Mischief Makers

"One of the best games for the N64"

I cannot explain how much I love this game. I had to wait two years before I finally found it, and let me tell you, I was not disappointed when I got it. At first, it seems like some Mario wannabe that doesn't get things right(the gameplay is very strange/original). But once you play it a few hours, you'll quickly notice how wonderful it is. And you'll fall in love with Marina. Yeah, fall in love with Marina. I'm not joking.

Graphics(8)

Even though its graphics are 2D, I find them to be wonderful. Levels are extremely bland, though, mainly composed of platforms and simple backgrounds. Throughout these levels we will find numerous enemies and allies and other funny stuff, but overall, the levels are rather simple. Nothing to stare at. Some of the game's levels are sometimes 3D, background-wise, but is nothing special. Character models are a bunch of sprites put together, in my opinion. Overall, the graphics are very average.

Game control(7)

Again, this game's control is not easy to get used to. It is a fairly simple control and you will maneuver Marina with ease through the game, but mastering the game's control is not easy. You use the C buttons and the D-Pad to steer marina around while jumping and grabbing stuff. Nothing terribly new here, but the fact that the game movement is limited to the directional pad and C stick makes
it quite challenging. Whatever, is a good control if you spend time on it.

Sound(9)

This is when the game starts to get really awesome. The game's tunes are some kind of techno(hmmm yeah) but they're pretty cool and really memorable if you ask me. The voice acting(there is some) is well done. And there is something really memorable in this game: what the bosses say when you fight them. Extremely memorable. It's impossible for me to forget that ''Sasquatch Betta!!!'' Or ''Phoenix Gamma'' by merco. Jeez, I cannot even forget that ''Cerberus A'' by Lunar!. Just listen to 'em. You'll know what I mean.

Gameplay(10)

Probably MM's strongest points. You basically go around levels, kicking clancer asses and getting stuff. To beat your clancer enemies, you'll use a wide range of items such as projectiles, sticks and other cool stuff. The game is mainly a platform game, where you jump from block to block and kill enemies. You also get to collect 'Golde Gems' on the fly. Treat 'golden gems' as stars from Mario 64. Your main objective in this game is to collect the golden gems. From time to time, we will have to fight some bosses. These battles are the highlight of the gameplay: they're challenging and are always different. For instance, to beat the Phoenix Gamma, we must catch one of its missiles and return it to the flying machine. To beat Cerberus A, we could steal Lunar's machine gun and use it to beat the crap out of the boss. Overall, a very strong gameplay department.

Replay Value(9)

Very high indeed. If you ever miss something, you will replay the level back to get it, of course! And replaying the levels is a lot of fun. Although they're pretty much the same always, it's still cool to kick some Clancer ass.

PRECISE SCORE: 8.6(awesome).
G'FAQS SCORE: 9.0

That's the correct score for such an awesome game. I would give it a 10 for being such a memorable game, but not having a good level design keeps it from getting such score.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/14/02, Updated 10/14/02