track meet and nothing else)

@creightonholub 8 ай бұрын

Great historical video, as always! Thank you.

@OhmWolf 8 ай бұрын

13:22 FYI, this clip is of someone playing the Korean company Andamiro's Pump It Up, not Konami's DDR. This seems to be a common mistake people make. 😅

@dumpnchase 8 ай бұрын

Love the Mxyzptlk reference. 2:07

@SpyHunter89 8 ай бұрын

Jeremy: Explains Dance Aerobics' influence on Dance Dance Revolution Also Jeremy: Shows footage of Pump it Up instead ...Dance Aerobics looks good, though.

@jonothanthrace1530 8 ай бұрын

It's pretty wild to learn that Jane Fonda's Workout series had already been going for over 6 years by the time Dance Aerobics came out in the US.

@JeremyParish 8 ай бұрын

Yeah, I included it for context, but like the text says, I really see Richard Simmons’ videos as the ones that expanded the audience for aerobics. I think that comes off a little muddled here, so I need to rework it for the book.

@jonothanthrace1530 8 ай бұрын

@@JeremyParish I saw Simmons, wondered if Fonda's aerobics had already been around by then and was surprised at the answer.

@Belgand 8 ай бұрын

Really? Fonda's tape was one of the first big breakouts and largely established the workout tape genre as a whole. The leg warmers and other elements heavily contributed to fashion trends that were already becoming prominent. _Flashdance_ followed in '83 and it was cemented into popular culture. By 1985 we were deep enough into it to have the John Travolta, Jamie Lee Curtis film _Perfect_ released and the larger trend well-established. _Sweatin' to the Oldies_ was more of a late period release. By that point the aerobics craze was already so big that we'd had two different aerobics-themed horror movies: _Killer Workout_ (1987) and _Death Spa_ (1988). Mashing up two of the '80s' biggest media trends.

@ChristopherSobieniak 8 ай бұрын

@@jonothanthrace1530The 80's was like this.

@ChristopherSobieniak 8 ай бұрын

@@BelgandYep, that was what I remember.

@jasongarrett768 8 ай бұрын

I love/hate that I knew the context for “anti-velociraptor” right away. It’s such a goofy scene. And I would not change it for the world.

@BenWard29 8 ай бұрын

We definitely missed out the Dendy and Grand Dad.

@ChristopherSobieniak 8 ай бұрын

At least America had the REAL thing than some made-up pirated effort.

@RazorBeamz 8 ай бұрын

The voice clips in Dance Aerobics were even better on the Famicom because there was a sound chip inside the cart.

@Dwedit 8 ай бұрын

The NES version had much better voice clips. Find a video of the FC version and tell me with a straight face that it's better. Yes, despite using a dedicated 'sound chip' (think like one of those things you see in talking toys), the audio quality is abysmal.

@TeruteruBozusama 8 ай бұрын

And then there's the weird child voice in the Mario edutainment games..!

@g.u.959 8 ай бұрын

It took me until this episode to realize the logo for NESWorks has changed!

@Saturnome 8 ай бұрын

Thank you for covering Mappy Land!

@paulreiter7015 8 ай бұрын

6:12 Is there any reason why Black Panther is listed as Track & Field II

@timlom5522 8 ай бұрын

Never before realized that Mappy and Mappy Land were not the same game. Definitely looks like the developers were trying some cool ideas! Great video Jeremy!

@trackermusicforever 8 ай бұрын

we had Mappy-Land and it has a special place in my heart! the graveyard level was definitely the household favorite. in that level you fly on a balloon and use a flashlight to attack the ghosts! also the music throughout is very good with strong & catchy melodies! love this game

@sphoogaming1131 8 ай бұрын

Always a pleasure to watch the next installment regardless of the quality of the subject. Keep kicking ass Jeremy!

@jigsawjo5956 8 ай бұрын

I come for the comprehensive cataloging and analysis of the NES library. I stay for the references to things like the silly gymnastics scene in TLW:JP.

@panconqueso9195 8 ай бұрын

As a latinamerican who grew with those bootleg famiclones my first reaction to the title was "Wait, there is another Mappy game on NES?"

@ILjXYZ 8 ай бұрын

Great episode. I laughed my weak, gamer ass off!

@zubizuva 8 ай бұрын

Next week on NES Works (I hope), bootlegging whiskey.

@JeremyParish 8 ай бұрын

Wow I wish

@GamerGoingGrey 8 ай бұрын

Got a chuckle out of the Lost World JP 2 reference

@anonymouskaiju9101 8 ай бұрын

It's interesting because while not as solid that blend of best of nintendo with classic arcade structure is pretty much what makes donkey kong 94 so great and this game came out 8 years earlier

@Bubblun1 8 ай бұрын

Big Mappy fan here. Before the plug 'n play mania Namco was nice enough to give us a great arcade version of Mappy on Namco Museum Vol. 2 on PS1 - unfortunately one of the lower selling compilation packs. I think Mappy himself completely disproves your prior theory that ACAB.

@retrofan4963 8 ай бұрын

Always a pleasure to meet another fellow Mappy fan :) I'm a huge Mappy fan as well. Before the plug n play mania, I always thought you can also get pirated multicarts in the US and Europe as well. So even back in the 80's, you can still get the Famicom version of Mappy. Just not officially released of course *dresses up as a pirate*

@kennethchia4194 8 ай бұрын

As a teenage boy, I didn't pay attention to "Dance Aerobics" when it came out, but I am legit impressed they were able to do what they did on the NES.

@anactualmotherbear 8 ай бұрын

I was a little girl in the 80s and Dance Aerobics definitely appealed to me. Of course, I wouldn't get the game until the 90s, when I was 12, but the marketing worked on me. It was a quirky, casual game that was cute and you could do little timed dances with it.

@admiral229 8 ай бұрын

“The game wearing Mario drag.” Nice!

@cliffjumper1984 8 ай бұрын

I love me some Mappy-Land!

@WillyFourEyes 8 ай бұрын

It's funny that you included a clip of Star Soldier in this video. Back when I first rented Mappy Land from my local video store, I remember being disappointed by it and returned it the same day to rent Star Soldier instead. Neither game was exactly *bad*, but I think I didn't give Mappy Land enough of a chance back in the day. I had no idea it was spawned from an arcade game until I bought the second Namco Museum collection on PlayStation and thought "Oh, THAT'S where that game came from."

@MadeByJoey 8 ай бұрын

I had the Power Pad and somehow completely missed Dance Aerobics. I didn't know it existed before today!

@tuckerrouse4850 8 ай бұрын

Not sure what's referenced by "anti-velociraptor" around 8:25, but I appreciate the spirit of it

@BenChurchill76 8 ай бұрын

Probably a reference to Jurassic Park Lost World where a kid uses her gymnastics skills and kicks a velociraptor...kinda like Mappy does here?

@JeremyParish 8 ай бұрын

Yep!

@ginormousaurus8394 8 ай бұрын

Mappy-Land reminds me of Pac-Land in that both were side-scrolling platformers that featured characters from earlier Namco arcade games.

@retrofan4963 8 ай бұрын

And they both have Land in their titles.

@BigBangBlitz 8 ай бұрын

I hate that you somehow made a relevant Jurassic Park 3 reference and I chuckled at it.

@billcook4768 8 ай бұрын

Great stuff as usual, but wouldn’t “Miss of Arc” taking over an exercise class have been the better Bill and Ted clip to include?

@JeremyParish 8 ай бұрын

But Napoleon just hit theaters!!

@billcook4768 8 ай бұрын

@@JeremyParish I wonder if Napoleon visits Waterloo in the new movie. The most excellent water park in San Dimas, not the one in Belgium.

@JeremyParish 8 ай бұрын

No, but he sings the ABBA song "Waterloo" while using the A-B-B-A code to continue in Ikari Warriors.

@ShmebulockYT 8 ай бұрын

Didn't realize that American NES kids' exposure to Mappy was this console sequel and not the arcade port, maybe explains the diminished popularity compared to other Namco classics. Also, never expected to see a Wii Fit-alike on NES. This is why your content matters sir, to find the unique oddities that link our present with our past.

@ChristopherSobieniak 8 ай бұрын

That or finding a old Mappy cabinet at an arcade sonewhere.

@retrofan4963 8 ай бұрын

It also doesn't help that Mappy never recieved an official port in Atari 2600/5200/7800 , Colecovision and Intelivision ports back in the early and mid 80's when collecting Arcade ports of early classics like Pacman, Dig Dug, Mappy, Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr are the biggest hype before games like Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros 3 came to the scene. Every home port the original Mappy ever got back in the 80's is Japan exclusive. Mappy is pretty popular in Japan, but everywhere else Mappy suffered through obscurity unfortunately. And the sequels Mappy recieved like Mappy-Land and Mappy Kids are not as highly acclaimed as the original Mappy. Mother/Earthbound fans thought they got it tough, Mappy suffered through obscurity more than lot of video game franchises I can think of. I by the way am a huge fan of the Mappy series. In my opinion, Mappy, Hopping Mappy, Mappy-Land, Mappy Kids and Mappy Arrangement are really great games and extremely underrated. Mappy seriously needs more recognition, Namco should revive the Mappy series by making new Mappy games. Pacman is Namco's mascot and all, but Pacman is not the only classic series they have and need to work on. Namco should also focus bringing more of their classics back besides Pacman. And Mappy is of course one of em they should bring back.

@ChristopherSobieniak 8 ай бұрын

@@retrofan4963 True.

@a.calder8217 8 ай бұрын

I'll repeat the joke about Mappy Land that I made with Famidaily's review by saying that this is one of the only NES games where Gymkata is one of your ways of attacking.

@rabiroden 8 ай бұрын

I swear I remember Dance Aerobics being namedropped in that Undergrads cartoon when one of the characters digs up an old Power Pad. Otherwise, the only other thing I know it from is that old Nintendo Cartoon Hour video from Lonely Island. ...Actually that's probably a decent cultural cache for this game, all things considered.

@jasonblalock4429 8 ай бұрын

3:50 Heh, reminds me of the 2nd Ninja Jajamaru Famicom game, which did the exact same thing. The mechanics are almost identical to the first game, but it's suddenly a side-scroller rather than a fixed-stage puzzle-platformer.

@goatbone 8 ай бұрын

Just realised Space Channel 5 is basically Dance Aerobics.

@safetinspector2 8 ай бұрын

13:20 That was from a Pump It Up tournament in Korea and not Dance Dance Revolution. Not that this is a problem, that WAS an excerpt from an amazing performance. :)

@IanSane 8 ай бұрын

Mappy-Land has a cathedral with crosses? In an NES game?! How did that slip by the Nintendo Seal of Quality?

@Gernam12 8 ай бұрын

I remember Mappy Land from my Archie comics constantly being advertised but never able to get it since I never had an NES.

@absolutezeronow7928 8 ай бұрын

Mappy would continue to copy from Mario's homework, Mappy Kids which was a Famicom exclusive game, was definitely inspired by Mario 3. And Dance Aerobics isn't a bad game, just stuck with a peripheral that doesn't age well.

@Popnwinbee 8 ай бұрын

I’ll have you know my gamer ass is strong and fit!

@JeremyParish 8 ай бұрын

Ah, the so-called statistical outlier... welcome.

@nintendianajones64 8 ай бұрын

That version of Napoleon was somehow more accurate than Ridley Scott's abomination.

@ChristopherSobieniak 8 ай бұрын

0:06 ZIGGY PIGGY!

@BenChurchill76 8 ай бұрын

I had completely forgotten about Mappy-Land, but seeing it reminded me that my best friend and his little brother had this game and they played it often at their house. I had no reference for who Mappy was (I hadn't seen the arcade game), but I remember watching them play this game. They had interesting taste in games; they also had Milon's Secret Castle and Fester's Quest, which they also played a lot. I guess they were masochists? LOL.

@retrofan4963 8 ай бұрын

How can anyone be called a masochist for enjoying Mappy-Land? Mappy-Land is genuinely a really great game, huge underrated gem if you ask me. It has tight controls, great gameplay and one of the best soundtracks ever composed for NES.

@BenChurchill76 8 ай бұрын

@@retrofan4963 Well, not so much Mappy-Land, since that one didn't seem as hard, but the other games, Milon's Secret Castle and Fester's Quest are frustratingly difficult...but they loved playing both of those, so I think they were gluttons for punishment.

@retrofan4963 8 ай бұрын

@@BenChurchill76 I haven't played Milon's Secret Castle and Fester's Quest. But yeah, I heard about how frustrating these two games are. Milon's look pretty cryptic as well based on the Gameplay videos I've seen.

@WeirdoOfWeirdos 8 ай бұрын

Mappy Land!!! All Mappy Land fans, give me a shout! ... Anyone? (Watches a tumbleweed roll by...) Okay...

@retrofan4963 8 ай бұрын

I'll give you a shout! :)

@FrothingManiac 8 ай бұрын

Mappy-Land is super charming, even with the awkward controls. Not really a fan of how difficult it gets later on, when the enemies are all running much faster than you, you better hope you have a ton of items. I also wish there was a more resolute ending as well, it just loops.

@pokehybridtrainer 8 ай бұрын

12:04 Wait, super mario sweater? That was a thing? Intriguing.

@JeremyParish 8 ай бұрын

The VGHF did a great presentation about it at this year's Long Island Retro Expo!

@ChristopherSobieniak 8 ай бұрын

@@JeremyParishSega can't what NintenDOES!

@gfhrtshergheghegewgewgew1730 8 ай бұрын

wow i never even heard of dance aerobics before, incredibly interesting concept for being on the NES, and from bandai of all people??? are you sure this game didn't fall in from a collapsed alternate timeline that got absorbed into ours long after the fact?

@littleterr0r 8 ай бұрын

I bought a sealed copy of Dance Aerobics at PRGE for ten bucks ten years ago which I assume is still worth the same.

@masternorg 4 ай бұрын

8:26: Mappy *is* the Gymkata

@CaptainRufus 8 ай бұрын

Ps the Shiftylook Mappy cartoon was AMAZING.

@retrofan4963 8 ай бұрын

So are the Mappy games.

@goranisacson2502 8 ай бұрын

I didn't expect to be more impressed by a fitness game than an actual mascot game (no matter how impressive Mappy's dino-kicking Gymkata skills may be), but you sure got me intrigued by Dance Aerobics. Especially so that it's from Bandai that to my knowledge never really entered the dance craze after Konami got it started. One would almost think Bandai would jump at the chance to use what they had.... buuut it's probably likely they didn't even remember they'd released something like this in the first place, is it?

@retrofan4963 8 ай бұрын

Mappy-Land is a really awesome game.

@robertlauncher 8 ай бұрын

“Kung Fu heroes will be my new punching bag.” Good. Tried it on NSO, played two stages, said “Wow, there is nothing to this!” and have zero interest in going back. It had such cool art on the case,(Virtual case in this… case.) I still feel betrayed. I’m not saying the 8-bit era was known for complex experiences, but the games usually made up for that by making sure those moments were engaging and had variety around them. Even Donkey Kong’s four stages felt different in some way. Kung Fu heroes is like, “What is this sorcery called fun?” Sorry, that rant probably belongs on that video

@JeremyParish 8 ай бұрын

Hey, this is a safe space. You can bag on Kung Fu Heroes any time

@ginormousaurus8394 8 ай бұрын

Kung-Fu Heroes isn't great and it was dated by the time it reached North America, but there's more to the game than the first two stages would suggest. Later stages introduce new enemies, some of which can't be harmed by some of your attacks. Collecting punch power-ups increases the power and speed of your punches. Miracle kicks can damage some enemies that are immune to regular kicks. Some enemies can only be killed if you find and use a sword that's hidden in two of the stages. Other treasures hidden in the stages make certain enemies easier to defeat, slow down certain enemies, reflect some enemy beams, reduce the stun time of enemy beams, and reveal hidden traps and invisible enemies. To beat the game you have to find hidden items, learn the different enemies' weaknesses, and know which enemies are best avoided.

@robertlauncher 8 ай бұрын

@@ginormousaurus8394 I probably didn’t give it a fair chance, but it’s usually considered good game design to make your opening stages fun enough that people want to continue. Sure, on the other end of the spectrum, you don’t want to overwhelm the player, but it’s good to at least showcase that your game is gonna have engaging mechanics.

@wazzer912 8 ай бұрын

Someone should do a dance dance revolution NES hack so I can finally have some reason to use that pad lol. I bought it at a flea market thinking it might be worth something. It is not lol.

@jamesmoss3424 8 ай бұрын

Mappy-Land got amazing graphics. 😀👍🐭🎮

@lifeisabigfun 8 ай бұрын

please realize that you pulled up a clip of Andamiro's Pump It Up XX instead of any DDR cab when you mentioned the game

@Idunnoyouguessit 8 ай бұрын

I'd play Mappy Land before the good Super Kung Fu Chinese Boy games

@nickmdunford 8 ай бұрын

........ I had nothing but pirate carts

@darktetsuya 8 ай бұрын

mappy land I didn't really get around to til an emulated ROM, but it was alright. you could see them trying to replicate super mario as best they could while trying to keep some of the elements of arcade mappy intact. dance aerobics I've never played the only power pad title I've had any time with is world class track meet. and yeah trying to play it now between being 30 years older and the tech probably suffering from years of deterioration... you might have to build your own like someone else I know on youtube. but I skipped all that and just started with DDR, for what it's worth.

@ginormousaurus8394 8 ай бұрын

Super Mario Bros. was preceded by Pac-Land. Pac-Land was a side-scrolling platformer that kept some elements from the original Pac-Man (e.g. Pac-Man could temporarily eat ghosts after consuming power pellets). Similarly, Super Mario Bros. retained some elements from the original Mario Bros. (e.g. pipes, hitting objects from below, turtles as enemies). Like Pac-Land and Super Mario Bros., Mappy-Land took characters and elements from an older arcade game and combined them with then current gameplay trends.

@jamesmoss3424 8 ай бұрын

Dance Aerobic is a great way to move your body. 😀👍🎮

@unoclay 8 ай бұрын

I am here to say that I still like Kung Fu Heroes even if Jeremy has officially made it the new AVGN Dr. Jekyll punching bag ;']

@Riz2336 8 ай бұрын

Dance Aerobics seems like one of the early meant more for girls titles on the system

@repussified 8 ай бұрын

Mappy-Land is like SMB having the basic gameplay of Donkey Kong. Doesn't work, results in pain.

@retrofan4963 8 ай бұрын

I disagree. Mappy-Land is really fun and one of the best games of all time. You're just not that good at it since you said "it results in pain". Mappy-Land has tight controls, great gameplay, and great soundtrack. It's an underrated gem.

@JeremyParish 8 ай бұрын

I don't know I'd go so far as to GOAT it, but it really is better than you'd expect given its age and pedigree.

@retrofan4963 8 ай бұрын

@@JeremyParish Well, to each their own. Speaking of which, Happy to hear your Mappy-Land retrospective is overall pretty positive towards the game, more than expected to be honest. Since this game weirdly gets lot of hate for no good reason. Your retrospective of Mappy-Land is definately at-least more refreshing than @repussified. In my opinion though, Mappy-Land is one of the best games ever made. It's really great and overall lot of fun. It definatelly admitidely has some flaws of course, but this is one of those games where the positives outweigh the negative a lot. Those flaws doesn't bother me since I have a blast with Mappy-Land anyway. Overall, it's an under-appreciated classic in my opinion. What's your overall thoughts on the original Mappy? I've seen your retrospective it. But I wonder, do you find it better than Mappy-Land? To me personally, the original Mappy is my all time favorite game.

@CopingContinuous 15 күн бұрын

“MARIO DRAG”!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 as a trans woman who dates a trans masc person, we did Halloween couples cosplay wario & waluigi one year, and this term never came to our minds!! You made me laugh loud and bawdy when I heard you say that Parish! So thankful for cross communities

@dialest 7 ай бұрын

I want to implore you to leave poor Kung Fu Heroes alone, but you've already told me you won't...

@beauwalker9820 8 ай бұрын

I actually prefer "Mappy-Land," over the original "Mappy." It has more levels, (32 actually, the game doesn't loop the same 8 stages, just the same 8 backgrounds. If you compare them the levels are different) more unique settings, more music, more items/traps, hidden areas, and feels like more then a quick arcade game. And dunno why you hate "Kung-Fu Heroes" me and my sister liked it.