High School Graffiti Mikie, Arcade

High School Graffiti Mikie is a revised version of Konami‘s classroom chase game, Mikie, with gameplay that’s been toned down to make it less violent.

Gone are the headbutts of the original game, which have been replaced by a paralysing shout instead. The problem with that, however, is that the shout has no effect on his classroom teacher who chases him through four of the five stages. Which makes the game considerably harder than previously. Anyone who’s played the original Mikie will know how difficult it is, and making it even more difficult is a problem for the player (but maybe not for Konami who wanted players to put more money into the arcade machine).

Other changes include: the blackboard in the first stage reads “Failure Teaches Success“, rather than “E=MC2“; in the locker room on the third stage the glass jars that Mikie previously had to headbutt (to collect the hearts) have been replaced with three hearts that must be picked up one after the other (negating the need to headbutt glass); and Mikie‘s ‘death’ animation is also different (he now sobs instead of dropping to the floor). Also: after completing the game and looping back to the start again, Mikie‘s pursuers speed up and also acquire new abilities, making the game even harder.

To be honest: there’s no real reason you’d want to play High School Graffiti Mikie, unless you’re curious to see what’s been changed, as it’s less playable than the original. Of the three versions of Mikie available it’s definitely the least fun to play. I’m including it here for completeness and as an interesting curiosity.