There are definitely frustrating parts to Evil Genius, but after overcoming those, it is an ingenious masterpiece.
Throughout the game, you will find several hechmen to pick up and add to your team, who are extremely creative, usually with eccentric or comical personalities and impressive voice acting. These are actually an important part of the game, but you may not realize it, and they can die and never come back.
The missions are very innovative, and are loads of fun to work with, if only it was easier to actually find the missions. Each mission requires different kinds of henchmen at a minimum, and usually you will need extra. This is one of the most immersive parts of the game, as nearly all of the game revolves around completing different missions to get all kinds of stuff. While very fun, it can be frustrating beyond belief even after you know what you need to do. You also need to check the world map constantly to keep enemies from killing your men on the map who make money for you.
Managing minions is probably the most difficult part of this game. Through various training rooms and routines, lower level minions eventually learn how to become much more specialized and they are extremely important for specific missions. It is time consuming, and when enemies attack and your men die, it can drive you crazy. Just hold your cool, though, it's not as bad as it looks.
Also, archvillains will occasionally try to find their way in the base and destroy stuff that took you way more time to build than it took to destroy, and at this point, you might go psychotic. But don't worry, every archvillain has an Achilles' Heel, you just need to find that first. The interrogation aspect of the game also shines, as there are countless exciting tools to use to torture the enemy. Being bad can be incredibly fun.....who knew?
The game's soundtrack is stunning, practically perfect I'd say, and the voices are always great. It's look is cartoonish, but it is superb for its genre and the style that it was going for. I never got tired of it. The game's value lacks a little only because once you finish the game with someone, you won't want to do it again most likely, but the one play through can feel worth it.
There are so many more great features to this game, and there are also quite a few more bugs, or, rather, just frustrations with the system, such as getting your minions to listen to you instead of dying while fighting enemies much stronger than them. Either way, you'll probably figure out how to avoid or at least live with problems, it just has a pretty steep learning curve.
Believe me, unless you have anger management issues, you'll enjoy this game. There is still nothing like it. I can't wait for the sequel.