This is another N64 game I bought a fair while ago but just never got around to playing. It’s one I could never beat growing up, and it’s also one of the favorite games of a close friend of mine, so I thought it’d be a load of fun to show them the Japanese version of a game they know really well in English. Having the N64 hooked up again seemed like as great a time as any to finally play through this, so I did! It took me about 6.5 hour to play through the Japanese version of the game on real hardware, and I got 27 of 52 yellow crystals doing it (to see as much of the ending as you’d normally want to).

Mischief Makers (or as the Japanese title calls it, Trouble Makers) is a very oddball story about Marina, a powerful, happy, ditzy maid robot for Professor Cambell. However, on their visit to Planet Nendoro, the professor just can’t seem to stop getting kidnapped, and it’s up to Marina to save him again and again xD. The game is very silly with tons of horrible disaster weirdos everywhere (on both the heroes and villains sides), so the dialogue is always a joy to read. It’s not trying to do anything particularly daring with its narrative, but it’s written in a very fun way and also does have some genuinely sweet moments here and there. It does a more than serviceable job of setting up the action at hand, and it augments it significantly with just how much more fun and memorable it makes the adventure you’re playing through~.

The adventure in question is very much what you’d expect of a Treasure game. Almost playing like a spiritual successor to Gunstar Heroes, Mischief Makers is a 2.5D (but mostly 2D) side scrolling action game, but instead of guns like Gunstar Heroes has, you have a very expanded throwing ability. Marina can pick up, shake, and throw (or at least deflect) damn near anything enemies can throw at her. She can also dash in any cardinal direction by double-tapping the D-pad or pressing one of the corresponding C-buttons (though the C-buttons are a little bit slower than using the D-pad). All of that certainly has a not insignificant learning curve attached to it (especially when it comes to platforming), it still makes for a very satisfying and fun experience. Particularly great and Treasure-ful are the boss fights, some of which are (unsurprisingly) balanced a bit too hard, I’d argue, especially with bosses closer to the start of the game actually being a fair bit harder than most bosses in the back half of the game, but they still make for intense and enjoyable fights regardless that have some wicked cool set pieces and just feel awesome to play through. There are some problems here and there with level design in that some levels have puzzles that are just very needlessly plodding or mean, and some bosses just aren’t quite clear enough on how they’re actually fought, but those aren’t issues nearly big enough to dampen the overall experience.

There are also the yellow crystals I mentioned earlier. Crystals (other than red ones) are generally your health pick ups. Red crystals, on the other hand, are more like money, as they can buy hints from certain NPCs as well as revive you when you die. Pay more red crystals and you come back with more health bars (or just quit the game from the game over screen and it’ll bump you back to before you even started that level, meaning you never actually lose any money at all from up until that point scrapped attempts, which is a very odd development oversight). Yellow crystals, on the other hand, aren’t just huge health pick ups, they’re also special. There is one in every stage, and they can be hidden anywhere from at the end of a difficult platforming challenge or locked behind defeating a boss without taking a single hit, but collecting them is what gets you the game’s ending. Every one you grab will unlock a few more seconds of the game’s ending, with about 24 or 26 of them being needed to see the “normal” ending, and anything after that unlocking extra gags or silly moments after that. While the overall game is probably one of the easier 2D platformers Treasure has put out over the years, getting all of those crystals is absolutely what makes this game Treasure-levels of hard, and it really isn’t for the faint of heart. Thankfully, getting 20 or so is a relatively manageable thing (especially with a guide pointing you towards their hiding places), so seeing the normal amount of narrative conclusion is far from an insurmountable task.

Aesthetically, this game is absolutely gorgeous. Unsurprisingly for a Treasure game, the levels and particularly characters are absolutely oozing with style, and it’s hard not to love them. While both the English and Japanese versions both have character portraits and dialogue in addition to little bits of voice work here and there, something only the Japanese version has is little mid-battle speech bubbles that will appear from enemies, particularly bosses. It gives the overall game just that much more vibe of a gag manga, and it adds a ton of fun character silliness to an already delightfully put together experience that had me laughing a ton. The music is also absolutely excellent, which talking about a Treasure game from the 90’s should also come as no surprise.

Verdict: Highly Recommended. While there are a few bosses that are a bit tougher than they should probably be and a couple levels that just kinda suck, this is regardless an all-time classic on the N64. Though a relatively early game on the system (and one that uses the D-pad rather than the joy stick), it still succeeds at being an excellent 2D action game well worth playing. If you’re a fan of 2D action platformers, and especially if you’re a fan of Treasure’s other work, this is yet another Treasure master-work that is well worth your time despite the generally 3D-focused console it happens to find itself on.

Mischief Makers was the third game I completed out of the five N64 games that sat in my backlog of games for over or nearly a decade. However, I believe this game was the last one out of those five that I bought. I remember starting my first playthrough I believe in 2014 which was a bit later than all of the others that I have reviewed and will review after this one. Besides the usual reason that 99.9% of the games I have played but never beat stay in my backlog for years, I remember getting stuck on a level but for whatever reason it didn't occur to me to look up a walkthrough. That being said, I finally beat it and like most of Treasure's other offerings is definitely deserving of its cult following.

You play as a robot girl named Marina on a mission to save Professor Theo and eventually the world from an evil empire led by Emperor Leo. In order to do so you will have to shake-shake your way through many levels that will require you to think outside the box and get familiar with how the game plays.

Similar to Treasure's other N64 classic Sin and Punishment, the controls take a little bit to get used to. It probably took me like 10 minutes to figure out how to do most basic things and longer to really get a feel for the controls. There were a few levels where the puzzles were either cryptic or just plain annoying like the one where you traverse a stormy ice mountain or the level right before you fight Sasquatch where you had to go through the right path by looking at the numbers. Despite the few frustrating levels this game had, they never dampened the experience.

There are a lot of positive things to say about Mischief Makers. The 2d sprites look great, the game is filled to the brim with charm and personality, and once you get used to the controls, Marina's movement feels great. It also is incredibly fair since you can get up to two bars of health which should be more than enough to deal with enemies and the bosses you fight. Besides the few annoying levels this game has, I thought most of the game was fun, short, and at the right level of challenge.

While it isn't my favorite title from Treasure, it is still a great 2d platformer made for a system that is criminally lacking in them. If Ikaruga, Dynamite Heddy, and Gunstar Heroes can be ported to every platform known to man, Mischief Makers should get the same treatment.

yeah do the rum shaker, the thug shaker. yeah you heard me! go down and spread those thighs.

SHAKE SHAKE

Playing Mischief Makers was much like the time when, while on the mend from reconstructive foot surgery, I was hopped up on medical drugs and experienced vivid hallucinations where I belonged to a community of mole-people that revered Lynn Johnston’s For Better or For Worse as holy gospel. At the very least, it made just as much sense: not one of the game’s many episodic narratives operate on any level of coherency, gleefully shifting from self-referential wit to non-sequitur plot beats at the drop of a hat. Mischief Makers is an arresting fever dream much as it is a deeply-committed comedy, eccentrically haphazard without any regard to the player’s sanity, not the least in cyborg protagonist Marina and her core “shaking” mechanic: an inevitable temptation into anarchy that violates friend and foe alike.

Hence why it’s difficult to get a bead on what, exactly, turned me off. It’s easy to say that Mischief Makers’ pledge to absurdity frequently smothers its sense of telegraphy: from poorly-conveyed puzzles to spontaneous visual overload with explosions and enemy swarms galore, I cannot count how many times I was forced to consult a guide, let alone utter “but why?!” in the face of its many inanities. (Even in instances I wholly enjoyed, mind; dare not spoil the circumstances behind “Blockman Rises”, as I suspect is the case among the game’s impassioned clique, but know that I shook that small child with glee and was not disappointed with the results.)

Yet I recall how a close friend recently elaborated upon his lifelong confusion surrounding another early N64 game – Bomberman 64, a game that’s personally never invited contempt – and I can’t help but wonder if the culprit is none other than personal taste. I make no joy in proclaiming this: I often champion such obscure games, and with how Mischief Makers has the ingredients of everything I adore – inspired mechanics, absurdist comedy, obvious anime influences, and just being so gosh-darned admirable in carrying the two-dimensional torch within 3D gaming’s advent -- I balk at the thought: shouldn’t this be a game I’d wholeheartedly embrace?

But the high’s come down, and I’m forced to confront the frustrating reality that, alas, it’s all just a little too opaque; too impenetrable in its motives. I’d never dream of calling it bad even in the face of more tangible, grounded criticism – the controls never gel, many levels end right when the momentum kicks off, and the elderly professor’s “durr hurr pervy old man lusts after own creation” shtick is painfully outdated – but much as I want to dismiss Mischief Makers’ foibles and root in the corner of Treasure’s forgotten gem, I’m reminded that you can’t force yourself to fall in love. Such is the “in-club” language of cult games like these, I suppose.

Pretty alright! This feels like a sandbox of ideas for completely different platforming games that don't exist. None of them go too in-depth which is kind of disappointing when you find one that you really like. The controls felt a little clunky - double tapping to dash works really well on the D-Pad (the intended movement buttons), but everything else doesn't. Couldn't care much about the story, it's one of those "we're making fun of tropes here" things but it still tries to keep you emotionally invested somehwo which didn't work for me. The graphics are really cool, mixing 2D and 3D in a way that looks goofy at worse and stunning at its best.

Mischief Makers is a 2D platformer from respected developers Treasure. It received glowing reviews for its originality, including a 90% from N64 magazine. Unfortunately, the game didn’t click with me, but I can definitely see why people would love it.

Mischief Makers is made up of lots of short platforming levels, each one focusing one a single gimmick. What’s impressive is that these levels are extremely varied and feel unique. The main move that levels are based on are Marina’s ability to grab and shake objects – mainly NPCs, enemies and balls. These will cause various actions that you need to figure out how to use to progress. There’s also a secret gem hidden in each level that’s very difficult to find, unlocking the final cutscene if you get them all.

The biggest issue I had with the game was the controls. Most of Marina’s movement abilities are performed by double tapping the D-pad. At first, I praised the game because the c-buttons were used as shortcuts to these abilities, providing a great extra way to perform these abilities, but then discovered that the c-button versions are less effective than tapping the d-pad, which is probably why I struggled with some really basic jumps.

I would love to see an updated re-release of Mischief Makers, making the c-buttons function the same as double-tapping the d-pad, plus higher details sprites. The game definitely deserves a new version.

2D platformer in which grabbing is the primary mechanic. You grab, you throw, and you shake stuff and see how every enemy, projectile, and object reacts (they almost never do what you expect them to).

It has some low points in the later levels, especially in the second part of World 4, but goddamn, the highs are incredible. I'll be remembering that final battle for the rest of my life.

Innovative on every level, silly when it has to, and consistently enjoyable from start to finish.
And, at least for me, that's what video games should be all about.

This game is wild! I played this game for a short time as a kid and always remembered the few things i saw because they where so memorable.

The movement in this game feels really good once you are adjusted to the controlls (or rather, once you adjust to the N64 controller again). Beeing able to dash in 4 different directions is really cool and grabbing, shaking and throwing stuff feels super satasfying. Crabbing stuff is pretty much the core mechanic of the game and its kinda crazy how many diffrent things you do with it. They really made sure to use such a simple idea to its fullest potenial.

The things you do in this game are so varied, you never know what the next level may bring and most of the time its something completly new and exciting. From basic "get to the end" to more open objectiv based levels to incredible boss fights. Finding lost children, running trough a literal warzone, taking part in the "olympic games", playing dodgeball against a cat! You never know whats next and that makes it super fun to play and hard to stop, because you always want to find out what the next level might be. Its as much about travelling trough the levels as it is about solving little puzzles and figuring out what to do with the things given in any level.

One of my favorite things about the game is the super unique vibe the game has. Bright and colorfull environments with happy music contrasted by the creppy looking clancers with their faces that look like they are in constant agony. Even the blocks and almost all items in the game have this face and it moves and makes you feel weird looking at it. It all comes together to this really unique atomsphere and i really enjoy that.

The only negativ thing i could say about the game is that some of the later boss fights could be a little bit more clear about what exactly you are supposed to do. But other than that i really liked this game.

I'm really happy i finaly played this game and can recommend everyone to do the same.

First GOTM finished for September 2023. Such a quirky Treasure game, it almost feels like a mish-mash of ideas that didn't quite make it into their other games. I have fond memories of videogame store rentals with this one growing up, and while I never did beat it back then I've been waiting for an opportunity to play this one again. While my adult version definitely noticed a lot more flaws this time around (the aforementioned need for Treasure N64 games to use every button, poor and sometimes unnecessarily vague level design, repetitive enemy and friendly NPC design outside of bosses) this game still manages to have enough goofy charm and whimsy to capture my attention all the way through many years later.

Also, the Beastector boss fights go hard and were super fun.

Treasure can be a little hit or miss for me. I love Dynamite Headdy and Alien Soldier, but I find Guardian Heroes and Gunstar Heroes to be pretty mediocre. Actually, writing it out like that, maybe it's just something about games with "Heroes" in the title. I mean, I don't like Sonic Heroes either... I must remember to investigate this further.

Mischief Makers is the cutest Treasure game I've played, and probably one of my favorites from their library, second only to Dynamite Headdy. It is also a Treasure game for a Nintendo system, which is a bit novel in itself given the company's adherence to Sega hardware, and being a 2D platformer from a generation where those were becoming less and less common, I was already inherently interested in it. I'll play just about any fifth gen 2D game, I just think they're neat. Something about the rising popularity of pre-rendered sprites meshing with fully-rendered 3D elements just appeals to me.

The grab-and-shake mechanic is a lot of fun to mess around with, and as was typical of Treasure, there's a lot of level variety to keep the game feeling fresh and engaging. Of course, sometimes its gimmicks don't land, and in particular there's a few bosses (especially in the late game) that just feel kind of weak. To get 100% completion, you also have to beat every boss encounter without taking damage, and I hate that crap. Whoever decided that should be a requirement clearly went on to program achievements for RetroAchivements.

But all the charm more than makes up for Mischief Maker's wobbly end game. Just don't let Marina Lightyears hold your baby.

Fun little game, Treasure never misses. Definitely not an absolute favorite of mine though, which is weird considering how much I like most of Treasure's other offerings. The platforming is honestly more action-puzzley rather than just flat out action like stuff such as gunstar heroes, dynamite headdy, or alien soldier, so maybe that might be why I didn't gravitate so much towards it. The boss fights are really fun though, as always with Treasure games. Characters and art are all done by the same guy that did Guardian Heroes and Gunstar Heroes, so if you like that aesthetic, then theres more of that here too. I also think that your completion percent directly corresponding to how many seconds of the ending you get to watch is really funny. Definitely a unique entry to the N64 library.