REVIEW: Mischief Makers / Go! Go! Trouble Makers 1996/1997, Nintendo 64
	By: Treasure Type: Platformer Players: 1 Difficulty: Hard

Ask an average gamer in the street, let's say a blokey called Aol Gates what he thinks of this game on first sight, and the reply you'll get will be something like "it suks cuz its 2D! man". And that's where the entire tragedy of the delightful Go! Go! Trouble Makers lies. Hardly anyone took the time to notice that this is easily one of the most tremendous games of the N64 age. Make no mistake, this is most certainly -not- just another run-of-the-mill 2D platform romp.

Already there's the surreal storyline and setting. The doddery professor Ganbei Gonbei has been kidnapped by plucky little critters called the Nendoros (who all look like plastic dollies of "The Scream"), and it's up to his cyber-housemaid Marina, she of green hair, stilty legs and huge hands, to rescue him several times in a row and battle a sinister, and rather bizarre gang of thugs. Stranger things -have- been known to happen in videogames (think Parodius), but this scores quite high in the nuttiness stakes nevertheless, with some laugh-out-loud moments in there for those who know their Japanesery.

 
(left) Let's sing an old Minnmay song! , Well, at least we look better than Boyzone. (right)

And it's not just in it's storyline that this game refuses to be like other games. Although the levels are strung together in a fairly linear way (just move through them one after another), what happens in these levels never ceases to surprise you. After some introduction levels where talking to the locals serves to explain the basic controls and gameplay elements, you're thrown into a shower of challenges and surprises. Not one level is like the last, repetition is a word Marina has never heard of. Instead, something new and fresh is thrown in almost every level, keeping the variety, and most of all the fun factor on an all-time high. You'll find yourself mixing items in a magic jar, surfing a giant atom missile, playing volleyball against a tiny cat and battling a huge mech in a thrilling 700 MPH chase and more, all within the space of one set of levels. Other highlights of inventive fun include riding a tricycle through an exploding cave, fighting through a horde of war-monging Nendoros' blazing guns or taking on the role of the peaceful Nendoro boy Chappie for one level to find a machine that will save Marina's endangered life. In short, it never stops. There's no telling what's next, and you're kept on your toes all the way through this game.

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Even when you've made your way through all the levels, which is quite a task, there's a very good reason to go back and explore them to their fullest. Every level contains a hidden yellow jewel, some of which are extremely tough to obtain. However, you'll want to get all of them, as the number of yellow jewels found will determine how much of the end sequence you get to see. Nasty, innit? But it's a very good incentive to re-visit the levels and tax your skills as much as possible, and it is -tough-. Some of the challenges guarding the yellow jewels will take ages of sweat-drenched determination to obtain (for example, you need to beat the bosses without taking a single hit). There are quite a few must-try-one-more-time, almost-hurling-pad-against-wall and howls-of-agony/shouts-of-victory moments in there. Any game that managed to keep me up an entire night without me even noticing has to be good.

 
(left) Somebody make a model kit of this mech! , Okay, okay, you -don't- have a fat bum (right)

Thrown into the fray is a control system that is just as quirky and non-conformist as the rest of the game (it uses the D-pad. Yes, the D-pad. Believe it). Hence it takes lots of getting used to and will cause a few unfair deaths. The whole formula is based on picking up things and shaking them. Of course, there's your basic concept of picking up nasties and chucking them at each other (or just slamming them against the ground painfully), but it goes much further than that. Almost anything can be picked up and dragged about by Marina. Enemy projectiles, rotund switches and even entire giant boss mechs can be grabbed and shaken about, sometimes with surprising results. The amount of clever twists this adds needs to be seen to be believed.

In short, there's every reason to take a minute to look past the 2D graphics and awkward first impression of the controls. Not to say that the graphics are -bad- by the way. They're huge, full of colour and vitality, and the way everything moves ever so smoothly even at full pelt is impressive. Give this a go, and you will be richly rewarded by one of the biggest treasures the N64 has on offer. This game displays a level of originality and cleverness usually only seen in the Mario platform games. No drab Doom clone or yawny racing sim, no matter how 3D, can stake such a claim. So cheers to Treasure and their wonderful Go! Go! Trouble Makers for having the guts to be fresh, new, completely different from anything else and absolutely brilliant. Any gamer who knows their stuff simply -must- play this.

 
(left) A Mario Kart vs Diddy Kong Racing argument gets ugly , Here's the plan; we just go -psstpsstpsst- (right)

Only one gripe; for the occidental release, most of the character's names were changed, and the Japanese voice sample were replaced by some annooooying Yanky whines. Decide for yourself wether that makes a difference. Whatever version you get, this game is and will always be a sparkling work of genius. - Toasty 92%

[Key to the reviewing system]