Mischief Makers

Mischief Makers is an action-platformer developed by Treasure, originally released for the Nintendo 64 in the late 1990s.

In this game, you control Marina, a robotic helper created by Professor Shiba. The Professor's valuable 'Gemini' artifacts have been stolen and scattered across various planetary systems by the alien overlord Captain Rocket. Your primary task is to travel to these worlds, overcome obstacles, and recover the stolen artifacts. The core gameplay involves moving Marina through side-scrolling levels, jumping over gaps, and interacting with the environment and enemies. Marina can grab most objects and enemies using the B button. Once grabbed, she can hold them, throw them, or, most importantly, shake them vigorously. This shaking action is central to Mischief Makers; shaking an enemy can stun them, or even cause them to explode, while shaking certain environmental objects can break them apart, reveal hidden items, or trigger mechanisms.

Progressing through Mischief Makers requires you to master these actions. You'll often need to grab a projectile and shake it until it breaks, or grab an enemy and shake it to turn it into a usable projectile. Levels are designed with these mechanics in mind, presenting puzzles that often involve using the shaking ability to clear paths or defeat specific types of enemies. The game features a variety of unique worlds and boss encounters, each requiring different applications of Marina's grab, throw, and shake abilities to succeed. The visual feedback for shaking is quite pronounced, providing a clear indication of its effect on the game world.

The objective in each stage of Mischief Makers is to reach the end and retrieve a stolen artifact. You'll be navigating through platforming challenges, avoiding hazards, and engaging with a cast of peculiar enemies and bosses. The game's design emphasizes creative use of Marina's core abilities, particularly the shaking mechanic, which sets it apart from other platformers of its time.