This review was based on a review copy of the game and not a retail copy, generously furnished by Ignition Entertainment.
When I think of Mercury Meltdown Revolution, the immediate parallel I draw is to Marble Madness, that old marble-rolling game for Genesis and Game Boy (and probably other systems). There are many similarities between the two games, so when you pick up MMR you should know what to expect in terms of gameplay. What you wouldn’t anticipate is the surprising robustness of this package, from the length to the graphics to even the music, a robustness that makes this game very attractive with its budget price.
The basic concept of MMR is you controlling a bead of mercury, as you tilt the Wii Remote to try and navigate a series of 130+ labyrinths. There are two basic kinds of labyrinths you’ll be navigating: one is more akin to the aforementioned Marble Madness, with you navigating your mercury across tricky platforms and narrow walkways, trying not to fall to your doom. The other kind of labyrinth is more puzzle-like in nature, with you splitting up your mercury and coloring certain parts certain colors in order to get past colored doors or hit specific switches. The latter kind utilizes a clever color-mixing mechanic that requires you to split your mercury into two or more parts, coloring each separately, then joining them back to make a new color. Many of these color-matching puzzles are very fun to play and some definitely strain the brain. It feels, though, that the vast majority of the puzzles are more of the first kind, which to me aren’t quite as fun. The whole thing still works well, though, and each labyrinth is well-designed.
There are all sorts of things you’ll end up doing in the single-player labyrinths. In addition to the paint shops and colored switches and doors, there can be enemies that try to destroy you, allies that you need to get to help you open switches and such, conveyor belts that send you careening across huge gaps, and more. These items are somewhat slowly introduced to you as you progress through the game’s eight labs. I say somewhat, though, because the pacing of the game’s difficulty curve is a little bit quick. There are eight labs, each with 17 labyrinths in it, for a total of over 130 levels, but they’ll start getting difficult much faster than that. By the third lab, frustration with a difficult task was an all too familiar feeling for me, though not quite enough to keep me from progressing. If you’re dedicated enough, though, you’ll be able to get through the entire game’s puzzle lineup, feeling satisfied with each difficult puzzle you finish, and then maybe you’ll go back for 100% completion. There’s a lot of replay value in this portion of the game.
The puzzles are helped in no small part by the controls. Mercury Meltdown got its start on the PSP, where it was meant to have tilt control but things didn’t end up working out. A couple iterations later, the game has come to Wii and been given the tilt control it originally wished for, and it works quite well. You hold the Wii Remote like a NES controller, and by tilting in any direction, you tilt the labyrinth in the same direction, causing the mercury to slide that way. You can only tilt the stage a certain amount, which doesn’t seem like much, but it prevents you from doing something stupid as soon as you start the game; it also makes everything less twitchy, which is important in a game where precision is key. The game even is kind enough to let you know if you’re tilting the remote before you start a level. Other than that, the entire game is controlled NES controller style, with no real pointer functionality, though the game isn’t any worse for it. Consistency is good.
Besides the single-player outing, there are five multiplayer games to enjoy as well. These fall a bit short when compared to the rest of the game, though, for a few reasons. First off, you have to unlock all of them; no multiplayer is available at the start of the game, which is unfortunate. Second, these party games are all a little bit unwieldy to control, especially games like Race, or whichever game has you shoving the mercury to try and hit a certain target. Thirdly, and most importantly, they’re all party games, and there’s nothing distinctly related to the main labyrinthian gameplay. The lack of anything like racing to complete a labyrinth unfortunately makes the multiplayer feel a bit like an add-on, as opposed to a more intricate experience that it could be.
What will really surprise you is the game’s overall production value, especially with presentation. The menus are well organized and look fun, of course, and the in-game cel-shaded graphics get the job done quite nicely, but the addition of things like pictures of upcoming levels, or a dancing blob of mercury as you enter your high score, give the game an overall polished feeling in the visual department. The sound is probably the best part of the game; each individual labyrinth in the single-player mode has its own musical track, and you definitely notice because this is quality music playing. One of the things I looked forward to with each new level was what the music would be like.
It’s items like that that make me feel that this production team really went the extra mile. MMR is far from another rushed port/Wii cash-in; this is a quality puzzle title in its own right, treated with care. I give Mercury Meltdown Revolution a Yay! for anyone looking for something to occupy their time with; it’s good for wasting lots of time and it’s good in small doses as well. At budget price especially, this is a title worth your money.
