Because of the short play time, the game feels underdeveloped and falls short of the full potential of its inventive design. Spanning roughly 50 mini-levels, ten of which are game tutorials, players are bound to complete the game within a few days of purchase thanks to MM's save feature and extremely low difficulty level. In fact, MM's fleeting nature is its primary fault. Each segmented, transforming level boss requires you to use all Marina's skills, but once you figure out the bosses' weaknesses, these skirmishes are decidedly short-lived. Treasure has a penchant for bosses, and while the game's level-end bosses are among Treasure's finest, the mid-bosses are simultaneously some of Treasure's least remarkable. Some levels are somewhat slow until Marina encounters the bosses, and then the game's pace immediately picks up. Many of MM's levels are puzzle-based, requiring the full use of Marina's moves and some thinking, as opposed to the action-mania supplied by most of Treasure's games. In addition to her offensive moves, Marina has a small jet pack that gives her an extra boost and lets her activate switches and the game's myriad transportation devices. Also, Marina can shake whatever she's holding, revealing items in the enemies' pockets or activating item-combining mojo pots. Using her superhuman strength, Marina can pick up enemies as well as pick up objects to chuck at her foes. While hardly a master of karate, Marina's hands are deadly indeed. For reasons unknown, a faction of belligerent Nendoros have kidnapped Gumble and, as one might expect, players must help Marina rescue her touchy-feely master from the pugilistic Nendoros and uncover the mystery behind their sudden aggression. Marina, the star of Troublemakers, is the robotic housekeeper to Gumble, a kind-hearted old man living on the peaceful homeworld of the Nendoro's. Perhaps the most ephemeral of Treasure's games to date, Mischief Makers is a good game that will leave players wanting more. Regardless, Nintendo 64 owners waited to see what 2D feats Treasure could accomplish on the most 3D-intensive machine. Boss-heavy games like Gunstar Heroes and Dynamite Headdy gave Treasure and its 'gameplay-with-a-gimmick' design philosophy a cult following throughout Japan and the US, despite its games' less-than-ideal marketability. Long regarded as one of Japan's most imaginative and skilled development teams, Treasure is responsible for many of the Genesis' classic games.

Mischief makers switch