Family Trainer: Meiro Daisakusen represents one of the more ambitious attempts to utilize Bandai’s Power Pad peripheral on the Famicom. Known in the West as the Power Pad, the floor mat serves as the primary controller for this first-person dungeon crawler, forcing players to physically run in place to navigate a series of complex, trap-filled labyrinths. While many titles in the Family Trainer library focused on simple athletic mini-games, Meiro Daisakusen attempts to blend physical exertion with traditional RPG exploration, creating a primitive but immersive fitness experience for the late 1980s.
The gameplay loop involves navigating pseudo-3D corridors, battling monsters through rhythmic stepping, and collecting items to progress through increasingly difficult levels. The technical execution is surprisingly competent for the hardware, though the sprite flicker and slow movement speed can lead to frustration during longer play sessions. Players must manage their stamina both in-game and in reality, as the "Side A" mat configuration requires a steady pace that becomes genuinely exhausting as the mazes grow more intricate. It stands out as a unique genre hybrid that demanded more from the player than almost any other title in the Famicom’s massive library.
Despite its innovative approach to the dungeon-crawling genre, the game remained a Japanese exclusive, never receiving the localized "Power Pad" rebranding that titles like World Class Track Meet enjoyed in North America and Europe. For collectors of oddities, Meiro Daisakusen represents a high-water mark for peripheral-based game design, even if the physical toll of finishing the later stages makes it a difficult game to recommend for a casual afternoon.
