"IGN"s Matt Casamassina said that the game compensated for its average graphics with excellent level design and gameplay challenges. He added that the game's puzzles require thought, unlike those in other action/platform games, and that the game's objectives were not clear until after the first few levels. Casamassina praised the game's transparency effects, anti-aliasing, mipmapping, and scaling rotations. "IGN" described anticipation for the game as "tremendous", particularly among the game's market of "younger gamers and 2D fans". "Nintendo Power" thought that the game was the best side-scroller since "Super Mario World". "Next Generation" wrote that "only diehard 2D platform fans" would be interested and did not feel that the game lived up to standards set by "Mario 64". In contrast, "GameFan" said that "Mischief Makers" did for 2D what "Mario 64" did for 3D, and suggested that Sega should be influenced by the game. "GamePro" instead argued that the similarity to Mario is superficial, and that "Mischief Makers" had carved out its own niche with unique gameplay mechanics. "GamesRadar" retrospectively called "Mischief Makers" "pure, unadulterated awesome" and "2D brilliance". The website summarized the game to be about "grabbing sad-faced aliens, shaking them until gems come out, and then hurling them at other sad-faced aliens". Zachary Miller of "Nintendo World Report" asserted the game may be the console's most bizarre and surreal, but "Gamasutra" John Harris said that the game's premise is "only strange to people who have never heard of anime". "GameFan" described the game as "obviously deeply Japanese", where "old school gameplay and 64-bit visuals finally meet".