Already I feel like the Angry Video Game Nerd as I write this, but let's continue anyway. NP reviewed Mischief Makers and made the game sound awesome, so I decided to rent it and tried it out. I loved it, though I never finished the game and never ended up buying it. Over 10 years later, I see this game in a retro gaming store, and decide it's time to finish it once and for all.
Now, I bet most "serious" gamers haven't even heard of Mischief Makers. That's...pretty reasonable, actually; the game sold poorly, and pretty much everything was against it in terms of sales. For one, it's a 2-D platformer at a time when games like Goldeneye and Mario 64 were pushing the abilities of video games. Also, you might recall that as the RPG era of Final Fantasy VII; games were expected to hold a player's attention for hours on end, and considering Mischief Makers is a pretty short game that only takes a couple of hours to beat, that's no surprise. Also, the game wasn't made by any of the big-name publishers; rather, Treasure made it. Treasure's an awesome company, don't get me wrong, but they don't have the same advertising power that a name like Nintendo, Sega, or Sony does. I'm sure the hideous box art didn't do the game any favors either.
So why bother talking about Mischief Makers? After all, it's just a tiny blip on the radar; a bird on a satellite dish. Everyone knows it's there, but they're going to ignore it for more important things. It's hardly an unappreciated gem trampled by mainstream gaming; since playing it I've found that a lot of the levels in the game simply aren't that fun. But for everything the game does wrong, it does something so unique, so creative, and so entertaining that it was worth trudging through the dull bits.
The game stars Marina Liteyears, an android who spends all her time saving the kidnapped Professor from the bad guys. The plot isn't what you would call complicated or deep, but hilarious cutscenes and quirky characters make you laugh again and again, though some bits are enough to make you shake your fist in the air and yell "Those crazy Japanese!" (such as when Marina manages to rescue the Professor, only for him to give her a celebratory grope). The graphics are highly stylized, and Marina herself would fit into any random anime series, though considering her and the Professor are the only two humans in the game, it's not as cliche as you would think.
As for the actual gameplay, it's a platformer, but with a different focus: grabbing things, shaking them, and throwing them (no, this isn't Mario 2). Marina can also hover a bit, and she often gets around by propelling herself off the things she grabs. Most enemies are disposed of by simply grabbing and throwing them. The main problem with the game is that a lot of it is just...dull. Most levels are just "run left to right" with no real challenge or goal, and some levels can literally be beaten in less than a minute on your first try. Not to mention the game is extremely generous with health, so even if you do find yourself cornered and taking damage, you're in no real danger.
But like I said, for every "run left to right" or "grab enemy and throw him repeatedly to win" level, there are other levels that kick insane amounts of ass. Fleeing a lava wave as it destroys the floor beneath you, climbing higher and higher in an unstable tower, a random level where you're riding an ostrich for no good reason, all sorts of crazy levels that are fun to play. And the boss fights, oh god. Some bosses are pathetic and leave you with a "was this level really necessary" feel. Other boss fights are undoubtedly a "10" on the epic meter. In particular, the fights with the trio of villains are possibly some of the best boss fights I've ever played, in tone, challenge, and the satisfaction of figuring out how to beat them. And how can you NOT love a villain whose catchphrase is "Through fire, justice is served!"
It may not have done well when it was first released, but I can't help but feel that Mischief Makers would be better received today. With the dawn of digital distribution, games like Symphony of the Night and Punch-Out are being rediscovered, while games like Braid and World of Goo are teaching gamers that a game doesn't need to be 3D or several hours long in order to be an engaging experience. The trend of more Japanese-styled games finding fanbases in the west also goes in Mischief Makers' favor, as well as the lack of platform games in this generation. If Treasure were to be released Mischief Makers on the Virtual Console, it could find the home it was once deprived of. And is it just me, or would the "shake everything" concept work really well with a Wii remote?
Whenever Marina shakes something, she goes "Shake shake!". Thanks to that, I've had "Shake shake, shake shake, shake it!" stuck in my head all week.
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