"Mischief = fun! But it's not for everyone!"

Okay, now I know this review is a bit late (considering the game came out in 97, and its now 02), but the fact is people should be able to know as much as they want about a game before they buy it, or rent it. I want to help contribute by telling everyone what I think. *Note* I did play this game as soon as it was released, but have not played it again until I bought it a few weeks ago, I just now completed it.

The 1st thing I should tell...or warn you of is this game is strait-anime. So if you hated Voltron, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z this probably isn't for you. As soon as you turn on the game, you see a very Anime sequence, its pretty fun and really cool at the same time, for me, this was the game telling me ''I hope you like Anime'', and I said ''hell ya!'', so ya, this review is based from a perspective of an audience that likes this kinda stuff.

Controls:::9
k...well, I had to hit myself over the head after a few seconds after turning this on. I totally forgot N64 had a D-pad, so you better get used to it. The controls are very innovative. You move with the D-pad, and use the C arrow buttons to boost in their direction, or double tap the d-pad in the direction you want to go (you have infinite boost). ‘A’ jumps (important to plat formers), ‘B’ grabs (very important...I'll explain later). The controls are tight, just a bit hard to get used to, after 3 or 4 levels, you'll be fine, you will feel the freedom of movement that Marina really has!

Gameplay:::10
Okay, now this is why the game is good, its fun. There is a lot of story, wanna skip it? Hit Z, there, but its interesting to read what’s going on, you actually have a purpose in this game. There’s a lot of conversations, when people talk, you can see a little picture of what their expression is, this game has great artwork. Basically, you jump platform to platform, or grab a ball (which hovers in place in mid-air), shake it to reveal a warp star, grab that, port into another area, grab an bad guy, throw him at another one to kill em both, ride floating balls, rotate levels, jump of springs, surf missiles, all kinds of stuff. You can grab anything, enemies, weapons, bombs, pots, balls, it adds a lot to the game play, you may also want to shake up stuff!

Length:::7
Now the flaw to game play is that it IS NOT repetitive, which means each level is different, so you don't get bored playing this game...you just beat it incredibly fast. This game goes by quick, 50 or so short levels that are all unique, if they added a little repetition to make them longer, the title would be better. Luckily gold-gems are found in each level, the ending is the incentive here. The more gold-gems you have, the longer the ending. So if you want the good ending, you got a 9-13 hour game, if you don't care, 2-5 hours.

Sound:::8
If you like catchy music, then this is your game, its cool and wears on you, to the wacky-mini boss fight music, to the park-theme, this game will have you humming. Sound effects are decent, nothing special, Marina says ''SHAKE SHAKE!'' whenever you...shake something, but if you keep doing it, the game stops playing the sound to keep you from kicking yourself in the head. The bad guys have a few lines, and its funny to hear the professor scream ''help me MARINA!'', lame to read, funny to hear, trust me. So average sound effects with great music.

Graphics:::10
Now remember, this is a 2D plat forming game from 1997, please don't compare this to Banjo-Kazooie, that’s just cruel. So, considering the limits of 2D sprites, treasure did a wonderful job. Some bosses have flailing limbs, robots transform in front of your eyes, for 2D I was very impressed. What’s really cool, is the intro and a few other sequences have cool anime art. It looks crisp and clean, at the end of the game you are rewarded with awesome art (remember those gold-gems I was talking about)! Bright colors, pretty backgrounds, smooth characters (blurry when they are zoomed in on), but over all, compare this to Mario64, shrug, compare it to Mario World, drool!

OVERALL:::44/50 that’s 88% considering the grading curve (no other 2D plat formers out on N64) I give it an 9/10

Very fun, you will be addicted as soon as you start playing, sadly when you beat it, you crave more. In my opinion, if you beat a game and crave more, the developer failed, they failed to bring you the fun that they tried to pack into the cart. After I played this, I wanted a sequel, Manga, Anime series or movie, or at least a guest appearance on Smash Brothers, but no, that’s it, its over, just the game over again, we probably will never see Marina again *prays Treasure will make a sequel*.

Trust me, its extremely fun while it lasts!

If you can find it cheap (20$ or less) buy it! If not, rent it and get as much out of it as possible, this game needs to be played!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/03/02, Updated 09/03/02