SPACE MOUSE 35th Anniversary edition

日本で最初のスタープログラマーと言っていい芸夢狂人氏の最高傑作と言われている スペースマウスが35周年を記念して復活しました。 懐かしくてPC-8001モードとPC-8001+PCGモードで遊んでみましたが、昔遊んでいた時よりも とても難しく感じました。 最初は自分も年を取り反射神経が鈍ってしまったのかと思いましたが、遊べば遊ぶほど 違和感を感じました。 違和感を感じた部分を上げてみました。 まず壁に開く穴が一つしか無い事が非常に多い。 酷いときには連続で四階分穴が一つという事がありました。 この為パワーアップアイテムを取らないと進めない事が多い。 マウスの出てくる数が序盤から多い。 オリジナル版ではパワーアップアイテムを取って上に登っているときに、マウスをすり抜ける事が あったのですがそれが再現されていない。 これらの為に難易度が非常に上がっています。 その他難易度には関係ないのですが表示で気になる点があります。 タイトル表示の時のスクロールがオリジナルと違う。 (キー表示の説明が出てくる時) スタート時プレイヤーが一番下に表示されている。 (オリジナルはその一つ上からスタートしている。) 屋上に到達してからのデモが音が違うし動きのタイミングが再現されていない。 ゲームオーバー時の表示が違う。 これらは細かいことのように思えるが当時の思い出と違うため非常に違和感を感じます。 作者は4Gamerのインタビューで芸夢狂人氏の他の作品や80年代前半のゲームを 復刻したいと発言されているが、オリジナルをそのまま再現出来ないようでは これから出てくる復刻も不安がある。 新しいモードを付け加えるのは結構だが、まずはオリジナルを完全復刻してからにしてほしい。

This is a good, solid, fun little retro game. My first reaction to hearing about this game was "surely a game from a magazine listing from 1981 will be too simple to have enduring appeal", and the idea of someone selling a game that's from a magazine listing seemed... well, lazy. For anyone who doesn't remember, back in the early 1980s when home computing was first starting to take off, computer enthusiast magazines would sometimes include game listings for you to key in and play. This was back in the days before they began to tape recorded media to magazine covers. I remember typing in game listings - back in the early 1980s - and... well, I learned two things. 1) how to type accurately, and 2) that games you type in from magazine listings generally aren't worth the time they take to type in. The other thing is - I wasn't playing on home computers in 1981. I was three years old, and there are Atari 2600 joysticks in my mum's house with my baby teething marks imprinted upon them. I was beating my parents at Space Invaders. The first home computer game I played was "Radar Rat Race" on C64, a clone of Namco's Rally X by HAL Laboratories. It came on a cartridge. Yes, more mazes and mice! It was quite good... but my ideas of what a home computer game from 1981 are, are - "very, very basic". So this is how I came into SPACE MOUSE. No history of playing the game any time previously in its 35 years, and with the pre-conception that it probably wasn't going to be worth my time. It turned out that my expectations were wrong. The default version of the game that you get to play is the "NES ARR" version - i.e. the game as imagined if it were for the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicon), and it's been given a few extra features and enough polish to make it feel as new as maybe.... 1985! The game also includes a few other versions, including the original PC-8001 version. The basic game is - you control a little thingie that can only move left, right, and up, and you need to travel ever upwards through a maze-like level, while avoiding enemies that flow through the level in a predictable pattern - similar to those water flow puzzles you sometimes see. There is one power up, and it allows you to bust through walls for a short period of time. I don't know whether that simple description does the game justice. Despite being so simple, reading the flow of enemies and the layout of the maze before you gives it challenge beyond mere twitchy arcade play - you're always looking for the best route as you traverse forwards, waiting for the perfect time to move. The NES Arranged version adds a little complexity; music, nicer graphics, helpful messages to the player, keys and extra lives to collect, and a few little hidden secrets and mechanics. Also, you can ram enemies when powered up, to beat them and earn points. It really is a big improvement to the game. The original developer of this game went on to work for Enix and Namco, before leaving the industry to become a medical doctor. I do wonder whether elements of SPACE MOUSE were combined with Dig Dug then inverted, to influence the creation of one of my favourite games - Mr Driller. It is all vertical scrolling to the goal while racing an ever-decreasing air supply, after all. Overall: this game really exceeded my expectations and is a lot of good, simple fun. I recommend it.

TLDR: A simple, but quite enjoyable little game, obviously a labour of love. The goal is to get to the top of each level, while avoiding or killing the monsters who head in the opposite direction, but there are many little things that make it more interesting and tactical than it first might seem. For instance, while the monsters movement may appear chaotic, it is based on simple and predictable rules. There are also keys to find and coins to grab. The keys let you unlock bonus "rooms", while the coins let you kill enemies and break walls, but only for a short while (unless you grab more coins). Later levels (in the NES-style arranged version, at least) introduce new elements that must be taken into account, such as invincible walls and walls that can be broken even in normal mode. The presentation is quite nice (I love the little wave that the main character gives while waiting for the rocket) and authentic, and I am very fond of the music. The tune on level three is my favourite so far, I think. If you like chiptunes, you'll like the music, and if you played games in the eighties you'll definitely recognize the "sound" as well. The added MZ-700 versions are a nice touch that adds some value especially for those of us who had Sharp computers back in the eighties and recognize the "little man" character (display codes for POKE are 202-205 on my MZ-80A ;) ). I have not yet tried the original PC-8001 version. I think this game will appeal to anyone who like retro-style games. If you have an interest in the particular platforms being "emulated" (NEC PC, Sharp MZ and NES), you'll obviously be more partial to it, but so far I feel that it is a very well designed game that should work both with and without the nostalgia goggles. Disclaimer: The author of the remake is a Steam friend of mine, and we have a common interest in the history of computer games. I previously interviewed him for my site: http://spillhistorie.no/interview-mikito-ichikawa-of-mindware/ But I bought this game as a regular customer. I'll also add that I am a fan of the devs earlier game, Cosmic Cavern 3671.

As a fan of Mindware's work on WiiWare and the DSi (MaBoShi is amazing), l had to give this a go given its rather quirky heritage. Despite its age, Space Mouse is a product of good design, it doesn't feel as old as you'd expect it to, and instead has a timeless appeal to it much like the best games of the 80s which you'd still play today. In Space Mouse you've got to make your way to the top of the screen, navigating floors of a building and avoiding mice which are making their way down the screen. Each "tier" of the screen is effectively a floor of the building, and there are gaps (or stairwells if you will) to move up to the next floor. What makes this simple idea work rather well are the smart constraints applied to your character and the rules of the game. You can't go back once you've moved up a level, so you've got to plan far ahead of time. The mice which run against you either move left or right once they pass a stairwell, which introduces a constant element of uncertainty in how you tackle each moving roadblock: Should you consider a specific location on the grid a hiding place or not, or should you can quickly dash past a potential opening while it's there? I've found myself bettering myself with every go, and subsequent stages introduce different tower layouts which further demand more from you and require better flexibility in dealing with the hazards ahead. Despite the game's 1981 roots the default mode is a remake featuring NES/Famicom style visuals (more detailed sprites and smooth scrolling), and new mechanics. So far I've tried the NES and MZ-700 modes, I've yet to unlock the original PC-8001 version of the game. The general look of the "arranged" version certainly feels authentic to me - like a lost NES game from the early 80's, which in turn complements the grid-based game world. In its current state I feel Space Mouse is missing one feature that'd make it feel more well rounded: high score tracking and leaderboards. I've been playing from the first level every time I get a game over and it's a shame my scores aren't being saved so I can track how well I'm doing over time. So hopefully these are added to the game at some point - it already supports features of the Steam platform like achievements and playing cards, so I'd love to see online Steam leaderboards or just local ones. tl;dr: Space Mouse carries arcade-like sensibilities that has kept me returning to it for another quick go much more often than I had anticipated.

Space Mouse is great. From a time when games were easy to learn but hard to master. You can move left, right, and up -- but not down. As you're climbing up the level, the enemies are coming down at you. They fall through the holes in the floor and maintain their direction until they hit an obstruction, at which point they turn around. Despite the predictable nature of their movement, it is still very challenging. In addition, you have a limited supply of air so you can't take too much time waiting out the enemies. There are several power-ups and lots of easter eggs to be found in the game.

This is a really wonderful game. When I purchased it I thought that the different modes (NES, PC88, and another computer) were just graphical themes. Turns out they're all different versions of the same game. Sound is great, graphics are great, the concept is super minimal but lovely, I haven o complaints whatsoever.

Space Mouse is amazing, the game-play looks simple but its challenging and takes some strategy. I love all the everything about this game, the power ups, the keys, the hidden gems and the sounds. If you want a real challenge, try to get the achievements on infinite climb.

It's a game from 35 years ago that has been remade to be better. The NES mode is hands-down the best one. That all being said, it's a fun game and would fit very well on a portable console in the modern era, I think. A great way to waste a half hour at a time or so.

This is another remake of a late 1970s-early 1980s Japanese arcade game that was groundbreaking at the time for the new features it introduced. The game itself is a vertical maze where you try to climb to the top while avoiding enemies that come down from above, you can collect keys to open locked doors and coins to quickly move up floors. There are also alternate versions that change the character layouts and alter coins to let you defeat the enemies, as well as an NES-style remake with a one-life infinite climb mode. While the original game itself is fine and a good challenge, like with Mindware's other games the extra versions and NES-style remake are the real stars. Each is slightly different from the other but they are all fun to play, easy to learn but hard to master. One thing to note if the game seems to play at hyperspeed, especially on newer or faster PCs-if you go into the options menu and change "Frame Skip" from 0 to 1, that should slow the game down to normal speed. If you like climbing/vertical maze games, classic arcade games or are curious about some of the earliest Japanese arcade games this is worth picking up. A good bundle for a reasonable price.

Frankly I think instead of remaking it they should just have published the type-in-program code via Steam.