Mischief Makers
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| 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.
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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 but she is repeatedly impeded by agents of the Empire.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Heroes
- Marina Liteyears
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 find and rescue Prof. Theo from the evil Clancers.
A common running joke is that the start of each world, 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, continuing the search for him again.
- Teran
Teran is a Clancer, who claims to Marina that he has "Blockman blood" in him, a creature composed of various Clancer blocks (spike balls, cirucar block for a head, and square blocks). He helps Marina on one mission by turning himself into Blockman. He becomes a playable character(not being Blockman) in the story when Marina is fatally wounded by Leo, and needs to be healed.
It is revealed that he is not Celes' biological sister, and was hired by King Aster to protect her. He is rather sad about this, and runs away. Celes finds him, and says she does not care if it his not her biological brother, and still loves him.
In the picture of Teran, he wears a hat marked with an N that stands for Nintendo
[edit] Friends
- Professor Theo
Professor Theo created Marina, but comes off as perverted, trying to take advantage of her at times, leading Marina to throw him off far. He was kidnapped by the evil Clancers, leading Marina to find him. The kidnappings of Marina's creator happen numerous times, after almost every world.
- Geold
An elderly Clancer, he is seen in the first level, giving advice to Marina, telling about the warp stars, and how they have been sealed for a long time. He gives her a clancer bomb, to reopen the warps.
A little later on in the game, he is fatally wounded by three Clancer theifs, trying to steal the gems, in Nepton (first level). In the third world, a nurse Marina met in level 1-2 revealed Geold passed away.
- Celes
Celes is a shy girl, who was always around Teran, in level 1-1. She usually cries. It is revealed that she is King Aster's daugther, and her real name is Ondine.
- King Aster
King Aster is the leader of the resistance againest the evil Clancers. He was king, but the kingdom was destroyed by the Empire, so he escaped into the cave Marina met him in.
- Tac Clancer
He is the Clancer who hosted the Clancer games, and gave tips to Marina on how to play. at the games, it is revlealed the prize is Prof. Theo. It is unlcear why the Clancers would want him, as he is described he can be used as a "paper weight". One Clancer comes off as a fanboy of Prof. Theo, saying he really wants to win the Prof.
- Cat Clancer
This Cat Clancer is a main competitor in the Clancer games, who Marina sees after winning 3 events. The Cat Clancer has information on the whereabouts of Leo, and Marina must partake in a math challenge to gain the aid of the Cat Clancer, who is ridden like a horse in a later level.
- Clancer Kids and Parents
The Clancer kids are encountered two times. At first there are three Marina has to bring back to the parents, but the second time, there are seven, with the father making a joke about it. The first time, the three kids are just being stubborn about coming back home, but the second time, the seven are transformed by Calina, being turned into huge clanpot, clanspikes, and a clanball with rockets. The family was looking for King Aster and Celes.
[edit] Villains
- Emperor
- Leo
- Calina
- Migen Sr.
[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 throughout 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 I 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."
Merco's human form bears a striking resemblance to Valgar Reinhart from Treasure's Guardian Heroes, albeit modernized with a red leather jacket. His Animal Form also resembles Epsilon from Treasure's Alien Soldier.
[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.
Later on in the game, Teran is available to play in three levels. His moves includes a standard punch, upper punch, low kick, 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 one-three 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 an average "A" ranking allows the player to earn a 53rd yellow gem in an interactive scene in the ending.
[edit] Trivia
- 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.
- Marina Liteyears was a character in Rakugaki Showtime.
- In Toadly Raw! stage, a clancer appeared to be similar to Lakitu from Super Mario Bros..
