Mischief Makers
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- This article is about the video game. For the art activist collective, see The Mischief Makers.
| Mischief Makers | |
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| Developer(s) | Treasure Co. Ltd |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo Enix |
| Release date(s) |  June 27, 1997 October 1, 1997 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: K-A (Kids to Adults) |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 64 |
| Media | Cartridge |
Mischief Makers (or Yuke Yuke! Troublemakers in Japan) is a side-scrolling 2D platform/puzzle video game developed by Treasure, and published by Enix (in Japan) and Nintendo (in America and Europe) for the Nintendo 64 released in 1997. The game's protagonist is the Ultra-Intergalactic-Cybot G Marina Liteyears who is a robotic maid of the absent-minded Professor Theo, a seemingly perverted old man.
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[edit] Story
While visiting the planet Clancer, Prof. Theo gets kidnapped by 'The Empire' while Marina is out scouting. Upon realizing Theo's abduction she sets out to rescue him.
Marina proceeds to travel through over 50 levels on Planet Clancer to find her master. Every person, animal, and even inanimate object on the planet has an identical symbolistic face all seemingly belonging to a species called 'Clancer'. Along the way Marina's attempts to rescue the professor are impeded by agents of the Empire.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Heroes
- Marina
The main character in the game, Marina Liteyears is the robotic maid of Professor Theo. While she is loyal to him, she is commonly disgusted when he tries to take advantage on her, prompting her to punch or throw him far away. Her role in the game is to rescue Prof. Theo from the Clancers at the beginning of each level.
A common running joke is that the start of each level, when both Marina and Prof. Theo appear in a same room, some suspicious object or Clancer appear, which makes Marina investigate, a situation the Clancers take advantage to kidnap the Prof. Other recurring theme is that every time she rescues him from the main boss from each level, she ends up throwing him far, continues the search for him again.
- Terran
The only playable character (other than Marina), Teran is a Clancer, or so it seems. He helps Marina on a mission by turning himself into a creature composed of blocks named Blockman, and even takes the lead in the story when Marina is fatally wounded and needs to be healed.
[edit] Villains
[edit] Beastector
One particular and important segment of the Empire's forces is that of Beastector, a highly skilled trio of who appear to be bipedal human-esque animals armed with armor and weaponry. The group is individually taken on by Marina throughout the latter half of the game and, if the player collected a sufficient amount of the rare Golden Gems through out the game (around 48), they are finally revealed to have been normal humans transformed into their animal-selves presumably by the Empire for the purpose of war. The real Beastector were supposed to fight evil.
- Lunar
'You've gone too far, little girl. I'll punish you with my burning fist of justice!!'
The first member of the team to take on Marina, Lunar is a hot-headed fighter who carries his laser firing gun at all times. Lunar resembles that of a wolf, wearing red armour and black pants. He finds Marina on top of a cold mountain where he catches a cold and is promptly defeated despite his grenades, gun, and quick movement. He then makes a second attempt on Marina's life while riding his over-sized motorcycle, Cerberus α (alpha), which is as well armed in weapons as he is. Midway through the rematch, his motorcycle transforms into a large robotic dog. When returned to his original human form during the final scenes, he is revealed to have been something of an 1980s rocker. During gameplay at boss stages he says, "Heeere's LUNAR!" "Cerberus Alpha!" "Beast change!" "Through fire, justice is served!" "Eat lead!" and "How could lose to you!"
- Tarus
'It's tough to be a maaaaaan. I want to crrrrrrrrrrry.'
The largest member of Beastector, Tarus wears yellow armour and has a striking resemblance to an ape. He battles Marina underground to avenge Lunar, but finds himself bested. His vehicle is Sasquatch β (beta), a slow moving tank. During the fight, Sasquatch β transforms into a large, ape-like machine whos only method of attack seems to be a clumsy lumberous kick. In the final scenes, he is returned his human self, who appears a placid content businessman. During gameplay at boss stages he says, "Its Taurus time!" "Sasquatch Beta!" "Beast change!" "Charge!" "To punish evil forces, I have been charged!" and "You, hehehe were definitely my match Marina!"
- Merco
'My name is Merco. But the ladies call me... Dr. Smooth-Love!!'
The final member of Beastector is the suave, good looking, and arrogant Merco. Based off of a bird and clad in blue armor, Merco commands the sky with his aerial maneuvers and meets Marina in a sky fortress. His weapon of choice is his golden spear, and he defends himself with a shield. His vehicle is known as Phoenix γ (gamma), a flying drill of sorts. It can transform into a large bird, complete with lasers and missiles. In the final scenes, he is transformed back to his human self, as something of a young pretty boy complete with matching falcon-style hairdo. During gameplay at boss stages he says, "It's I, Merco!" "Phoenix Gamma!" "Beast Change!" "Ready?" "Lame!" and "A hero in shining armor is called."
[edit] Gameplay
NOTE: The game is played with the standard d-pad and not with the control stick.
In Mischief Makers, the controls are similar to a typical platformer. The main difference is the way the characters attack.
Marina's main way of attacking is her grab move. By using it, she can take hold of enemies, objects, weapons or even some enemy projectiles or attacks, which can be thrown or shaken, depending on the object. When certain objects are shaken, sometimes items such as crystals will appear. Other objects such as weapons activate a secondary function in said weapon. In some objects, shaking enables a different effect, which sometimes is vital to make progress in the game.
Aside from her grabs, Marina can also dash in any of the four cardinal directions, even in the air, as well as slide.
At some point in the game, Teran is available. His moves includes a standard punch, a block move and the ability to hang from ceilings. His signature skill is the possibility to jump up to five times consecutively.
Hidden within every stage is a yellow gem. These gems are used in the final cinema "scene" of the game with every gem adding 1-3 seconds to the ending. This extended ending added character development to the villains as well as a few other characters. The way the yellow gem appears differ from stages, though in the case of the main bosses' stages, the yellow gem only appears if the boss is defeated without being hit once.
One secondary goal of the game is to beat every level as fast as possible, after which a letter grade is awarded based on the time of completion. Players are ranked on their performance per stage, with the best mark being the elusive "S". Getting all "A"s ranks earns the player a final yellow gem.
[edit] Trivia
- Completing the ending with all gems reveals Marina's newly granted human form, whose appearance apparently depends on what age the player enters at the start of the game.
- Merco's human form bears a striking resemblance to Valgar Reinhart from Treasure's Guardian Heroes, albeit modernized with a red leather jacket.
- The characters in the game have no problem breaking the fourth wall, as enemies will say "they are much more than a simple stage boss" and Marina will refer to the game being a game. This is similar to the characters in Treasure's Bangai-O.
- In the picture of Teran, he wears a hat marked with an N that stands for Nintendo.
- Marina Liteyears was a character in Rakugaki Showtime.
- In Toadly Raw! stage, a clancer appeared to be similar to Lakitu from Super Mario Bros..
