Catrap
Pitman, also known as Catrap in the US, is a puzzle-platform video game originally developed for the Sharp MZ-700 computer in 1985 and released by Asmik for the Nintendo Game Boy in 1990. The word Catrap refers to the frequent amount of times the player is trapped and needs to reverse their movements and the two anthropomorphic cats the player must manoeuvre to advance through the levels.
The game concept was originally created in 1985 on a MZ-700 home computer by Yutaka Isokawa. The BASIC listing of the game was published in the August 1985 issue of the magazine "Oh!MZ Publications" as a type-in program. The popularity of the game caused it to be picked up for Game Boy conversion in 1990. In the Game Boy version there is even a nod to the MZ-700 version, the layout of round 77 is a big M and Z.
The basic premise of the game is that you need to push blocks or dig up diggable squares to get blocks to fall where they needed, so you can walk across and collect all the necessary blocks. There are also ladders etc. as well.
The controls are as follows:
Dpad - U/D/L/R moves you in the corresponding direction, most of the time. The exception is when a block you can push is to
the left or right. Then you push it and don't move. Players can walk over anything that's not solid ground, and they can walk through or
on top of ladders, unless the ladders are on the ceiling.
A - undoes a move, but time is eaten up in the process.
B - redoes the moves you undid, up until the last 'real' move you made.
Start - pauses the game. Then you can move up/down to choose between restarting the level or scrolling around(arrow keys, any other key to break away) or
exiting. The game clock still runs while you're in this paused mode.
Select - switches who you control.
*TIPS*
(1) Use one player to step over the other(i.e. players as makeshift bricks).
(2) Drop blocks down chutes to walk over them.
(3) Place a block d/r or d/l of a floating object to pick it up.
(4) Climb on a "bad guy" to get across something, or even use them as a stepping stone!
(5) You'll often have to delay an obvious move to take care of something else first!
(6) Don't worry about making mistakes in a round. Using the A button, you can rewind what you just did and redo something as many times as you like!
PROTOTYPE PHOTOS
