The Retro Gaming Blogging Challenge is nearing its end. I personally only have three more posts to go including this one. Today we'll be taking a look at the strangest retro game I ever experienced. It's a game I was disappointed about while still having fun playing it. It's also a game that keeps on haunting me to this day.
Source: Wikipedia
It's Mischief Makers.
About
Mischief Makers was a 2d side-scrolling platform game released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997. In the game we play as the Ultra-Intergalactic-Cybot G named Marina Liteyears. It's already getting quite weird. Marina is a robotic housekeeper built by Professor Theo. The professor ends up being kidnapped by the Evil Emperor while visiting Planet Clancer.
From then on out we're on a mission to save the professor. We travel through the galaxy, visiting different planets. The levels vary from being action oriented and puzzle oriented while some are mixed.
Source: Simply Reviews
Weird
This game was weird to me from the get go. The names as I stated earlier was one thing but the overall design takes it to another level. The inhabitants of the worlds you traverse are called Clancers. They have this overly sad and creepy design to them. It's hard to describe and has to be seen. They can be seen in the cover image at the top of the post and more detailed here.
Source: Giantbomb
If that was it it wouldn't be so bad. It's just some weird characters. If only that was it. The entire game is build around this face. The blocks you need to traverse, move, shake or interact with in other ways has this face. The houses the Clancers live in are built up of blocks that has this face. Just, why?
This was something that stuck to me through the entire game. At least up until I got stuck. This creepy ass inescapable face with the red glowing eyes. It was everywhere. Do the Clancers build houses out of their citizens or what's the deal?
Source: Kotaku
A game that haunts me to this day
In many ways I wish I could forget about this game. It wasn't particularly good. Even in an age where access to games was limited and every game felt like a good game this one didn't stand out. Gameplay was really straight forward. A side-scroller like we had seen so many times before with nothing innovative to it at all. It was a bit of an disappointment seeing a game so simple on the Nintendo 64 which was capable of so much more.
It's not so bad that it made it on the list of top 3 worst retro video games though. I still had fun playing it for the most part. It was just so weird.
What haunts me though is that I never managed to finish it. I mentioned this briefly in the post about The game I could never complete. I dragged myself through this god forsaken game and didn't even manage to finish it. I got stuck on a level I never managed to figure out how to beat. I tried what felt like everything and still I couldn't pass it. I tried for the longest time.
From time to time I think back on this game for that reason. All I think of is that level I never beat and I see those awful faces staring back at me.
Source: N64 Today
So that's it for my weird game. I've been checking out the other entries in the challenge that's been coming in for this topic. There's a lot of weird games out there that I haven't heard of.
We're nearing the finish of the Retro Gaming Blogging Challenge. Only two entries to go after this one. That doesn't mean it's over though. There's still people who's just starting out with the challenge so there's still a lot of good content coming up. To keep yourself updated make sure to follow the #retrogamingchallenge tag. There's already hundreds of available posts to read and there's more coming in still.
I also want to throw light on another challenge that's going on. The Predict the Future is a really cool one. There's even a prize of 30 HIVE. All you need to do is write about what you think the future holds for us. There's stilla couple of days to go before it ends. I'll be posting my entry in the coming days. Make sure you check it out!
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