The Bottom Line
Pros
- Easy to pick up and play.
- Clever puzzles.
- Incentive to replay.
- Has multiplayer and party game options.
Cons
- Difficulty level sometimes frustrating.
Description
- ESRB rated E -- published by Ignition -- Game Profile -- Screenshots
- Graphics: Engagingly cartoony with lots of bright colors and shiny surfaces.
- Sound: A bit repetitive at times, but the background music has a nice, groovy beat that suits the gameplay.
- Gameplay: Simple controls let you concentrate on the tricky moves needed to maneuver your metallic blob.
- Multiplayer: "Host" other players or join a hosted game (all players need a copy). Two multiplayer modes to choose from.
- Replay value: Unless you're a prodigy, you'll need to replay many times to get the bonuses; plus, it's an addictive puzzle.
- Recommendation: Try it, get addicted (unless you don't like puzzle games). It's not Lumines but it's lots of fun.
Guide Review - Mercury Meltdown
What It Is
The premise is simple: you have a blob of mercury that you have to get from the level's start point to its end by tilting the platform that everything is on. The difficulty comes when you discover that large parts of the platform have no barrier on the edges, and you can lose part or all of your blob over the side. Lose too much, and you lose the level.
But that's not all. There are also surfaces of varying slipperiness or stickiness, gates that require your blob to be a certain color (and places to spray paint the blob), things that zap the blob, or eat it, or make it hot, cold, or solid.
Gameplay
The basic controls are very simple. You tilt the platform with the analog stick, and move the camera with the shape and shoulder buttons. It doesn't take long to get the hang of moving the blob around, but that doesn't mean it's easy. As the levels progress, there are more obstacles, and more complicated moves required to get you to the finish.
If you manage to get all the mercury to the end, you get a nice cork in the test tube icon for that level. If you get all the bonuses or the highest score (the game comes pre-loaded with high scores) you get a medal, and if you get both medals, your cork turns gold. Small rewards, perhaps, but it's enough to keep me going back to try to complete all the levels.
Basically, this is one of those cases where a simple idea with clever complications becomes an addictive puzzle game. I didn't get around to playing the first Mercury game, but I think I'll add it to my want list now.
