Mischief Makers

"Best 2d platformer on the N64, but why?"

Let's get straight onto the plot shall we? Evil people kidnap the professor you work for (several times throughout the game) And must get him back. You are Marina, maker of mischief! but you also get a control of Terrance for a while.

Now while the plot may sound lame, make no mistake, Treasure haven't just tacked it on because they need one, they actually like it, and you've got to respect them (and perhaps fear them) for it, as you go through levels, you'll find the plot included in elements of the gameplay, for instance in the first (or maybe second, I forget) Level you'll find villagers terrorized by your arch nemesis who's just been through here. these villagers also give very 'subtle' hints as to what to do 'I bet you can't pick me up and shake me by pressing up and down on the D-Pad!' I bet I can.

And it's here where one of the game's most endearing features rears it's welcome head, it's complete and utter bizarreness, pick someone up and shake them and Marina will quite frantically scream 'shake! shake!' perhaps to kill her victims by shock, I don't know, but it sure had me laughing.

And the gameplay isn't just run jump and shake, oh no, there are plenty of puzzles to solve. And levels can change format without warning, at one moment you might be trying to shake off (no pun intended) a bunch of attacking hooligans, then the next rocks will be falling from the sky and you'll be taking cover under blocks.

And the length of the game is certainly pleasing, plenty of levels, many of them very challenging, and some bosses that can be as hard as you might have ever faced before, certainly nothing to moan about here. I know the Graphics may be old-fashioned but they certainly work well with the game, and are always very pleasant, and impressive at best.

The sound in the game is just hilarious, it's all japanese platform sounds and scary 'shake! shake!' from Marina, but it fits in perfectly with the craziness of the game. Luckily the text hasn't been too americanised (not too many 'Lets kick some butt!') so it retains nearly all of it's Oriental madness in it's text, at one point you must bring home three children for dinner, one of them hilariously seems to be going through some sort of depression, very disturbing.

So with a mix of crazy humour and story, original ideas (The olympics levels are the best thing in a platform game EVER) fantastic gameplay and a long-lasting challenge, this is definitely something you won't want to miss.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/06/01, Updated 05/06/01