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Mercury Meltdown Revolution Review
Published by: Ignition Entertainment
Developed by: Ignition Banbury
Release Date: October 15, 2007
Genre: Puzzle / Logic
Mercury Meltdown Revolution by Ignition Entertainment
Intro
Ignitions’ Mercury Meltdown Revolution is a puzzle game for the Wii. The game offers 8 levels of 16 puzzles each and five “party” games. It uses the Wii Remote tilt controls as well as the option for the classic controller. The game is a port of the same game on the PSP but not a straight port – the levels have been tweaked and there are a few Wii-specific puzzles.
image via gamerankings
Story/Premise/Setting
Here is a familiar game to many older gamers who has played such classics as Marble Madness and its many successors, most notably and recently the Monkey Ball series. Unlike the others we are given quite a few tools to use in negotiating the mazes – normal mercury which slides around divides and combines normally, warm mercury which is a lot softer and acts accordingly, cooler which is slower in all respects but allows you better control, and “solid state” which turns your blob into a ball that will be needed from time to time to roll across the odd two-wire path that would be impossible for your normal state to otherwise get across.
image via gamerankings
There are 40 plus objects and obstacles (when you count the many variations) that will either help or hinder your progress. One of the most interesting is the color changing stations that will turn you blue, green or red. The designers went with the rule of light spectrum rather than the primary color paint rule and it works rather brilliantly. You will not only need to change color to access certain doors but exits as well. And you’ll need to learn how to mix the colors to make three more for a total of six (red, green, blue, yellow, light blue, and purple) as well as turn back to your original color.
image via gamerankings
The graphics and color palette generally suit the game. The blob itself is well done and gives you the impression that it is a “blob” rather than a deformable ball. When you split it into smaller pieces to mix and match colors you still get the impression that you have smaller and smaller blobs until you get to the smallest pieces that when you zoom in tend to look very spherical. The other objects, from the Air Jet to Huebrick, LubeCube, all the way through to the Teleporter are all very distinctive and well done. The level select screens are nicely done but not overly so. There is a bit of graphical difference from the levels themselves but they designers did keep everything consistent from one select screen to the next.
The one major complaint I have is with the levels themselves – the walls are almost cell-shaded in appearance and gives the impression that a bit more work should have gone into them. They contrast badly with the other objects especially the Bonus “gems”. A little too bland - the light lime green color doesn’t seem to quite fit in with the rest of the otherwise fine graphic and color decisions.
One average flaw in an otherwise semi-solid game component.
Controls
The developers have incorporated two different control schemes though we were only able to review the Wii Remote scheme as we do not have a classic controller attachment. We were hoping that they would have added the GCN controller option so we could use our old trusty Wavebird but, alas, that was not to be. Seems to us to have been quite to omission and one that should not have been left out. Moderate disappointment.
But this is a “tilt” game so one should be prepared to use the Wiimote instead of any other and Ignition has done a fine job in it’s programming. You get the feeling that you are always in control once you have gone through the tutorial and practiced a bit in the playground. The camera is can be tilted and rotated so that you should never really find yourself in a blind spot. You have to control it yourself though and some will not like the second or two time penalty you’ll incur as you find just the right viewpoint. But being that other games have suffered badly from a poorly coded camera this is really not a bad mark. It could have been done but would it have been done correctly? Maybe, maybe not.
Overall, the controls are a very good part of the game.
Sound
The sound effects are some of the simplest but best you’ll hear from a game of this caliber. No overdone musical scores or barrage of sounds as you try to navigate your way around. Just well thought out and produced to give one a sense of enjoyment. The tinkle of lab bottled, the simmering of fluids, and even the little whine(?) of the dropping bits of mercury are well done. Some may say cute but this is not some serious shooter and so we’re not expecting any grandiose tones or deep bass thumps. Just enough to add to the game without seeming to come up short. The musical scores are all light and airy – techno for the most part and enjoyable.
Overall the sounds are a well done part of the game.
image via gamerankings
Game Play
After tearing into a couple of games that were lacking in gameplay it was nice to find a game in the $20 bin that was fun to play. Not only do you start out simple but if you need to you can go through a well thought out tutorial as well as experiment in the included playground. This gives you a sense of accomplishment every time you complete a puzzle. There are four goals for each puzzle (finish within the time, find all the bonus gems, and finish with 100% of your mercury) and they each can be done independently of each other. That was a very nice part of the game – not only did you not feel rushed on a particularly tough one but you didn’t feel like you completely failed if you didn’t get the #1 high score (another accomplishment so that would be four, ah!).
The puzzles ramp up in difficultly fairly well and, for me at least, it didn’t seem to get too tough until I hit the middle of Lab 3. Then it was starting to get to the point I was just trying to get to the finish with anything and darn the time. While the frustration was starting to show I just had to take a break and try again wherein I then saw a shortcut or some other way around a difficult place.
And there is not any reason why you could play a couple of puzzles and then be onto something else. Well, other then that you’ll find yourself thinking “just one more” and losing track of the time. While there are legitimate complaints about too many mini-game compilations on the Wii this is one that can really be seen as a legitimate game – not meant to be too deep or played for hours on end.
For those looking to challenge their non-gaming friends and family you can add this to your collection alongside Zack & Wiki. A very easy pickup-and-play game that doesn’t intimidate but certainly challenges
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Shortcomings
The multi-player is non-existent no matter what the game infers. While it does say “party” mode that’s just its way of saying “first you, then pass the wiimote to the next player”. We thought that at the very least the Paint party game was multi-player but no matter what we tried we just couldn’t get the game to recognize the second wiimote. The racing game (somewhat F-Zero-ish) seems a bit too simple without multi-player. And the rodeo game could have easily been a tilting game for up to four people which when you add in the heat and cooling tiles could have made it a very good mini-game. But not too be. A great shame.
And here’s another game that would benefit from having a central server that would list all the high scores around the world and even let you download the high score ghost. But no online component here folks. This is a real shame. MK:Wii and Guitar Hero have set the bar and all games from here on out need to follow the leaders. While it could be forgiven because this game was released prior to those it’s still lacking.
“Create a level”? It’s been suggested as a shortcoming for not having something and I’ll agree to a point – if you could create complex levels then yes, it’s a bad mark on the developers for not including it. If you could have only made simple levels then I’m a bit ambivalent – not to sorry to not see it but a bit disappointed one wasn’t included.
Wrap-up
Okay it’s not Okami or SSBB or Galaxy. But what is does it does very well. It will be familiar to those who play Monkey Ball but it has enough of its own unique twists to make it its own game. And for those looking for a game that’s not going to take up hours of their time just to get to the next “heart piece” this will be a very welcome addition to their stack of games. For those looking for the next Call of Duty or Metroid and loathe mini-games (even though this is more a puzzler than that) you will want to give it a rent along with the obligatory Mario Party game if you have a bunch of relatives coming over and have been warned not to hog the “the game machine”.
Score
I give Ignition’s Mercury Meltdown Revolution a 7.5/10. This is a nice little puzzle/logic game that doesn’t try too hard to be something it wasn’t meant to be. The omission of multi-player and online are offset a bit by the (now) low price. If you like the Monkey Ball series you’re sure to find a familiar but very unique game. If you find it in your nearest bargain bin you’ll have found a real gem. |
Mercury Meltdown Revolution Review
