(Review is originally from December 14, 2014)
(1997, Nintendo 64)
The early days of the N64 were some of the most fascinating and novel times in gaming for me. One of the many titles to grab my interest was Treasure’s 2D oddity, Mischief Makers. As a young teen at the time, not only was it far out of reach with its $60-$70 price tag, even finding it available for rent proved difficult. Never forgetting to one day try it, I managed to find a cheap copy of the JP version over 15 years later. While most screenshots would suggest this is a platformer, Mischief Makers can’t be pigeon-holed into a single genre. It’s also a puzzle game, schmup, beat-em-up, run-n-gun, track & field and edutainment title, along with enough dialogue to feel like an Adventure-RPG!
After an opening cut scene detailing the capture of Marina’s Master-Roshi inspired inventor, she sets off to (repeatedly) rescue him. Consisting of about 50 bite-sized levels, the first few are easily the hardest to digest. The opening tutorial style stages immediately lay out rather abstract objectives and force you to master the unique boost/grab/shake/pivot mechanics that require several play sessions to get comfortable with. Just hang in there for a few stages, using a walk-through if you must, and then it all starts to come together.
The charm of the game is how it’s all over the place, so many ideas being scattered about like a carnival spin-art. The better ones are accompanied by a yearning for them to soon return. The numerous failures still contain a sliver of beauty in their courageous attempt. The game’s low points will make you say “What were they thinking?!” such as 4-10’s cavern maze. The high points will have you experiencing the kind of gorgeous, innovate, over-the-top 2D bliss you could only imagine while on your SNES or Genesis. The boss fights are a spectacle even today, with their tremendous sense of chaos and style. One offers a unique take on Punch-Out!, while another has you riding a Kofun-era inspired cat as you’re negotiating missiles thrown by the Wolf boss, finally ending in the kind of hand to hand combat seen in the Matrix! While a lot of the puzzle themed levels tested my patience, I had a great time with the more action oriented stages.
The game still looks quite good on a CRT display. Almost always 60FPS, Mischief Makers captures that special look unique to the 32-bit era, when 2D and 3D were cleverly combined. I particularly loved the graphics in the ‘Olympic stage,’ which almost looked like the N64 was doing it's best to emulate a high-powered Sega Model 2 arcade game. The only big drawback is that the sprites often repeat, the worst offender being the lava underworld and it's frequent use of the same background.
Another classic, overlooked soundtrack of the era, the clean, synthesizer dominated tracks simultaneously draw you into the action while clearly being no less wacky than the game itself. ‘Neo’ starts with what sounds like the ridiculous singing of squirrels, quickly drops them to build up an impressively intriguing and dense atmosphere, then at the climax, throws everything away to bring back the squirrels. It’s as if the music itself wanted to troll the player for a laugh! The beautiful and elegant “Esperance” sounds remarkably like a track from Final Fantasy Tactics. “Gloomy” has hints of both Earthbound and Chrono Trigger. The energetic but somewhat weird “Hurry!” and “Volcanic” perfectly match the game’s presentation. In general, the music brilliantly delivers a quizzical Saturday morning cartoon feel, sounding familiar yet not quite like anything you’ve heard before.
Fitting the wackiness of the game, very casual, heavily accented Japanese is used. I actually had an easier time figuring out the far more text heavy FFV off the top of my head. Though I was surprised with how dense the game is with dialogue, it was very welcome thanks all the weirdness and hilarious scenarios. Ridiculous, cool, and convincingly displaying their might, the world and it’s characters felt like it could have easily been expanded into toys and anime had the game sold better.
Despite all the amusement I got from playing, I can understand why Mischief Makers is so obscure to this day. With it’s flaws and randomness, it can be a tough sell if you aren’t a fan of Treasure’s quirky game design. While I still don't regret passing on an expensive copy back in '97, there is plenty of good fun to be had with it on the cheap in the present day. If you’re open to something retro, yet completely different from what you’re used to, this cart full of chaos will do the job and jet-boost away before it’s shortcomings can make too much trouble.
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