"Time for some Mischief!"

This is the only anime'-themed Nintendo 64 game that I know of...It has great adventure elements, a nice selection of music, and fun places to explore! What more could you want?! I didn't give it a 10...Wanna know why? Keep reading!
Story: 7/10:
Basically, the character you control is a half-robot, half-human being named Marina, whom was created by a well-known professor, Prof. Theo. When Marina and Prof. Theo are flying a house-spaceship type thing over a new land, Prof. Theo is captured by odd beings named Clancers. Now, it's up to Marina to save him! After reading those last few lines of sentences, you probably think that that's all there is to the storyline, but you're mistaken, my friend! There are many more Boss-type characters with their own stories, and a suprising ending! You get to see more pieces of the ending if you collect more Gold Gems. One Gold Gem is found in each level. Don't worry if you don't get it you're first time through; you can replay any previously accessed level whenever you want! As I was saying, more Gold Gems = longer ending. You can only see the entire ending if you get all of them!
Challenge: 8/10:
The first series of levels is pretty easy, and is just getting you started and showing you how to use various items, defeat enemies, etc. In almost every level, there is a friendly Clancer named Ms. Hint that will give you a useful tip if you're having trouble. The instruction booklet that comes with the game is very in-depth in explaination, but if you don't get an instruction booklet, there's no need to worry, since the controls for this game are fairly easy to figure out. As the levels go on, it gets much more challenging. The Bosses are always terribly hard (not RPG hard, but close), and the last Boss took me an eternity...After I beat it normally, I tried with the GameShark, and it was still hard! There's no leveling up, Marina has two health meters, and when both of them are completely depleted, it's Game Over. If you collected lots of Red Gems while you were going through the level, you can use them to continue with full health, or less depending on how many Red Gems you used. Some of the levels are easy, but still fun, and most of them are challenging, but still fun! I didn't find myself getting frustrated with the challenge too much. There aren't a lot of levels (around 30 or 40 I think...), but they're always fun to play again.
Sound: 7/10:
Most of the sounds seemed to fit pretty well with the flow of the game, but some of them could have been done a little better. Some of the effects like explosions, or breaking things sounded a little off, but otherwise, picking things up, the voices, etc. sounded very nice for being a Nintendo 64 game.
Music: 10/10:
The music is excellent, and each piece fits the level well. I can still remember many of the music pieces, even though it's been over a month since I played Mischief Makers. It's a must-listen!
Replayablity: 7/10:
You might get bored of some of the levels, but most of them are very fun to play again and again. There's even an amusement park themed level, and one full of mini-games! This game won't end up in the used pile at some video game store (in fact, I haven't ever seen this game used...) !
Buy or Rent?:
If you like adventure, platformer, or anime' themed games, this is a must-have! Even RPG fans will like this, especially because of the challenge it offers. This game is very fun to play, and I hope that whoever is reading this review will at least rent it!
Final Score: 8/10:
There's one factor that stopped me from giving this game that golden 10: It's 3-D and a sidescroller! The characters are still 3-D, but it's a side-scrolling game! What's up with that?! The game is still fun, and the 2-D/3-D effect gives it a new kind of feel, since that hasn't been overdone too much (Yoshi's Story is the only one I've seen)...Still, don't let that get in the way of a very fun gaming experience!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/04/02, Updated 04/20/03