If anyone is curious, Treasure is sort of still around, they re-released Ikaruga on modern platforms, whenever one of their titles gets available on NSO their official accounts mention it, I also think they actively help Nintendo with the NSO emulators or something related. But more importantly they said last year they were working on a new, "highly anticipated" game, whatever that turns out to be.
While they're still around, they're less than 10 people working over there as of 2022. If they ever decide to make new games, it's gonna take a LONG time to do so unless they get back up from other developers. I'd like them to keep re-releasing their older games on modern platforms, though some of them are licensed games, so they'll need permission for them like the Astro Boy and Bleach ones.
Let's hope treasure cam start gettimg the rest of it's stuff out there again. More ports & remasters of their stuff (like how they did Guardian Heroes for 360), would be really nice to see!
I thought that "highly anticipated" game was the re-release of Radiant Silvergun that landed on Switch last year (and is due to come to Steam...soon-ish). I know some long-time fans, myself included, were eager for that game to see greater proliferation and it's definitely worth it if you love classic sh'mups (though the Switch port's got some problems). That said, I'd be over the freakin' moon if, by some crazy alignment of the stars, something new from them was in the works.
50:45 Just a quick note on this part of the ending. you don't need an "A" rank on every level you just need your overall rank to be an "A." You can check this by pressing "B" on the level select screen, this will bring up a list of you time and rank for every level with your overall rank at the bottom. So, you'll need an "A" on most levels but not all. This will unlock a button prompt when playing the ending, that you have to press at the right time to see the alternate scene.
"Back when games where good, you didn't get to see the true ending until you've found all the secrets, beaten all the levels faster than the developers and had to react to a new button prompt during an ending you'd seen many times before" (The absurdity is what makes it so great. Mischief Makers 2 when?)
Extra note to this. Having every world on A rank will actually unlock one more gold gem, which shows the Professor's reaction. That's the full end. Speaking of gold gems, the mini bosses where you're shaking or jumping on top, the amount of attempts needed to get the gold gem is not consistant. I've had times when the gold gem comes out immediately, or in a few goes. I've also had runs where I've gaslit myself into thinking I'm doing it wrong cus' I haven't played the game in years. Also completely unrelated, but maybe helpful for later. When Cerberus Alpha leaps over in his first phase, you can actually grab the green shots to convert them into blue gems. Mash the three fast enough and you can get under that way as well.
Just you? JUST YOOOUUU?? I'm so fond of this game that i'm even creating a MISCHIEF MAKERS 2 on RPG MAKER FES! Yes, it will be turn based but full of fun stuff >D But unfortunately my 3DS is broken due to a slip to the floor, and i'm still.unemployed... so i can't fix it for now i_i Wish me luck, 'cause i'm really excited to continue my project! I'm using Futurist assets and Prinnys (Disgaea) as a alien race >'D
Oh my god, the boss battles look incredible! The dragon is the smoothest thing I’ve ever seen, all of the bosses look so detailed and 3D and fluid, this is so amazing. The bird thing flying around shooting smoke at you really makes me wish an After Burner or Space Harrier game got made for the N64, the scaling sprites and animation looked so smooth and amazing. I really hope some more games in that style were made for the console, since it can run at such a smooth 60fps.
Treasure kicked out some real all-time classics. Haven't played their entire catalog, but I'm blown away by the titles i've beaten (sin and punishment 1 and 2, gunstar heroes genesis, gunstar super heroes gba, astro boy)
Feels weird to live in a world where Blockbuster is certified nostalgic, doesn't it? Many of us can say we have some memories of going there in our youth but it's funny to think now how it's pretty much a distant memory. From just looking things up, as of 2019 there's only one last remaining Blockbuster store open - not company owned of course, just a privately owned Blockbuster store. I remember going there with my family to rent Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and buying Spider-Man 2 way back. Man, those were the days...
here's hoping James can recover in time for the public post edit: so glad that James has fully healed from the Nuclear Pasta incident, and is back in business for the thumbnail!
A little side note: As far as I remember, the speedrun for this game is very 'pure' in that it really just plays through the entire game in like an hour. Definitely worth a watch in my opinion.
Watching a new Nitro Rad video feels so fresh and new, especially compared to other gaming UA-camrs who focus on being new and trendy. Even watching older videos, it never gets old, it’s so cool and interesting to find out about obscure games that would otherwise fly under the radar. Thank you James, hope you can provide great content for many years as you can!
A gem! Probably the best action game on GBA. Love the level up system and how you need to go back to earlier levels to unlock everything! You feel so powerful at the later half of the game!!
I had that game and I loved it. I haven't even gone back to any of my other old games and seen if their dev teams/studios worked on other things I loved as well, I probably should.
Little did we know, all his videos were made in 2011 in one batch. Everything in the real world has been planned to make sure the videos line up with reality
He really feels like reviewer from ten years ago. Not a complete sailor mouth but not a safe baby either. Like old PG-13 movies. It's the correct amount of edge and enthusiasm.
I always found it funny they introduce you to a theme park early on, where every ride consists of horrified faces with glowing red eyes. The clancers are even excited to go there, could you imagine going to a place covered in agonized moving faces, and they looked human? Does that sound like a good time? If it does, you should be on some kind of watchlist.
marina has such a wonderful turn-of-the-millenium anime design. love that her eyes make up the majority of her face. hope she eventually gets a nendoroid or some other figure, i doubt it though ;^;
Her cute giant blue eyes and spiky green hair coupled with neutral gray and white bulky geometric armor is the peak honestly. And cant forget her antennae that move so cool when she dashes. What a great character design
No joke, this is the game that caused me to learn how to clean cartridges. Me and my mom bought it from a family owned Game store, and when we got home I popped it in and it wouldn't work. We went back and the lady at the counter showed us how to use q tips to fix the issue. She could've sold us some official product to clean it, but instead she chose to be honest. I'll never forget that awesome lady.
This was the very first game I got for my N64 along with OOT. I loooved Mischief Makers. So cool to see you dedicate a video to it. No one I ever asked throughout the years had even heard of it, and it was such a treasure to me so it sucked not being able to gush over it with friends.
I know what you mean! None of my friends had heard of it, my mom bought it for me for Christmas one year, she was so good at picking out gifts, I didn’t even know what it was and I loved it!! I never beat it though ☹️. I need to find my cartridge
Seeing the occasional CRT shots when you're describing the controls serves a second function of displaying the intended art style. In my opinion, the game actually looks way better in those shots!
A good majority of old-school games were deliberately designed with CRT televisions in mind. The waterfalls in Green Hill Zone in Sonic 1 are the best example of using dithering and the blurriness of your TV to give off the illusion of transparency. Fortunately, a lot of retro games still hold up in HD with really good spritework but some of the charm is lost when they're shown in ultra-solid HD.
I'm really happy you finally tackled Mischief Makers after all these years. I recently bought a copy myself since I'd never gotten to play it as a kid (also going for a full N64 library), and I fully agree, it's one of those rare hidden gems that deserves to be remembered. Got a nice, clean copy for around 40 bucks or so, which I felt was more than reasonable for a game like this. Funny enough, you and I even have the same N64 end labels, so our copies now look identical!
I loved this game back in the day, i was the only one of my friends that had it, my mom was great at getting gifts for Christmas and she got this without me even knowing what this game was. Great choice nitrorad!
The thing i really like about Nitro Rad is how much of a personal passion project his videos feel like, always explaining things around his past with the games, why he made the videos, things he remembers, stuff like that, Like in the adams family review, he talks about how his dad used to go and pick up random NES games for $5 because at the time the NES was old, but not quite retro just yet. Or his PLOK review where he talks about how he never really spent that much time with the SNES, but had this one game sitting in his collection for the longest time. Even showing off a prank that his friend made which looked like a rare limited edition link to the past cartridge, but was instead just madden. Things like that always make Nitro Rad's videos feel more comfy and personal.
Whoo-hoo, almost an hour straight of Mischief Makers! Glad to hear it's just as weird and compelling as I remember it to be, I really oughta dig out my copy and give it another spin.
The fact it took you this long to get to hands down my favorite N64 game is astounding. Hope you play Double Shake! when it's finaly done, it's a love letter to Tomba and Mischeif Makers.
@@MusicJunkie37 Any other game I agree, but Mischeif Makers is an iconic N64 game. That's literaly the same as doing 200 Genesis reviews without talking about Gunstar Heroes.
Ha ha, very funny - Danny Gonzalez and Drew Gooden have this joking confusion between them all the time, with Kurtis Conner being thrown into the crossfire sometimes. We don't need another two or three UA-camrs whom we jokingly confuse for one another into the mix!
21:07 Lol. the random Plok! cutout EDIT: It's crazy how creative & graphically impressive this GAME is. I would be haunted or get depressed from all the creepy faces though. (0.0)
It's like you somehow have played all the games I used to as a kid, I haven't seen anyone fully dive into this gem before and I used to rent it as much as I could! So glad to see this and another video from you!
Thanks for talking about Mischief Makers. I fell in love with this game back during my Newgrounds days whenever I watched a Sonic Fan Animation that used a rendition of the intro for Mischief Makers as an outro, and I _had to know_ what it was.
I rented this game when it first came out and i never forgot about it. It's one of my favorite games which I revisited and beat recently! Thanks so much for making this it's so nostalgic to me.
One thing I really like are the 2D sprite based games of that era. Almost every developer was focused on using the 3D technology, but using this more powerful hardware to create 2D games led to some really amazing games.
Mischief Makers has been an all-time favorite ever since I rented it as a kid, drawn in by the strange box art. It's one of the best examples out there of taking a set of core mechanics and building a game to explore everything that can be done with them. Also, the reason everything has those twisted faces is because Clancers are based on ancient Japanese clay figures called haniwa, the same thing gyroids in Animal Crossing are based on. Clancers are called Nendoro in Japanese, coming from the word for clay, and that's why they melt down into brown goop when defeated-they return to clay. So what does any of that have to do with the gameplay or story? I have no idea!
one of my favorite games of all time . its one of those things that i love so much that i cant fully put it into words . ive always really loved your videos so thank you so much for making a video on this amazing game ! i hope more people will come to realize how much of a gem it really is
I still have my copy of this. All these years later, and adult me now realised he was very lucky indeed to grow up with such a gem. Geeze I gotta hook up my N64 and play this again. To this day I still have: “Help me Marina!” Stuck in my head whenever I think of it. I’m so happy that so many people who played it also love it and still talk about it. I would love for Marina to come back somehow.
A new Nitro Rad video day is a happy day! You show so much passion for the games you talk about on your videos that it's hard not to be engaged by it. The movement and energy from boss fights of games of this era are unique, and this game has this on full display, with the camera movement and how the mechanics kinda "flow" from each other. Keep up the good work James!
Your channel its a real treasure. I so rare to find 3d/2d platformers entusiasts out there. Rayman fan speaking. Best regards and thank you, i will keep enjoying your content.
I'm so glad you enjoyed your time with Mischief Makers. This game is apart of my childhood, and really is my form of inspiration when working on my own stories and ideas for developing a game. It just has such a memorable charm, visual, audibly, and control wise. I look forward to the next hidden gem you talk about.
Seeing the faces on those blocks unlocked memories I forgot I had. I used to play this game a loooong time ago at an after-school care facility when I was younger. I don't think I ever got past the first boss but wow, the animations and enemy design immediately brought back so many memories.
Nice to see you back James! I’m still hoping for a Tak and the Power of Juju trilogy retrospective is soon! Tak 2 the Staff of Dreams is my favorite 3D platformer well besides Mario and Sonic! :)
@@SlyHikari03 top three soundtracks of all time for me for Tak 2! The whole Tak trilogy is fantastic! THQNordic promised fans a remake of Tak and the Power of Juju Tak 2 the Staff of Dreams and Tak the Great Juju Challenge let’s hope it happens soon!
I got all 52 Gems back in the early ots. I really really really wanted to see marina's human face. it was so special wence I did. Also. the music was SOOOOO GOOD! i wish your review took a little time to cover that
This game seems so full of stuff! I really want to try it now. The amount of faces is definitely a little creepy, but I’m just stunned by the amount of level variety, when you started describing unique mechanics I was really impressed and then when you stopped I thought, “Wow, that’s a good amount.” And then you said that was just WORLD 1 and I was stunned, then you brought up so many other fun things. I definitely need to try this game someday.
Always nice to see Mischief Makers get some love. I've only played a little bit (luckily obtained a copy for a surprisingly cheap price but often have to store the N64 away) but it's a great game with a charming protagonist. 0:35 - Given how much you need to collect to beat DK64, that might as well be considered a speedrun. 1:21 - "2D games were more of a PlayStation thing" Poor Sega Saturn is being neglected at the very thing it's best at. 4:01 - Technically not too different from a Mario level with everything having eyes on it. But gosh, that childhood memory sounds like a creepypasta. 8:35 - Well what do you know; turns out we were on the same train of thought here. 13:39 - The voices come out really clearly in this game. Marina's "Shake, shake" is so cute! 14:56 - I love the Suplex Kirby comparison; that is a wonderful way of describing it. 17:04 - Doing the splits with Blockman and just watching the enemies ping away into oblivion looks super satisfying. The usage of the C-Pad is rather interest, as from what I recall hearing, this game was originally in development for the SNES. 21:39 - I love the idea of having a level in a platformer just to showcase the world, characters and comedy. You often get those relaxing moments within a 3D game but not nearly as often with a 2D one. 2D games and their linearity are more my preference, but a moment to appreciate it all without needing to rush is nice to have. 25:38 - It seems to be a consistent thing with Treasure games. There's an adrenaline feel of epicness to their games. 27:14 - The basketball Marina artwork is super cute! 32:15 - That Rayman Mosquito is an oddly iconic boss and moment for me, so I'm pleased and also unsurprised that was your first thought with the bee riding moment. 34:21 - I love this emotional concept thing. It's only part of the final boss, so it being easy is certainly forgivable with how cool and meaningful of a concept it is. 41:39 - How long is Mischief Maker? I remember Bomberman 64 being a short game for instance but it also extending it's run time dramatically by requiring you to get a ton of gold cards to unlock the true ending. 50:21 - Fun fact; Marina's human appearance I believe differs depending on the age you add in at the start of the game. An you already added that fact into the video yourself.
Damn, watching this really reopen the nostalgic joy I had when I watched someone let’s play this many, many years ago. It utterly grappled me then & now it done again
This one of my all time favorite games from my childhood. The bosses live rent free in my head even to this day. If I ever get around to making my own indie games. I'm going to make bosses just like this game.
Yeah, I remember being afraid of playing this game because the uncanny faces everywhere spooked me. When I got over it, this game was the best thing ever.
33:13 I really loved how that boss fight ended. You are being chased by the boss, throwing everything at you from the background. Then you catch one of his missiles at mid air, and while still being pushed back by it, you throw it back, the music stops as the camera cuts to the missile's POV as it flies straight to the boss' face, and explosions happen. One of the coolest ways to end a boss fight in gaming history.
Sadly, Treasure seems to have stopped working and developing games, their last one was Gaist Crusher God on the 3DS for Capcom. They were a great studio, Mischief Makers being one of their best works. Real nice game. Edit : during the final fight, you can grab the robot while he's airborn doing the kick to shake him again. It's pretty satisfying.
Never heard of this game but looks very intriguing, it’s always nice to learn something new about these less-known games from previous generations. And yeah, that “shake shake shake” is really cute. I said it.
24:32 : I really appreciate you making this point. I have nothing but respect for Cuphead and similar titles, but one limitation of those detailed animations is that you don't get the kind of feedback you'd normally expect when fighting those otherwise hectic battles. The reactions and responses from bosses and enemies don't just inform you of your success and failures in a battle either. It's like you suggested, it's a wonderful little trick to pull you into the world and make the battle feel like more than just a game. Mischief Makers is a very weighty game, in battle and out, and those animations are essential to convey that fact, among other things. So I'm always happy when I see a reviewer that can pick up on these details and recognize how important they are for the game.
I think it's fitting that Bangai-O has the art style it does and I first heard about Mischief Makers from ScottFalco, whose male OC has a familiar vibe to him. Glad to see this be the foray you took into the N64 underrated gems, so much impact and kinetic energy behind EVERY action.
Always enjoy hearing you go off praising random games few people know about! Your videos really feel like when a friend discovers a game they really like and ramble on to you about it! If I may make a suggestion for a hidden gem of a game... Ribbit King for the Gamecube/PS2! It's Frog Golf!
Some history on Treasure. They were formed by Ex Konami employees looking to have more freedom in the types of games that they made. Then, years latter in the PS2 era, Konami hired them to work on Gradius 5, which I personally find to be rather ironic. Supposedly, some of the Konami staff that helped form Treasure were people who worked on the first Rocket Knight Adventures, so you could almost consider that like an honorary Treasure game I guess.
Ese juego es una obra maestra de sus mecánicas! Me entristece que pocos lo conozcan pero me alegra cuando gente lo descubre y ve más allá de las apariencias!! Gracias por el video
Great review!! I wish I played the game back then. Especially since it was made by Treasure Games. alsoo.. Please review Silhouette Mirage next! People need to know about the existence of that awesome game!! ;u;
Not sure if anyone pointed this out already, but a little fun fact. Enix also helped make this game. They're known for making Dragon Quest 1 back in the day before merging with Square Soft to become Square Enix.
I'm so glad someone finally talked about Mischief Maker! I played it religiously as a kid and I still love it as an adult, but I've never seen it talked about by any youtubers I've watched. It's so unique and I wish more people knew about it.
Watching this is making me relive playing it. I was 15 when it came out and bought it a few days after release with paper route money. When I got to the end and realized I basically needed to get gems to see the ending, I 100% this game ASAP. I think it was the first time I ever 100% any game ever. I was in LOVE with this game and it remains one of the few games in my N64 collection that has moved with me from place to place, house to house. I’m 41 now and seeing this review and play through makes me so happy. We knew we had magic in this back then and it thrills me to know that folks today are seeing what we saw in these old games. Thanks for letting me live through this again. This made me happy.
It's amazing to see that you actually understand how the N64 controller works. The Nintendo 64 is supposed to be an Ambidextrous controller. Sadly not every Developer took advantage of this feature like Treasure did. 😥
HEEEEEEEEEERE'S LUNAR!!! I think this was my introduction to weird japanese games as a kid. everyone my age just wanted to play the super polished, normal mainstream games like mario, DK or zelda, but this game always stuck with me as a kid in the 90s and I played the hell out of it. I think it was just a weird impulse buy my dad did.
Wait... zed? I swear you've pronounced Z as "zee" tons of times before, why the sudden pronunciation change? Did you finally remember you were Canadian?
I'm so so SO glad you covered Mischief Makers! This was one of my top favorite N64 games growing up and I replayed it so much as a kiddo! Always felt so good to play and its quirkiness made a lasting impression on me. Nothing else controlled the way this game did and executed it so well! I'm so glad you enjoyed it as much as you did and THANK YOU for showing us the secret ending! I was never able to get enough golden gems to see past the credits and had never seen that ending till your video! That was a real treat!!! I'm holding out hope that the persistent love for this game by its dedicated and stalwart fans will convince Nintendo to re-release it for the Switch's N64 virtual console. Maybe we can convince them by giving the right executive a hearty SHAKE SHAKE! Thank you again, NitroRad!
They should finally produce a re-make of this game for modern systems. Not only would the character graphics hold up really well in HD due to the art style, Marina is extremely waifu-able too. thx 4 cool bideo Nitro Fred
Those first few seconds of music after the intro sent me back to a better place~ Also glad I'm not the only one who had that feeling of immersion in these games, spending hours exploring every nook and cranny.
Yes, any of them! Silhouette Mirage, Wario World, Sin and Punishment, Ikaruga, Gunstar Heroes, Alien Soldier, but unless you want an Illbleed repeat, DON'T do Stretch Panic. And even if you do, you HAVE to censor THAT character type that appears everywhere.
I'm so glad you did this video. Mischief Makers is one of my all time favorite games so it's good more people are discovering it. I found a copy in a discount bin at Hollywood Video as a kid and, like many others, I just liked the cover and bought it instantly. Also, nice shout out to Double Shake. My friends are the ones making it and people should definitely check it out.
If anyone is curious, Treasure is sort of still around, they re-released Ikaruga on modern platforms, whenever one of their titles gets available on NSO their official accounts mention it, I also think they actively help Nintendo with the NSO emulators or something related. But more importantly they said last year they were working on a new, "highly anticipated" game, whatever that turns out to be.
Here's to Wario World 2!
While they're still around, they're less than 10 people working over there as of 2022. If they ever decide to make new games, it's gonna take a LONG time to do so unless they get back up from other developers.
I'd like them to keep re-releasing their older games on modern platforms, though some of them are licensed games, so they'll need permission for them like the Astro Boy and Bleach ones.
Apparently according to rumors, a new Guardian Heroes is supposed to come out. Maybe that's what Treasure was teasing?
Let's hope treasure cam start gettimg the rest of it's stuff out there again. More ports & remasters of their stuff (like how they did Guardian Heroes for 360), would be really nice to see!
I thought that "highly anticipated" game was the re-release of Radiant Silvergun that landed on Switch last year (and is due to come to Steam...soon-ish). I know some long-time fans, myself included, were eager for that game to see greater proliferation and it's definitely worth it if you love classic sh'mups (though the Switch port's got some problems). That said, I'd be over the freakin' moon if, by some crazy alignment of the stars, something new from them was in the works.
50:45 Just a quick note on this part of the ending. you don't need an "A" rank on every level you just need your overall rank to be an "A." You can check this by pressing "B" on the level select screen, this will bring up a list of you time and rank for every level with your overall rank at the bottom. So, you'll need an "A" on most levels but not all.
This will unlock a button prompt when playing the ending, that you have to press at the right time to see the alternate scene.
"Back when games where good, you didn't get to see the true ending until you've found all the secrets, beaten all the levels faster than the developers and had to react to a new button prompt during an ending you'd seen many times before"
(The absurdity is what makes it so great. Mischief Makers 2 when?)
Extra note to this. Having every world on A rank will actually unlock one more gold gem, which shows the Professor's reaction. That's the full end. Speaking of gold gems, the mini bosses where you're shaking or jumping on top, the amount of attempts needed to get the gold gem is not consistant. I've had times when the gold gem comes out immediately, or in a few goes. I've also had runs where I've gaslit myself into thinking I'm doing it wrong cus' I haven't played the game in years.
Also completely unrelated, but maybe helpful for later. When Cerberus Alpha leaps over in his first phase, you can actually grab the green shots to convert them into blue gems. Mash the three fast enough and you can get under that way as well.
This was a real gem back in the day - A game so great that I bought it twice to get the box and manual.
Oh hey, nice to see you here, Kamen! Glad to know you love this game too!
I did the exact same thing! Lol
I…really tried to block you out of my memory, but I guess I can’t escape you.
I bought this game years ago on eBay CIB for 80 bucks totally worth it! This game is so original and refreshing
@@FiendaroÖ cringe
Hey, Dev of DoubleShake here! Thanks for the unexpected shoutout at the end!
As a starving Mischief Makers lover, I can safely say I'm eating VERY good today. Blessed Rad of Nitrous, you always deliver.
Same. I actually never even knew about the adult Marina ending; being that I was like 6 when I played this. X)
Agreed 😁
What about that running shine game
Just you? JUST YOOOUUU??
I'm so fond of this game that i'm even creating a MISCHIEF MAKERS 2 on RPG MAKER FES! Yes, it will be turn based but full of fun stuff >D
But unfortunately my 3DS is broken due to a slip to the floor, and i'm still.unemployed... so i can't fix it for now i_i
Wish me luck, 'cause i'm really excited to continue my project! I'm using Futurist assets and Prinnys (Disgaea) as a alien race >'D
@@Majo_Ellen I was older, haha. I'm 37 now XD
Oh my god, the boss battles look incredible! The dragon is the smoothest thing I’ve ever seen, all of the bosses look so detailed and 3D and fluid, this is so amazing. The bird thing flying around shooting smoke at you really makes me wish an After Burner or Space Harrier game got made for the N64, the scaling sprites and animation looked so smooth and amazing. I really hope some more games in that style were made for the console, since it can run at such a smooth 60fps.
They ARE incredible.Some of my favorite boss fights in all of gaming.
the dragon's name is Migen Jr, the green wizard is his dad c:
This game was a childhood gem. Still a really good game for the N64 to this day. Love Treasure and pretty much all their games.
Dynamite Headdy might be my favorite forever
Alien Soldier and Gunstar Heroes, amazing games too
@@helicopterjets Agreed man!
Treasure kicked out some real all-time classics. Haven't played their entire catalog, but I'm blown away by the titles i've beaten (sin and punishment 1 and 2, gunstar heroes genesis, gunstar super heroes gba, astro boy)
Every third Nitro Rad video I watch unlocks some surreal core memory; and every single one includes a Blockbuster.
Feels weird to live in a world where Blockbuster is certified nostalgic, doesn't it? Many of us can say we have some memories of going there in our youth but it's funny to think now how it's pretty much a distant memory. From just looking things up, as of 2019 there's only one last remaining Blockbuster store open - not company owned of course, just a privately owned Blockbuster store. I remember going there with my family to rent Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and buying Spider-Man 2 way back. Man, those were the days...
...I miss my local blockbuster and and my many MANY rental places.
...I still prefer them over something like gamefly or redbox...
here's hoping James can recover in time for the public post
edit: so glad that James has fully healed from the Nuclear Pasta incident, and is back in business for the thumbnail!
Hmm? What's going on??
@@blackbird7781 For context: James was missing from the thumbnail during the initial upload.
@@areoants9453 Don't scare me like that!
for extra context, it was the early patreon version. Didn't have the thumbnail quite ready yet, so it was just Marina standing there without me lol
@@NitroRad ohhhhhhhh lmfao
A little side note: As far as I remember, the speedrun for this game is very 'pure' in that it really just plays through the entire game in like an hour. Definitely worth a watch in my opinion.
I gotta replay it because 12 year old me says impossible lmao or however old I was when I played thos
Watching a new Nitro Rad video feels so fresh and new, especially compared to other gaming UA-camrs who focus on being new and trendy. Even watching older videos, it never gets old, it’s so cool and interesting to find out about obscure games that would otherwise fly under the radar. Thank you James, hope you can provide great content for many years as you can!
Mischief Makers is one of the most underrated gems. I absolutely loved this growing up
As a kid, my introduction to Treasure was Astro Boy: Omega Factor, a great 2D beat em up based heavily on the 2003 series airing at the time
Easily one of the best games reelased for the GBA.
A gem! Probably the best action game on GBA. Love the level up system and how you need to go back to earlier levels to unlock everything! You feel so powerful at the later half of the game!!
I had that game and I loved it. I haven't even gone back to any of my other old games and seen if their dev teams/studios worked on other things I loved as well, I probably should.
A fantastic beat em up, kept me occupied for days as a kid figuring out how to unlock everything.
@sonic-templeosand Tezuka's work in general
I love the off-screen camera recording of the game. It gives the right vibes on video for these nostalgic classics.
30:09 James has an awesome Sokka impression!
The fact a game in the N64 era having a skip cutscene button when so many bigger time wasters didnt is kind of amazing.
Nitro Rad videos all feel so nostalgic, even if they are 1 minute old, 1 month old, or 6 years old
It's kinda like the scott the woz kind of thing where he doesn't reference any trendy stuff so his videos feel like they haven't aged
Little did we know, all his videos were made in 2011 in one batch. Everything in the real world has been planned to make sure the videos line up with reality
1 minute nostalgia
Because he chooses the right games
He really feels like reviewer from ten years ago.
Not a complete sailor mouth but not a safe baby either.
Like old PG-13 movies. It's the correct amount of edge and enthusiasm.
I always found it funny they introduce you to a theme park early on, where every ride consists of horrified faces with glowing red eyes. The clancers are even excited to go there, could you imagine going to a place covered in agonized moving faces, and they looked human? Does that sound like a good time? If it does, you should be on some kind of watchlist.
I mean they all have that face, to them that's just a theme park covered with normal faces. To the joker it's actually a normal frog.
marina has such a wonderful turn-of-the-millenium anime design. love that her eyes make up the majority of her face. hope she eventually gets a nendoroid or some other figure, i doubt it though ;^;
Her cute giant blue eyes and spiky green hair coupled with neutral gray and white bulky geometric armor is the peak honestly. And cant forget her antennae that move so cool when she dashes. What a great character design
No joke, this is the game that caused me to learn how to clean cartridges. Me and my mom bought it from a family owned Game store, and when we got home I popped it in and it wouldn't work. We went back and the lady at the counter showed us how to use q tips to fix the issue. She could've sold us some official product to clean it, but instead she chose to be honest. I'll never forget that awesome lady.
This was the very first game I got for my N64 along with OOT. I loooved Mischief Makers. So cool to see you dedicate a video to it. No one I ever asked throughout the years had even heard of it, and it was such a treasure to me so it sucked not being able to gush over it with friends.
I know what you mean! None of my friends had heard of it, my mom bought it for me for Christmas one year, she was so good at picking out gifts, I didn’t even know what it was and I loved it!! I never beat it though ☹️. I need to find my cartridge
Seeing the occasional CRT shots when you're describing the controls serves a second function of displaying the intended art style. In my opinion, the game actually looks way better in those shots!
CRTs really made the color pop. I think he could at least have tried to up the contrast tho
A good majority of old-school games were deliberately designed with CRT televisions in mind. The waterfalls in Green Hill Zone in Sonic 1 are the best example of using dithering and the blurriness of your TV to give off the illusion of transparency. Fortunately, a lot of retro games still hold up in HD with really good spritework but some of the charm is lost when they're shown in ultra-solid HD.
New Nitro Rad videos are like a beautiful event. I don’t even like platformers all that much but you’re just so good at making them sound wonderful.
Yep this was an unknown goat game for me back in the day. Loved showing it to my friends. Those voice lines are forever locked in my brain.
I'm really happy you finally tackled Mischief Makers after all these years. I recently bought a copy myself since I'd never gotten to play it as a kid (also going for a full N64 library), and I fully agree, it's one of those rare hidden gems that deserves to be remembered. Got a nice, clean copy for around 40 bucks or so, which I felt was more than reasonable for a game like this. Funny enough, you and I even have the same N64 end labels, so our copies now look identical!
Almost an entire hour for mischief makers?! Heck yes made my night!
You get props just for remembering this hidden gem exists
And bonus points for knowing about the age ending thing
I loved this game back in the day, i was the only one of my friends that had it, my mom was great at getting gifts for Christmas and she got this without me even knowing what this game was. Great choice nitrorad!
The thing i really like about Nitro Rad is how much of a personal passion project his videos feel like, always explaining things around his past with the games, why he made the videos, things he remembers, stuff like that, Like in the adams family review, he talks about how his dad used to go and pick up random NES games for $5 because at the time the NES was old, but not quite retro just yet. Or his PLOK review where he talks about how he never really spent that much time with the SNES, but had this one game sitting in his collection for the longest time. Even showing off a prank that his friend made which looked like a rare limited edition link to the past cartridge, but was instead just madden. Things like that always make Nitro Rad's videos feel more comfy and personal.
Whoo-hoo, almost an hour straight of Mischief Makers! Glad to hear it's just as weird and compelling as I remember it to be, I really oughta dig out my copy and give it another spin.
The fact it took you this long to get to hands down my favorite N64 game is astounding.
Hope you play Double Shake! when it's finaly done, it's a love letter to Tomba and Mischeif Makers.
Hey he can't review everything, be thankful he did it at all
@@MusicJunkie37 Any other game I agree, but Mischeif Makers is an iconic N64 game. That's literaly the same as doing 200 Genesis reviews without talking about Gunstar Heroes.
@@zigfaust if you wanna go down that route then there are even more iconic games on N64 that don't have a dedicated review like Banjo & Conker
Its cool that AntDude finally gave this game a full dedicated episode, it definitely deserved it. Great video dude
Here's to an eventual Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon episode to complete the series.
Ha ha, very funny - Danny Gonzalez and Drew Gooden have this joking confusion between them all the time, with Kurtis Conner being thrown into the crossfire sometimes. We don't need another two or three UA-camrs whom we jokingly confuse for one another into the mix!
@@ilikecurry2345Antdude and Nitrorad are in on the joke my dude, this thing has been going on for a while. >3>;
Yeah, happy that Scott the Woz gave this game a shot!
@@quinnholleman1547I can only hope it will be as entertaining as Woolie and Supereyepatchwolf’s playthrough of the game!
21:07 Lol. the random Plok! cutout
EDIT:
It's crazy how creative & graphically impressive this GAME is.
I would be haunted or get depressed from all the creepy faces though. (0.0)
Man I remember back in ninety seven not having the internet and getting every single gold gem myself. It was super satisfying
21:07 Plok jumpscare.
It's like you somehow have played all the games I used to as a kid, I haven't seen anyone fully dive into this gem before and I used to rent it as much as I could!
So glad to see this and another video from you!
Thanks for talking about Mischief Makers. I fell in love with this game back during my Newgrounds days whenever I watched a Sonic Fan Animation that used a rendition of the intro for Mischief Makers as an outro, and I _had to know_ what it was.
OH baby. I think about Mischief Makers far more than the average person. Nothing but warm memories of it. Thank you!
I rented this game when it first came out and i never forgot about it. It's one of my favorite games which I revisited and beat recently! Thanks so much for making this it's so nostalgic to me.
One thing I really like are the 2D sprite based games of that era. Almost every developer was focused on using the 3D technology, but using this more powerful hardware to create 2D games led to some really amazing games.
Mischief Makers has been an all-time favorite ever since I rented it as a kid, drawn in by the strange box art. It's one of the best examples out there of taking a set of core mechanics and building a game to explore everything that can be done with them.
Also, the reason everything has those twisted faces is because Clancers are based on ancient Japanese clay figures called haniwa, the same thing gyroids in Animal Crossing are based on. Clancers are called Nendoro in Japanese, coming from the word for clay, and that's why they melt down into brown goop when defeated-they return to clay. So what does any of that have to do with the gameplay or story? I have no idea!
one of my favorite games of all time . its one of those things that i love so much that i cant fully put it into words . ive always really loved your videos so thank you so much for making a video on this amazing game ! i hope more people will come to realize how much of a gem it really is
Thank you SO much for covering this
I still have my copy of this. All these years later, and adult me now realised he was very lucky indeed to grow up with such a gem. Geeze I gotta hook up my N64 and play this again. To this day I still have: “Help me Marina!” Stuck in my head whenever I think of it. I’m so happy that so many people who played it also love it and still talk about it. I would love for Marina to come back somehow.
A new Nitro Rad video day is a happy day! You show so much passion for the games you talk about on your videos that it's hard not to be engaged by it.
The movement and energy from boss fights of games of this era are unique, and this game has this on full display, with the camera movement and how the mechanics kinda "flow" from each other.
Keep up the good work James!
Your channel its a real treasure. I so rare to find 3d/2d platformers entusiasts out there. Rayman fan speaking. Best regards and thank you, i will keep enjoying your content.
I'm so glad you enjoyed your time with Mischief Makers. This game is apart of my childhood, and really is my form of inspiration when working on my own stories and ideas for developing a game. It just has such a memorable charm, visual, audibly, and control wise.
I look forward to the next hidden gem you talk about.
Nitro rad covering my favorite n64 game!? Is this a dream~☆
I love Mischief Makers! I still have my N64 copy. Treasure is a huge part of my childhood.
OMG YOU FINALLY DID MISCHIEF MAKERS AHHHH. This is likely the most hours clocked on any game I think I've ever played haha.
Yet another classic from Treasure.
Seeing the faces on those blocks unlocked memories I forgot I had. I used to play this game a loooong time ago at an after-school care facility when I was younger. I don't think I ever got past the first boss but wow, the animations and enemy design immediately brought back so many memories.
Nice to see you back James! I’m still hoping for a Tak and the Power of Juju trilogy retrospective is soon! Tak 2 the Staff of Dreams is my favorite 3D platformer well besides Mario and Sonic! :)
Same.
The music in that game is awesome too.
@@SlyHikari03 top three soundtracks of all time for me for Tak 2! The whole Tak trilogy is fantastic! THQNordic promised fans a remake of Tak and the Power of Juju Tak 2 the Staff of Dreams and Tak the Great Juju Challenge let’s hope it happens soon!
hope youre hyped for the tak 2 video now, lmao
I got all 52 Gems back in the early ots. I really really really wanted to see marina's human face. it was so special wence I did. Also. the music was SOOOOO GOOD! i wish your review took a little time to cover that
This game seems so full of stuff! I really want to try it now. The amount of faces is definitely a little creepy, but I’m just stunned by the amount of level variety, when you started describing unique mechanics I was really impressed and then when you stopped I thought, “Wow, that’s a good amount.” And then you said that was just WORLD 1 and I was stunned, then you brought up so many other fun things. I definitely need to try this game someday.
those boss fights look absolutely amazing.... i love the way they frame things!!
Always nice to see Mischief Makers get some love. I've only played a little bit (luckily obtained a copy for a surprisingly cheap price but often have to store the N64 away) but it's a great game with a charming protagonist.
0:35 - Given how much you need to collect to beat DK64, that might as well be considered a speedrun.
1:21 - "2D games were more of a PlayStation thing" Poor Sega Saturn is being neglected at the very thing it's best at.
4:01 - Technically not too different from a Mario level with everything having eyes on it. But gosh, that childhood memory sounds like a creepypasta.
8:35 - Well what do you know; turns out we were on the same train of thought here.
13:39 - The voices come out really clearly in this game. Marina's "Shake, shake" is so cute!
14:56 - I love the Suplex Kirby comparison; that is a wonderful way of describing it.
17:04 - Doing the splits with Blockman and just watching the enemies ping away into oblivion looks super satisfying. The usage of the C-Pad is rather interest, as from what I recall hearing, this game was originally in development for the SNES.
21:39 - I love the idea of having a level in a platformer just to showcase the world, characters and comedy. You often get those relaxing moments within a 3D game but not nearly as often with a 2D one. 2D games and their linearity are more my preference, but a moment to appreciate it all without needing to rush is nice to have.
25:38 - It seems to be a consistent thing with Treasure games. There's an adrenaline feel of epicness to their games.
27:14 - The basketball Marina artwork is super cute!
32:15 - That Rayman Mosquito is an oddly iconic boss and moment for me, so I'm pleased and also unsurprised that was your first thought with the bee riding moment.
34:21 - I love this emotional concept thing. It's only part of the final boss, so it being easy is certainly forgivable with how cool and meaningful of a concept it is.
41:39 - How long is Mischief Maker? I remember Bomberman 64 being a short game for instance but it also extending it's run time dramatically by requiring you to get a ton of gold cards to unlock the true ending.
50:21 - Fun fact; Marina's human appearance I believe differs depending on the age you add in at the start of the game. An you already added that fact into the video yourself.
Ah yes, its about time, there's never enough love you can give mischief makers, Total GOAT! Credit to Screwattack for bringing light to it way back
Damn, watching this really reopen the nostalgic joy I had when I watched someone let’s play this many, many years ago.
It utterly grappled me then & now it done again
This might be the most in-depth actually-worthwhile review I've ever seen of this game.
Also YOU'RE 29!? Woo, same age! *high fives*
This one of my all time favorite games from my childhood. The bosses live rent free in my head even to this day. If I ever get around to making my own indie games. I'm going to make bosses just like this game.
Yeah, I remember being afraid of playing this game because the uncanny faces everywhere spooked me. When I got over it, this game was the best thing ever.
33:13 I really loved how that boss fight ended. You are being chased by the boss, throwing everything at you from the background. Then you catch one of his missiles at mid air, and while still being pushed back by it, you throw it back, the music stops as the camera cuts to the missile's POV as it flies straight to the boss' face, and explosions happen. One of the coolest ways to end a boss fight in gaming history.
Sadly, Treasure seems to have stopped working and developing games, their last one was Gaist Crusher God on the 3DS for Capcom. They were a great studio, Mischief Makers being one of their best works. Real nice game.
Edit : during the final fight, you can grab the robot while he's airborn doing the kick to shake him again. It's pretty satisfying.
Never heard of this game but looks very intriguing, it’s always nice to learn something new about these less-known games from previous generations.
And yeah, that “shake shake shake” is really cute. I said it.
i have been loving the change from horror games to obscure platformers! variety is always a must ^^
24:32 : I really appreciate you making this point. I have nothing but respect for Cuphead and similar titles, but one limitation of those detailed animations is that you don't get the kind of feedback you'd normally expect when fighting those otherwise hectic battles. The reactions and responses from bosses and enemies don't just inform you of your success and failures in a battle either. It's like you suggested, it's a wonderful little trick to pull you into the world and make the battle feel like more than just a game. Mischief Makers is a very weighty game, in battle and out, and those animations are essential to convey that fact, among other things. So I'm always happy when I see a reviewer that can pick up on these details and recognize how important they are for the game.
I think it's fitting that Bangai-O has the art style it does and I first heard about Mischief Makers from ScottFalco, whose male OC has a familiar vibe to him.
Glad to see this be the foray you took into the N64 underrated gems, so much impact and kinetic energy behind EVERY action.
I love this game! One of my favorite underrated N64 games. :)
Always enjoy hearing you go off praising random games few people know about! Your videos really feel like when a friend discovers a game they really like and ramble on to you about it!
If I may make a suggestion for a hidden gem of a game... Ribbit King for the Gamecube/PS2! It's Frog Golf!
love how the anime style feels old in the sense you can see the parts of it that will later be refined into what it is today but isnt quite there yet
Some history on Treasure. They were formed by Ex Konami employees looking to have more freedom in the types of games that they made. Then, years latter in the PS2 era, Konami hired them to work on Gradius 5, which I personally find to be rather ironic. Supposedly, some of the Konami staff that helped form Treasure were people who worked on the first Rocket Knight Adventures, so you could almost consider that like an honorary Treasure game I guess.
absolutely loved this game. played it for the first time this year, would love a re-release. fantastic video, bro.
21:07 surprise Plok
Ese juego es una obra maestra de sus mecánicas! Me entristece que pocos lo conozcan pero me alegra cuando gente lo descubre y ve más allá de las apariencias!! Gracias por el video
Great review!! I wish I played the game back then. Especially since it was made by Treasure Games.
alsoo.. Please review Silhouette Mirage next! People need to know about the existence of that awesome game!! ;u;
Not sure if anyone pointed this out already, but a little fun fact. Enix also helped make this game. They're known for making Dragon Quest 1 back in the day before merging with Square Soft to become Square Enix.
Well now you *gotta* play ristar.
I'm so glad someone finally talked about Mischief Maker! I played it religiously as a kid and I still love it as an adult, but I've never seen it talked about by any youtubers I've watched. It's so unique and I wish more people knew about it.
Missed you Nitro!
Watching this is making me relive playing it. I was 15 when it came out and bought it a few days after release with paper route money. When I got to the end and realized I basically needed to get gems to see the ending, I 100% this game ASAP. I think it was the first time I ever 100% any game ever. I was in LOVE with this game and it remains one of the few games in my N64 collection that has moved with me from place to place, house to house. I’m 41 now and seeing this review and play through makes me so happy. We knew we had magic in this back then and it thrills me to know that folks today are seeing what we saw in these old games. Thanks for letting me live through this again. This made me happy.
*SHAKE SHAKE!* That is all.
Help me, Marina!
It's amazing to see that you actually understand how the N64 controller works. The Nintendo 64 is supposed to be an Ambidextrous controller. Sadly not every Developer took advantage of this feature like Treasure did. 😥
I rented this as a kid and it was way too big brained for me 😂
I always wanted to play this game. I always saw clips of it from other UA-camrs and found it fascinating. Thanks for the rundown Nitro.
*MISCHIEF MAKERS!!*
How I love this game!!
Thank you so much for covering this gem! ♥
*shake shake~*
N64 was my console growing up, and this is THE channel for the lesser known games that made up my childhood. Love you Nitro Rad.
I played this back then. And i regret that i never finished it.
HEEEEEEEEEERE'S LUNAR!!!
I think this was my introduction to weird japanese games as a kid. everyone my age just wanted to play the super polished, normal mainstream games like mario, DK or zelda, but this game always stuck with me as a kid in the 90s and I played the hell out of it. I think it was just a weird impulse buy my dad did.
Wait... zed? I swear you've pronounced Z as "zee" tons of times before, why the sudden pronunciation change? Did you finally remember you were Canadian?
I'm so so SO glad you covered Mischief Makers! This was one of my top favorite N64 games growing up and I replayed it so much as a kiddo! Always felt so good to play and its quirkiness made a lasting impression on me. Nothing else controlled the way this game did and executed it so well! I'm so glad you enjoyed it as much as you did and THANK YOU for showing us the secret ending! I was never able to get enough golden gems to see past the credits and had never seen that ending till your video! That was a real treat!!! I'm holding out hope that the persistent love for this game by its dedicated and stalwart fans will convince Nintendo to re-release it for the Switch's N64 virtual console. Maybe we can convince them by giving the right executive a hearty SHAKE SHAKE! Thank you again, NitroRad!
Does Nintendo own Mischief Makers? Is this why Wario Land: Shake It! is a thing despite Treasure not making it?
They should finally produce a re-make of this game for modern systems. Not only would the character graphics hold up really well in HD due to the art style, Marina is extremely waifu-able too.
thx 4 cool bideo Nitro Fred
Those first few seconds of music after the intro sent me back to a better place~
Also glad I'm not the only one who had that feeling of immersion in these games, spending hours exploring every nook and cranny.
Please do Wario World !!!!
+1
Yes, any of them! Silhouette Mirage, Wario World, Sin and Punishment, Ikaruga, Gunstar Heroes, Alien Soldier, but unless you want an Illbleed repeat, DON'T do Stretch Panic. And even if you do, you HAVE to censor THAT character type that appears everywhere.
Finally, one of my fave childhood games getting the love it deserves!
Treasure was Platinum Games before Platinum Games was a thing.
You know it. Both have excellent records with their original and licensed games.
One of my childhood forgotten game when I bought this on Toy'R Us back of the day, a year after 1997... I bought this as a kid on 1998 on Toy'R Us
This is one of my favorite games of ALL time, I'm glad you're covering it
I love the dragon boss fight and how she just completely overpowers him
I'm so glad you did this video. Mischief Makers is one of my all time favorite games so it's good more people are discovering it. I found a copy in a discount bin at Hollywood Video as a kid and, like many others, I just liked the cover and bought it instantly. Also, nice shout out to Double Shake. My friends are the ones making it and people should definitely check it out.