Mouser

Mouser (マウサー in Japan) is an arcade game from UPL, released in 1983.

Gameplay
Mouser is a side-view, fixed-screen jumping action game. The story is about a male cat, Nyanta, who rescues his girlfriend, a female cat named Mariya, who was kidnapped by mice. Mouser is a cat that is good at catching mice.

The stage is composed of three levels, and players return to the first level after clearing the first level.

On the first stage, balls fly around and a special mouse quickly drops a flowerpot from above.

On the second stage, spanners fly and rolling bombs fall. The ball and spanner pass over any gaps in the scaffolding. If there is a gap in the scaffolding, the bomb will fall from there.

The third stage is a combination of balls and bombs, but in order to get to the top step, you have to jump at the right time on the scaffolding arranged in the form of stairs, not ladders, and bombs will roll into the gaps. If you hit these, fall from a high place, or if the time limit expires, you will lose a life.

Bombs may or may not explode when they roll down from the upper level. Also, if the main character jumps when he is horizontally aligned with a bomb, all bombs on the horizontal level will always explode. On the staircase-like foothold on the third level, if you jump over a bomb that is rolling down from a slightly higher level and land on the lower level, the bomb will explode. If you jump over a bomb rolling on the lower step from a slightly elevated position and land on the lower step, the bomb will not explode because you jumped on the wrong step.

Bonus points are awarded for eating fish. If you catch the light blue rats that sometimes appear from the doors at either end of the screen, the main character becomes translucent and invincible for a certain period of time.

There are two different speeds to ascend and descend the ladder, and each time a key is pressed, the speed switches. When climbing up the ladder, the user must first climb at a slower speed, release the key immediately, and then press the key again to climb faster.

Trivia
The American folk song "Turkey In The Straw" is performed in the key of C major, without consecutive staves. At the finish line, the opening phrase of Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is played.